By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC - Niles Ring Lardner won both the seventh and eighth grade divisions of the inaugural Dowagiac Middle School Wrestling Invitational on Saturday.
Niles captured the seventh grade title with 51 points, while Lakeshore was second with 47 points and St. Joseph third with 36 points. Dowagiac finished fourth with 24 points and Eau Claire fifth with seven. Berrien Springs was sixth with five points.
In the eighth grade standings, Niles finished with 34 points to edge out the host Chieftains, who were second with 31 points. St. Joseph was third with 23 points, Berrien Springs fourth with 20 points, Lakeshore fifth with nine points and Eau Claire sixth with three points.
Niles' seventh grade team captured seven championships, three runner-up spots and five third place finishers.
In the eighth grade portion of the meet, Ring Lardner had three champions and five runners-up.
Winning championships for Ring Lardner at the seventh grade level were Tyler Baber, Colin Burandt, Colin Latislaw, Trey Nichols, Tony Paris, Jordan Potthoff, Dustan Craig and Mike Gentry.
Claiming titles for the eighth grade Vikings were Aaron Brady, Chris Powell and Robert Wagner.
Winning championships for Dowagiac at the seventh grade level were Cody Klommes and Anthony Nelson. Winning eighth grade titles for the Chieftains were Cody Cox and Adam Roach.
Finishing second for the Vikings were Rashad Harris, Shawn Holland, Anthony Horvath, Zack Durm, Justin Utley, Zack Archer and Travis Timm.
Taking third for Ring Lardner were Dominick Wyland, Josh Brawley, Chad Majerek, Dustin Purcell, Auston Baker, Aaron Carrol and Josh Eddy. Finishing fourth were Tyler Mead, Anthony Gonzalez, Taylor Davis, Anthony Textor, Cal Poehlman and Cody Sisk.
Finishing second for the Chieftains were Gage Grant, Tyler Kuntz, Cody Lindt, Destin Payne, John Myers, Chris Murray and Sinjin Ownby.
Taking third for the Chieftains were Zac Hyatt, Casey Proshwitz, Steven Baylock and Teddy Wirick. Finishing fourth were Josh Yahne, Tyler Frese, Kyle Wright, Tyler Dean, Kelsey Gibbons, Zack Blank, Amarpal Sarao, Dylan Nemeth, Tim Rutkowski and Josh Deuel.