BATTLE CREEK — After going 53 years between MHSAA Regional championships, the Niles Vikings’ hoisted its second consecutive championship trophy Wednesday night in Battle Creek as it defeated Edwardsburg 46-16 in the finals.

Niles defeated Three Rivers 46-21 in the semifinals. Edwardsburg advanced with a 44-30 win over Battle Creek Central.

An elated Vikings’ coach Todd Hesson was pleased to see that all of his team’s hard work came to fruition at the right time.

“This is what we’ve worked so hard for day in and day out,” he said. “We started this season with some pretty ambitious goals and here we are in the very late stages of the season with all of our goals still within our reach. You can’t really ask for much more than that.”

The only true adversity the Vikings face on the day was at the onset of the semifinal match against the Wildcats. Niles dropped the first three bouts of the contest, but rallied by winning the next nine matches to pull away for good.

The Vikings seized control of the finals match out of the gate and cruised over Edwardsburg for the title.

Darek Bullock-Mills and Noah Hall, each picked up two pin-fall victories on the day for the Vikings, while Mitchell Findeisen, Warren Smith, Quintin Smith, Josh Dayhuff and Brendon Meek each added 2-0 performances for Niles.

Niles now advances to the MHSAA State Finals, which will be held at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek on Feb. 21-22.

“We’ve worked hard to get to where we are, we plan on working even harder to get to where we want to be, and where we want to be is on the mat come Feb. 22 with a state championship on the line. It means a lot to the kids, the coaches and the community. We’ll be ready,” Hesson said.

Tournament seeding for the finals will be officially released on Sunday evening.

Division 2 Regional

At Battle Creek Harper Creek

Championship Match

Niles — 46

Edwardsburg — 16

103: Michael Higley (E) p. Andrew Flick 3:58; 112: Brendon Meek (N) p. Dylan Dixon 5:27; 119: Josh Dayhuff (N) d. Hunter Vargo 8-3; 125: Mitch Findeisen (N) d. Dustin Vires 7-6; 130: Darek Bullock-Mills (N) p. Keathley Marks 2:15; 135: Noah Hall (N) p. Patrick Snyder 1:39; 140: Warren Smith (N) d. Austin Cline 7-2; 145: Quintin Smith (N) p. T.J. Vanderheyden 2:58; 152: Joey Hess (E) d. Fred Kemp 15-4’; 160: Jarrett Wood (E) d. Chris Frantz 8-3; 171: Sean Craig (N) d. Tyler Williamson 10-2; 189: Blake Parsons (E) d. Cody Thornton 14-12; 215: Wyatt Thornton (N) p. Devin Hays :30; 285: Ted Jackowiak (N) d. Brandon Cooper 11-5

Records: Niles 20-4, Edwardsburg 20-4

 

Semifinals

Niles — 46

Three Rivers — 21

103: Andrew Flick (N) d. Evan Griffioen 9-1; 112: Brendon Meek (N) won by forfeit; 119: Josh Dayhuff (N) d. Jordan Blades, injury default; 125: Mitch Findeisen (N) t.f. over Ben Vanscoik 22-6; 130: Darek Bullock-Mills (N) p. Clayton Arney 1:02; 135: Warren Smith (N) p. Mike Vidmar 4:39; 140: Noah Hall (N) p. Connor McElroy 1:33; 145: Quintin Hall (N) d. John Apel 5-4; 152: Fred Kemp (N) d. Dallas Todd 16-5; 160: Shawn Brew (T) won by forfeit; 171: Bailey Miholer (T) p. Lane Wells 1:36; 189: Brandon Verwey (T) d. Cody Thornton 11-4; 215: Sam Harris (T) d. Ted Jackowiak 4-2; 285: Dallas Recker (T) d. Alex Bata 6-3

Record: Three Rivers 21-9

 

Edwardsburg — 44

Battle Creek Central — 30

103: Michael Higley (E) won by forfeit; 112: Dylan Dixon (E) p. David Smith :45; 119: Donovan Marshall (B) p. Hunter Vargo 3:54; 125: Dustin Vires (E) d. Jameson Browne 16-8; 130: Keathley Marks (E) d. Peter Harris 6-3; 135: Patrick Snyder (E) t.f. over Cheyann Phipps 17-1; 140: Lucas Marks (E) p. Ricardo Segovia 1:04; 145: .T. J. Vanderheyden (E) p. Brenton Collins 1:40; 152: Kenny Grayer (B) p. Joey Hess 5:05; 160: Jarrett Wood (E) d. Brandon Crum 15-3; 171: Jacob Taylor (B) p. Jacob Herman 3:27; 189: Blake Parsons (E) d. Jallen Johnson 14-5; 215: Trent Taylor (B) p. Devin Hays 5:15; 285: Jace Trevino (B) p. Brandon Cooper :47

Record: Battle Creek Central 13-12