BATTLE CREEK — It all came down to one match in the Division 2 Quarterfinals at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek Friday night.

Down 26-24, following a last-second pin by Tecumseh at 125-pounds, Niles had just one bullet left in its gun.

Mitch Findeisen was the only thing standing between victory or defeat and veteran Niles coach Todd Hesson was just fine with that.

Findeisen went out and dominated Tecumseh’s Adam Shelby, winning by technical fall (20-4) to give the Vikings a 29-26 come-from-behind victory and advance them into today’s state wrestling semifinals against Eaton Rapids.

“Mitch is Mitch,” Hesson said. “He’s one of the few kids who are eager for something like that. He’s a high-flying scoring machine and he was the right kid for the right spot.”

Findesien said he was not bothered by the situation and only wanted to get the job done for his team.

“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Findeisen said. “I was just fine. Coach told me not to be nervous and he’s never been wrong yet. I was ready to go. Once I got the lead I could control the match. It feels great. I’m happier for the team, though, because they were really counting on me.”

The Vikings (24-3) are now in the state semifinals for the third consecutive year. They will face Eaton Rapids (40-2) at 11:45 a.m. today.

Niles led 11-0 early in the match, which started with the 135-pound weight class and an 8-6 win by Warren Smith.

Slowly Tecumseh started whittling away at the Niles lead and needed a miracle of their own to keep the match alive.

Trailing 24-20 and down 9-3 in the closing seconds of the 125-pound match between Wyatt Cadmus and Brenden Hall, Cadmus caught Hall and pinned him with 17 seconds remaining to put Tecumseh ahead and setting up the fantastic finish by Findeisen.

Both teams won seven matches, but it was the Vikings who earned the most bonus points and the victory.

“Every coach will tell you that bonus points are always going to win close matches,” Hesson said. “You’ve got to stay off your backs and get some bonus points. I knew this would be a tough match because Tecumseh is a solid team and is well coached.”

Niles will have to wrestle better today if it wants to make it to the 4 p.m. finals against either No. 1-ranked Lowell or Gaylord.

“Going in I thought that we matched up OK with Eaton Rapids,” Hesson said. “But they have some momentum. We’re going to have to wrestle much better to keep it close.”

 

Division 2 Quarterfinals

At Battle Creek

NILES 29, TECUMSEH 24

103: Andrew Flick (N) p. Kenneth Thornton :33; 112: Cade Stephenson (N) d. Hayden Whitehead 7-3; 119: Andrew Marten (T) d. Josh Dayhuff 7-2; 125: Wyatt Cadmus (T) p. Brenden Hall 5:38; 130: Mitch Findeisen (N) t.f. over Adam Shelby 20-4; 135: Warren Smith (N) d. Gabe Bechtol 8-6; 140: Noah Hall (N) t.f. over Tyler MacLachlan 17-2; 145: Courtland Lamberton (N) d. Austin Zamora 11-9; 152: Kyle Humpries (T) m.d. over Quintin Smith 11-3; 160: Fred Kemp (N) m.d. over Bryan Tripp 11-2; 171: Luke Vandenberg (T) d. Cody Thornton 4-2; 189: Kody McCrate (T) d. Wyatt Thornton 6-2; 215: Landon Pelham (T) m.d. over Ted Jankowiak 14-4; 285: Nathan Brady (T) d. Alex Bata 4-2.