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It wasn’t easy, but the Niles wrestling team added another page to its history book.

The Vikings (34-1) advanced to the Division 2 state semifinals with a 36-26 win over Tecumseh at the Kellogg Arena in the quarterfinals Friday night.

The No. 3-ranked Vikings faced No. 2-ranked Lowell in the semifinals Saturday.

Three-time defending champion St. Johns faced Allegan in the other semifinal.

After senior Ryan Casey gave Niles a 3-0 lead with a decision against Landon Pelham to begin the match, Tecumseh turned to the power of its lineup to open up an 11-3 lead on the Vikings.

The Indians (30-13) won at 215, 285 and 103. However, Tecumseh wasn’t able to pin Travis Edwards, Derek Scott and Courtland Lamberton.

By only picking up two bonus points instead of six, the Indians left the door wide open for Niles.

The Vikings didn’t let the opportunity go by.

Niles rolled off six consecutive wins, two by pins and another by technical fall to take a 26-11 lead on the Indians.

Brendon Meek got the streak started by defeating Nick Wyatt 22-7. Darek Bullock-Mills and Noah Hall both picked up wins, while Nicholas Zimmerman and Warren Smith both won by decision.

Anthony Lesko stopped the bleeding for Tecumseh with a win at 140 pounds.

But when Casey Burandt pinned Bryan Tripp in 37 seconds at 145, the Vikings needed only stay off their backs at one of the three remaining weight classes to earn the victory.

That was easier said than done.

Fritzel Findeisen was caught and pinned at 152 pounds by Travis Bryd and Sean Craig was pinned by Cole Amstutz at 171.

In between, senior Jerrico Lamberton went out and defeated Taylor Jardine 15-1 to seal the victory for the Vikings.

“We did a nice job of staying off our backs,” Niles coach Todd Hesson said. “I’m telling you every dual comes down to winning the coin toss, staying off your back and getting some pins. We did it for the most part. We gave up a couple of pins there at the end. Nobody was expecting Fritzel to get pinned. I’m glad the dual didn’t come down to that.

“Jerrico wins the dual for us. Jerrico is probably of the senior class that you tend to forget about. But he’s won a lot of duals for us because he’s steady and he knows what he’s doing out there.”

The Vikings will have very little time to celebrate their win as they need to start focusing on Lowell and another shot at making history.

“In the top eighth in state was fantastic, but the semifinals or the Final Four has a nice ring to it,” Hesson said. “We know what we are up against in Lowell tomorrow.”

 

Niles…36

Tecumseh…26

189: Ryan Casey (N) d. Landon Pelham 9-3

215: Preston Pelpham (T) m.d. Travis Edwards, 14-2

285: Joe Rebottaro (T) d. Derek Scott, 4-2

103: Ricky Azelton (T) m.d. Courtland Lamberton, 17-5

112: Brendon Meek (N) t.f. Nick Wyatt, 22-7

119: Nicholas Zimmerman (N) d. Jake Hilton, 11-6

125: Darek Bullock-Mills (N) p. Luke Liuzzi, 1:06

130: Noah Hall (N) p. Wyatt Cadmus, 4:42

135: Warren Smith (N) d. Kyle Humphries, 16-9

140: Anthony Lesko (T) d. Kevin Reed, 8-1

145: Casey Burandt p. Bryan Tripp, 0:37

152: Travis Byrd (T) p. Fritzel Findeisen, 0:47

160: Jerrico Lamberton (N) m.d. Taylor Jardine, 15-1

171: Cole Amstutz (T) d. Sean Craig, 1:31