By Staff
Brandywine brought home three individual titles from the Lakeland Conference wrestling meet Saturday at River Valley, but more importantly the Bobcats won their first outright league title since 1977.
Brandywine finished with 161 points Saturday to easily outdistance runner-up River Valley which finished with 143 points. Edwardsburg finished third with 139.5 points, followed by Buchanan with 102, Coloma with 96.5, Berrien Springs with 77 and Cassopolis with 75.
The tournament victory gave the Bobcats a healthy margin in the final conference standings as well. Brandywine finished first with 14 points, followed by River Valley with 11.5, Edwardsburg with 10.5, Buchanan with 7.5, Coloma with 6.5, Berrien Springs with four and Cassopolis with two.
John Farrell, Robert Thompson and Adam Ringler each won individual titles for Brandywine. Farrell beat John McCoy of Cassopolis, 5-3 in overtime, to win the 119-pound title. Thompson beat Randy Hemminger of Cassopolis, 6-0, to win the 140-pound title. Ringler beat Edwardsburg's Corey Parsons, 2-0, to clinch the 145-pound title.
Also reaching the finals for Brandywine were Mike Morrison at 112 pounds, Matt Koller at 135 pounds, Evan Smith at 152 pounds and Josh Johns at 275 pounds.
Buchanan brought home one individual title as Travis Reith beat Morrison, 5-2, to win the 112-pound title. Also reaching the finals for the Bucks were Kale Burks at 171 pounds and Ryan Carrigan at 215 pounds.
Brandywine and Buchanan will be part of the Division 4 Team District Tournament Wednesday night at Galien High School. Also competing in that tournament are River Valley and Galien.
Brandywine 161, River Valley 143, Edwardsburg 139.5, Buchanan 102, Coloma 96.5, Berrien Springs 77, Cassopolis 75
Championship round
103: Zachary Gordon (Berrien Springs) pinned Zach Wilfert (Edwardsburg) 1:37; 112: Travis Reith (Buchanan) beat Mike Morrison (Brandywine) 5-2; 119: John Farrell (Brandywine) beat John McCoy (Cassopolis) 5-3 (OT); 125: Justin Tucker (Cassopolis) pinned Bret Hawblitzel (Coloma) 5:29; 130: Todd Ehlert (River Valley) beat Josh Engelkemier (Berrien Springs) 4-1; 135: Mike Stein (River Valley) beat Matt Koller (Brandywine) 10-1 (major decision); 140: Robert Thompson (Brandywine) beat Randy Hemminger (Cassopolis) 6-0; 145: Adam Ringler (Brandywine) beat Corey Parsons (Edwardsburg) 2-0; 152: Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg) beat Evan Smith (Brandywine) 15-0 (technical fall); 160: Alex Hill (Berrien Springs) beat Jim Barker (River Valley) 10-3; 171: Jesse Martin (Coloma) beat Kale Burks (Buchanan) 10-4; 189: Tim Morrisey (River Valley) beat Jon Smith (Coloma) 17-5 (major decision); 215: Matt Rinehart (Edwardsburg) pinned Ryan Carrigan (Buchanan) 3:56; 275: Derrick Haman (River Valley) beat Josh Johns (Brandywine) 5-0.