By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac senior Nate Behnke and junior Drew Staley will begin their quests for a state championship this afternoon at The Palace in Auburn Hills.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association Lower Peninsula Individual Wrestling Finals were scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. with the Grand March.
Wrestling will begin with the championship first round at 2:45 p.m.
Behnke drew Steve Shields of Whitehall for his first round match. Behnke is 43-11 on the season, while Shields, a senior, is 47-6.
The winner advances to the quarterfinals where he will face either Kyle March (41-17) from Goodrich or Mason Ley (56-2) from Carol.
Other top 189-pound grapplers are Jason Weatherspoon (44-3) of Napoleon, Michael Byrd (52-4) of Corunna, Nick Miller (53-3) of Spring Lake and William Vincent (32-6) of Durand.
Staley drew Ed Henry of Richmond in the opening round. Staley is also 43-11 on the season, while Henry, a senior, is 45-9.
The winner advances to face either Adam Palleschik (29-12) of Crosswell-Lexington or Juan Enriquez (42-8) of Grant.
Other top wrestlers in the 215-pound division are Marcel Dubose (29-2) of Highland Park, Billy Bourdo (37-7) of Delton Kellogg, Donald Whitehead (38-9) of Otisville-Lakeville, Chance Coda (44-1) of Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Keith Thompson (45-9) of Flat Rock, Zeb Perrin (51-11) of Corunna, Josh Short (43-8) of Whitehall, Jeff Beebe (36-5) of Allendale and Jimmy Rowe (51-8) of Dundee.
Edwardsburg's Alex Hall will compete in the 145-pound division.
Hall, a senior, drew Curtis Hoskins of Corunna in the first round. Hall is 35-13 on the season, while Hoskins, a junior, is 42-15.
Buchanan will have three grapplers competing in the state finals.
Todd Taylor will wrestle against Seth Schanner of Big Rapids in the opening round at 119-pounds.
Taylor is 44-7 on the season, while Schanner is 49-7.
Nick Wheetley, a regional champion at 125-pounds, will put his 44-4 record on the line against Brad Bleise of Remus-Chippewa Hills, who is 36-16. Wheetley and Bleise are both seniors.
Drew Medlin, a sophomore, will face Brandon Roose of Roscommon in the first round at 135-pounds.
Medlin is 39-14 on the season. Roose, a senior, is 52-3.
Niles will also have three wrestlers competing this weekend in Division 2.
Jake Glueckert (40-5) will face Jackson Morse of Lowell in the first round at 125-pounds.
Morse is 36-4 on the year.
Ben Brandstatter will wrestle for the Vikings at 160-pounds.
Brandstatter, a junior, is 38-6 on the year. He will face Hastings senior Steve Case in the opening round. Case is 45-1 on the season.
Rounding out the Niles trio will be junior heavyweight Kenyon Elison, who is 39-10. He will face Christopher Reeves of Ferndale in the first round. Reeves, also a junior, is 42-2.
Over in Division 4, Cassopolis will also have three wrestlers competing.
Sophomore Corey Lowe (140-pounds) will open up the tournament against Zack Phillips of Addison. Lowe is 41-8 on the season, while Phillips, a senior, is 43-17.
Senior John McCoy, who placed seventh last year, will be facing Dayne Derosiers of Memphis in the first round at 145-pounds.
McCoy, who has 202 career victories, is 49-3 on the season. Derosiers, a junior, is 44-12.
John Grice will compete for the Rangers at 285-pounds. Grice, a junior, is 26-7. He will face Carrollton's Richard Palmer in the first round.
Palmer, a senior, is 45-7 on the season.
Also in Division 4, Brandywine will have a pair of grapplers competing.
Sophomore Bryon Fisher, who is 34-20 on the year, will face Zeb Hilyard of Hudson in the first round at 103-pounds.
Hudson, a freshman, is 35-9 on the year.
Jeremy Hechtl, a senior, will put his 52-3 record to the test in the first round at 215-pounds against Romulus Summit Academy's Michael Winterhalter.
Winterhalter, a senior, is 36-11 on the season.
Wrestling will continue Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the first round of consolations. The championship quarterfinals are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
The second round of consolation will follow at approximately 2 p.m.
The championship semifinals are scheduled for 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the tournament resumes at 8:30 a.m. with the third round of consolations. The consolation semifinals will then follow at 10:10 a.m.
The third, fifth and seventh place matches will begin approximately at noon, while the finals will get under way at 4:15 p.m., with the Grand March.
The championship round will follow at 4:45 p.m.
Results will be posted throughout the tournament at mhsaa.com