By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Eight area wrestlers have been hard at work the past two weeks preparing for the Individual State Wrestling Tournament which begins Thursday at The Palace at Auburn Hills.
Niles' Jake Glueckert, Ben Brandstatter and Kenyon Ellison; Brandywine's Jeremy Hechtl and Bryon Fisher; and Buchanan's Todd Taylor, Nick Wheetley and Drew Medlin will all hit the road in hopes of bringing home a state title.
Competing in the Division 2 for the Vikes are Glueckert, who will meet with Lowell's Jackson Morse in the first round of the 125-pound match. Glueckert, a senior, enters the competition with a 40-5 record. Freshman Morse is 39-4.
Brandstatter, a junior, will wrestle Hastings' Steve Case, a senior, in the 160-pound division. Brandstatter enters with a 38-6 record, while Case is 45-1.
Ellison (39-10) will face Christopher Reeves (42-2) of Ferndale in the 285-pound division. Both Ellison and Reeves are juniors.
In Division 4 for the Bobcats, Fisher, a sophomore, will meet Hudson's Zeb Hilyard in the 103-pound division. Fisher is 34-20 on the season, while Hilyard enters with a 35-9 record.
Hechtl (52-3) will face Michael Winterhalter (36-11) of Romulus Summit Academy. Hechtl, a senior, took seventh place at last year's state tournament.
In Division 3 for the Bucks, Taylor will meet with Seth Schanner of Big Rapids in the 119-pound division. Taylor, a senior, comes into the competition with a 44-7 record. Schanner, a sophomore, is 49-7 on the season. Taylor finished seventh place at last year's state meet.
Wheetley (44-4) will face Dundee's Eric Desbrough (52-11) in the 125-pound division. Both Wheetley and Desbrough are seniors.
Medlin, a sophomore, will face Brandon Roose, a senior, of Roscommon. Medlin is 39-14 overall, while Roose is 52-3.
Other area wrestlers competing in Division 3 are Nate Behnke (40-13, 189) and Drew Staley (43-11, 215) of Dowagiac; Kyle Froehlich (47-3, 145) and Jordan Parson (46-10, 171) of Berrien Springs; and Alex Hall (35-13, 145) of Edwardsburg.
In Division 4, Corey Lowe (41-8, 140), John McCoy (51-3, 145) and John Grice (34-7, 285) will compete for Cassopolis.
The Grand Assembly will be held at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, with the Grand March following at 2:30 p.m. The first round of wrestling will begin at 2:45 p.m.
On Friday, the first round of Consolation will begin at 8:30 p.m. The Championship Quarterfinals will begin at 11 a.m. At 2 p.m., the second round of Consolation will begin, followed by the championship semifinals at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the third round of Consolation will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the Consolation semifinals beginning at 10:10 a.m.
The Consolation finals for the third, fifth and seventh place matches will begin at noon.
The Grand March Assembly will be held at 4:15 p.m., with the Grand March at 4:30 p.m.
The finals will begin at 4:45 p.m.