By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Defending Wolverine Conference champion Allegan will head into the league tournament on Saturday as the overwhelming favorite.
Dowagiac will be competing in its first Wolverine Conference Tournament.
The tournament will be held at Vicksburg High School with action scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
The rat tail round will begin at 10 a.m. on three mats.
The first round is scheduled to begin immediately after. There are no scheduled breaks between rounds, however, some may be announced to provide adequate time between bouts.
The second round will consist of championship matches, while the third and fourth rounds will be the consolation quarterfinals and semifinals.
The championship finals will follow on one mat with the consolation finals to be contested on a second mat.
Allegan has six returning conference champions, a runner-up and four wrestlers who finished third last year.
Leading the way for the Tigers are two-time defending state champions Cameron Simaz at 189-pounds and Dan Craig at 215-pounds.
Allegan's other defending league champions are Steve Poffenberger (119), Jacob Wilson (160), Brandon Rhodes (171) and Joe Rizgallah (285).
Also placing at last year's tournament for the Tigers were Matt Larrabee (112), Andy Krcatovich (130), Curtis Cameron (135), Greg Courtney (140) and Doug Plews (152).
Other top grapplers include Plainwell's Jeffrey Steele at 135-pounds. Steele is a returning conference and state champion, who had a 43-0 record heading into this week's action.
Other returning placers for the Trojans are Dillon Roblyer (112), Dustin Meert (152) and Joe Riley (189).
Otsego has three returning placers from 2006.
They are Jon Dennis (119), Brandon Lindsey (130) and Jerry Lobretto (160).
The Vicksburg Bulldogs return no conference placers. The top grapplers for the Bulldogs are Ross Cousins (35-3) at 119-pounds, Chris Harger (31-10) at 189-pounds, Ben Hetrick (30-12) at 171-pounds and Jim Myers (28-17) at 160-pounds.
Comstock's Steve Klinger (36-5) won the 119-pound championship last season. Klinger has moved up to 125-pounds this year and will challenge for a title.
Also expected to do well are Kyle Louks (23-9) at 152-pounds and Casey Mckenzie at 130-pounds. Louks is three wins shy of 100 career victories.
South Haven probably would have given the Tigers a run for their money, however, suspensions have hindered the Rams as they prepare for the post season.
Hoping to make some noise on Saturday for South Haven are defending state champion Drakkar Klose at 160-pounds, Corey Sicard at 103-pounds, Adam Bastow at 125-pounds and Andress Alcauter at 140-pounds.
Paw Paw, like Dowagiac, is new to the Wolverine Conference so the Redskins have no returning placers.
Hoping to make a splash on Saturday will be Patrick Warncke at 171-pounds and K.C. Biron at either 215 or 285. Warncke was second in the Kalamazoo Valley last year, while Biron is 4-3 against Wolverine Conference competition.
Dowagiac will take 13 wrestlers to Vicksburg on Saturday.
The Chieftains should get decent seeds for Richie Hutchinson, DeShaun Baylock, Nate Behnke and Drew Staley.
The tentative line up includes (record against Wolverine Conference foes):
103 – Andrew Roden (6-5)
112 – Nathan Cottrell (7-5)
119 – Bobby Price (3-9)
125 – Justin Richter (1-8)
130 – John Morseau (2-6)
135 – Richie Hutchinson (14-1)
140 – Nathan Long (8-4)
145 – Terry Prowoznik (8-6)
152 – DeShaun Baylock (10-5)
160 – Andrew Hurrle (5-9)
189 – Nate Behnke (8-4)
215 – Drew Staley (8-4)
285 – Robert Wescott (8-3)