By Staff
It may not seem like tournament time, but beginning on Saturday the post season will have most definitely arrived for high school wrestling teams.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) tournament won't begin until next Wednesday, however, all our area teams will be in action on Saturday in their respective conference tournaments.
Buchanan, Brandywine, Cassopolis and Edwardsburg will be competing at Buchanan High School in the Lakeland Conference Tournament.
The Bobcats and Bucks slugged it out on Thursday night for first place heading into the tournament.
Buchanan, which soundly defeated Brandywine in its Lakeland Conference showdown, will be attempting to defend its title when wrestling begins Saturday morning.
Niles will be looking for its first Big 16 Conference championship Saturday in Kalamazoo.
The Vikings already won the team tournament back in December and will be looking for more at the individual tourney at Kalamazoo Central High School.
Niles has turned in another superb season and is hoping to cap it off with a long tournament run.
Dowagiac will be competing in its first Wolverine Conference Tournament Saturday at Vicksburg High School.
The Chieftains are just 19-12 this season, but are hoping to make a little noise in the post season.
All of our teams have more than a few outstanding wrestlers.
Following the MHSAA team tournaments on Wednesday and Thursday, the individual tourney will get under way with district competition.
We expect the six schools we cover on a regular basis to send more than their fair share of wrestlers onto the state finals in March.
Wrestling is a unique sport in that it has a dual tournament format.
We would love to see a team reach Battle Creek for the team finals like Buchanan did last year.
We would also like to see our corner of the state well represented when the individual finals begin at The Palace in Auburn Hills.
Good luck to all our teams and our wrestlers. Have a successful post season.
We know you will make us proud.