By By SCOTT NOVAK / Vigilant/Argus
COLOMA - There was no stopping the Niles varsity wrestling team here Saturday.
The Vikings pinned their way to the Coloma Invitational championship with a 49-22 victory over Plainwell in the finals.
The Vikings went 3-0 in pool play, having defeated Cassopolis, St. Joseph and Coloma.
Hamilton defeated St. Joseph 40-24 to take third place, while Allendale defeated host Coloma 45-23 to finish fifth.
Dowagiac knocked off Cass County rival Cassopolis 48-30 to take seventh place.
In Pool A, Niles was undefeated with St. Joseph finishing second at 2-1. Coloma was third with a 1-2 record, while the Rangers were 0-3.
Plainwell was 4-0 in Pool B to advance to the championship match. Hamilton was second at 3-1, while Allendale was 2-2 to take third. Dowagiac finished 1-3 with Paw Paw finishing fifth at 0-4.
Dowagiac's Nathan Cottrell was the lone area wrestler to win five matches on Saturday as he was 5-0.
Going 4-0 on the day were Nate Allison, Jake Glueckert, Bryce Flannery, Andy Karsten, Nate Heieman, Mason Stephenson, Todd Scansen, Ben Brandstatter and Alex Zanders of Niles.
Posting 3-1 records were Derek Percell, Micah Barrett and Chad Nichols of Niles.
In the championship match, the Vikings, who remain unranked despite a 24-3 overall record, got pins from Glueckert, Flannery, Brandstatter, Barrett and Nichols.
Winning by decision were Allison, Karsten, Stephenson, Scansen and Zanders.
Plainwell's victories came at 125-pounds where it won by forfeit, 135-, 160- and 171-poundes.
The Trojans got pins from Jeff Steele, Dustin Meert and a major decision from Larry Barlow.
Championship match
Niles49
Plainwell22
103: Nate Allison (N) d. Dillon Roblyer, 17-8
112: Jake Glueckert (N) p. Kurt Risner, 1:01
119: Bryce Flannery (N) p. Kenny Risner, 2:45
125: Dalton Smith (P) won by forfeit
130: Andy Karsten (N) d. Chris Smit, 8-1
135: Jeff Steele (P) p. Chris Casey, :55
140: Mason Stephenson (N) d. Eric Hileski, 7-0
145: Todd Scansen (N) d. Jamie Lamberty, 4-3
152: Ben Brandstatter (N) p. Ryan Samando, 1:10
160: Dustin Meert (P) p. Marsh, :42
171: Larry Barlow (P) d. Jake Groves, 19-6
189: Alex Zanders (N) d. Joe Riley, 10-7
215: Micah Barrett (N) p. Nick Lewis, :59
275: Chad Nichols (N) p. Fernando Castenada, 1:08