Like a master puppeteer, Niles wrestling coach Todd Hesson pulled all the right strings as the Vikings reclaimed the Division 2 team district championship Wednesday night.

After blowing through St. Joseph 70-12 in the semifinals, which featured 10 pins, Hesson shuffled his lineup against arch rival Lakeshore in the championship match.

The Lancers reached the finals with a 42-25 win over Edwardsburg in the other semifinal.

Lakeshore, which was without its regular 145-pound wrestler, did not have any way to counter the moves by the Vikings, which started with the opening bout at 130.

Hesson bumped up former Lakeshore wrestler Austin Franco from 119 to 130 to take on the Lancer’s Tony Williams.

Williams defeated Franco 5-0 before Hesson brought down Brenden Hall from 140 to 135-pounds to take on Erik Taylor, who Hall defeated 10-2 for a four-point major decision.

Regular 145 pounder Mitchell Findeisen was bumped up to 152 pounds and was replaced with Cole Simpson, who spent most of the year on the Niles varsity “B” squad.

Simpson pinned Hunter Bucks in 3:11 at 140 before Robert Glover, who usually wrestles at 152, came down to 145 and defeated Kearri Myrick 7-1.

Findesein defeated Cody Carlisle 4-3 to help the Vikings grab a 23-3 lead following a win by Davin Simpson at 160 pounds.

“It’s hard to come back and beat somebody a week later,” Hesson said. “So we made some moves that we thought we could pull off. We got lucky. Maybe it was a little bit of a surprise factor. We had to do something after the last dual because there was no way it was going to break the same way twice. We dropped Brenden to 135, thinking we could pull some points there. We dropped Robert to 152 and moved Mitch up. And what a huge pin for Cole Simpson at 140.”

Lakeshore was left having to come up with pins and upsets against the Vikings in order to have a shot at winning its second straight district championship.

It did not happen.

The Lancers picked up wins by Cory Hampton, Isaac Weir, Tyler Hill, Riley Bettich and Shane Williams to take a 24-23 lead on the Vikings, but the only bonus points Lakeshore was able to pick up was at 285 pounds when Hill won by disqualification and Beattich recorded a pin.

Niles would send out Cade Stephenson and Andrew Flick for the final two bouts with the match hanging in the balance.

Stephenson won by technical fall (16-1) over Justin Crowder at 119 and Flick pinned Tracy Harrell in 1:48 at 125 to seal the victory.

“Because our 145 pounder wasn’t in there, they (Niles) were able to maneuver around that,” Lakeshore coach Bruce Bittenbender said. “That basically killed us. They were able to move people away and if he (Robert Dente) was there they would not have been able to do that. You get up against a team like Niles, you just can’t be handicapped. A lot of our kids wrestling pretty good, but it wasn’t enough.”

Niles will travel to Stevensville to compete in the Division 2 team regional at Lakeshore High School Wednesday.

The Vikings will face Mattawan in the opening round.

 

Championship

At Edwardsburg

NILES 34, LAKESHORE 24

130: Tony Williams (L) d. Austin Franco 5-0; 135: Brenden Hall (N) m.d. Erik Taylor 10-2; 140: Cole Simpson (N) p. Hunter Bucks 3:11; 145: Robert Glover (N) d. Kearri Myrick 7-1; 152: Mitch Findeisen (N) d. Cody Carlisle 4-3; 160: Davin Simpson (N) d. Tatenda Rukunda 7-3; 171: Dayton Smith (N) m.d Alec Austin 11-0; 189: Corey Hampton (L) d. Dawson Bruckner 5-0; 215: Isaac Weir (L) d. Cody Glick 10-5; 285: Tyler Hill (L) d. Brian Soto, DQ, stalling; 103: Riley Bettich (L) p. Jamison Zimmerman 3:41; 112: Shane Williams (L) d. Ryan Franco 2-0; 119: Cade Stephenson (N) t.f. over Justin Crowder 16-1; 125: Andrew Flick (N) p. Tracy Harrell 1:48.

 

Semifinals

NILES 70, ST. JOSEPH 12

125: Andrew Flick (N) p. Jagroop Singh 0:47; 130: Austin Franco (N) p. Austin Jex :29; 135: Reese Gardner (N) p. Jack Altholtz 0:30; 140: Cade Wagley (N) won by forfeit; 145: Robert Glover (N) p. Vincent VanVooren 0:40; 152: Mitch Findeisen (N) m.d. Drake Collins 15-4; 160: Davin Simpson (N) p. Alex Taylor 0:35; 171: Dayton Smith (N) p. Brent Huff 1:01; 189: Dawson Bruckner (N) p. Corbin Kalin 1:22; 215: Cody Glick (N) p. Hector Gasca 0:23; 285: Brian Soto (N) p. Jonah Essig 1:15; 103: Evon Fitts (S) won by forfeit; 112: Isaac Meyer (S) won by forfeit; 119: Cade Stephenson (N) p. Shane nelson 1:53.

 

LAKESHORE 42, EDWARDSBURG 25

125: Michael Tatay (E) p. Tracy Harrell 3:54; 130: Tony Williams (L) p. Brayden Burgess 0:55; 135: Erik Taylor d. Derek Hess 5-2; 140: Josh McMann (E) m.d. Hunter Bucks 13-1; 145: Kearri Myrick (L) d. Patrick Snyder 8-5; 152: Nick Bradley d. Cody Carlisle 4-3 (2 OT); 160: Alec Austin (L) d. Jacob Andrina 8-1; 171: Joey Hess (E) p. Aaron Spear 0:41; 189: Austin Cline (E) p. Zeke Rohl 1:00; 215: Isaac Weir (L) m.d. Quinlan Callicott 13-2; 285: Tyler Hill (L) p. Steven Harris 2:55; 103: Riley Bettich (L) t.f. over Jacob Reece 24-8; 112: Shane Williams (L) p. Noah Tinkham 1:43; 119: Justin Crowder (L) won by forfeit.