By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC - The Dowagiac varsity wrestling team will be looking for its second straight Division 3 regional championship on Wednesday when it takes on South Haven, Constantine and Vermontville-Maple Valley.
The Chieftains (26-7) will be facing South Haven in the opening round of the regional championship at Comstock High School beginning at 6 p.m.
In the other semifinal, Constantine will take on Maple Valley.
The finals will be held 10 minutes after the completion of the semifinal round.
Dowagiac is no stranger to two of the three teams that will take part in Wednesday's regional.
The Chieftains lost to Constantine (40-34) in its season opener, while it defeated South Haven at the end of January at the Brandywine tournament.
Dowagiac coach John Green knows that getting past South Haven again, despite the lopsided 49-24 win over the Rams back in January will be tougher than most expect.
And Green should know first hand that beating a team a second time is no easy chore. Last year Dowagiac lost to Hamilton by 30 points at the Coloma tournament, but turned upset it in the regional championship match.
South Haven will be led into the team regional by individual regional qualifiers Adam Bastow (103), Tyler Dotson (112), Andress Alcauter (135), Michael Jackson (140), Kameron Jackson (152) and Drakkar Klose (160).
In their first meeting, Dowagiac picked up victories at 103-, 119-, 130-, 145-, 152-, 171-, 189-, 215- and 275-pounds.
Should Dowagiac get past South Haven, the Chieftains will probably face a strong Constantine team squad, which is led by regional qualifiers Shawn Mcdowell (112), Josh Marunde (171), Andrew Williams (130-pounds), Aaron Davidson (140), Mike Baker (160), Robert Nottoli (189) and Todd Cassleman (215).
In their first meeting, Dowagiac picked up victories at 112-, 145-, 152-, 160- and 215-pounds.
Green is hoping that the experienced gained during last year's title run will pay off this season.
The Cassopolis varsity wrestling team will face a tall challenge as it tries to capture a Division 4 regional championship.
The Rangers will take on perennial power Martin in the semifinals, while in the other semifinal, No. 4 ranked Bronson will meet Olivet.
Martin is the state runner-up in Division 4.