Kempton moves on to state finals
Area wrestling teams will be well represented at the Michigan High School Athletic Association state finals March 1-3 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Brandywine, Buchanan, Cassopolis, Dowagiac, Edwardsburg and Niles advanced a total of 12 grapplers to the finals.
Niles led the way with five qualifiers, while Buchanan and Brandywine each had two wrestlers advance. Dowagiac, Edwardsburg and Cassopolis each had one wrestler move on.
Buchanan’s Gage Hutchison was the lone champion as he remained undefeated on the season. Hutchison (53-0, 39 pins) is the No. 1-ranked wrestler in Division 3 at 215 pounds. He defeated Tyler Gruszka of Comstock Park in the championship round 10-3.
The Bucks’ Jeff Mucha (50-6) finished third at 135, while Dowagiac’s Jacob Worthington (31-9) was fourth at 119.
In Division 2, Niles’ Brendon Meek (103), Casey Burandt (135), Fritzel Findeisen (152), Donte Stevens (145) and Ryan Casey (189) will all wrestle in the state finals next week.
Burandt (32-12) was second after falling to Andrew Kidd of Sturgis 4-2, while Findeisen (44-5) was second after getting pinned by Nick Starzec of Mason in 2:52.
Casey (39-7) was third after winning by injury default over Bobby Albert of Mason. Meek (36-11) lost to Blain Dempsey of Mattawan 18-1 and Stevens (33-8) lost to Sean Houghton of Mason 4-1.
Edwardsburg’s Michael Kempton (26-4) finished third at 130 pounds after pinning Michael Cagney of Jackson Parma Western in 1:29.
In Division 4, Brandywine’s Victor Moranchel (27-19) was third at 103 pounds and Chanc Ravish (46-3) was third at 103. Cassopolis’ Dominic Forbes (44-3) was third at 189.
Moranchel defeated Pat Lynch of Watervliet 14-9 in the consolation finals, while teammate Ravish pinned Tyler Britten of Mendon in 2:16.
Forbes defeated Adam Borah of Bangor 11-8.
Division 3 Individual Regional
At Otsego
Championship Finals
103: Logan Irey (Whitehall) d. Jackson Lambdin (Allendale) 7-2; 112: Luke Jensen (Allendale) d. Luke Spotts (Fremont) injury default; 119: Andy Caffrey (Parchment) d. Kody Hukill (Otsego) injury default; 125: Nick Ross (Comstock Park) t.f. over Anthony Duncan (South Haven) 16-0; 130: Alberto Lopez (Otsego) d. Theorn Blake (Fremont) 6-5; 135: Jordon Bennett (Lake Odessa Lakewood) d. Larry Bulson (Newaygo) 9-2; 140: Johnny Wiggers (Fremont) p. Eric Dennis (Otsego) 1:30; 145: Dillon McCarthy (Whitehall) d. Shane Chapman (Paw Paw) 9-7; 152: Jordan Betham (Lakeview) d. Steven Sika (Whitehall) 6-2; 160: Ryan Connell (Grant) d. Tyler Bachelor (Allendale) 5-4; 171: Dillon Francisco (Comstock Park) d. Cory Livingston (Otsego) 3-1 (OT); 189: Colin Beebe (Allendale) d. Joe Main (Lakeview) 3-2 (OT); 215: Gage Hutchison (Buchanan) d. Tyler Gruszka (Comstock Park) 10-3; 285: Logan Morningstar (Whitehall) d. Nick Daily (Berrien Springs) 3-1
Consolation Finals
103: Cody Veltkamp (Central Montcalm) d. Holden Dunklee (Otsego) injury default; 112: Matt Chavez (Otsego) d. Che Eddie (Coloma) injury default; 119: Nate Manthei (Whitehall) d. Jacob Worthington (Dowagiac) 7-2; 125: Johnny Johnson (Otsego) m.d. over Alex Whitener (Whitehall) 12-0; 130: Tyler Dempsey (Delton-Kellogg) d. Josh Couturier (Whitehall) 12-8; 135: Jeff Mucha (Buchanan) d. John Weldon (Comstock Park) injury default; 140: Luke Pahl (Comstock Park) d. Joe English (Grand Rapids Catholic) 3-1; 145: Jimmy Renberg (Hopkins) d. Roy Herpin (Battle Creek Pennfield) 8-7; 152: Isaac Jensen (Allendale) d. Cody Douglas (Belding) 10-4; 160: Cameron Lewis (Whitehall) d. Tom Terburg (Comstock) 8-2; 171: Joe Sika (Whitehall) d. Zack Johnston (Belding) 12-7; 189: Logan Potter (Whitehall) p. Alex Clemons (Fennville) 2:22; 215: Taylor Gohn (Allendale) d. Arlando Lopez (Berrien Springs) 14-3; 285: Garrett Hyatt (Lake Odessa Lakewood) p. Tony Brechting (Grand Rapids West Catholic) 1:51
Division 2 Individual Regional
At Mason
Championship Finals
103: David Melendez (St. Joseph) d. Zeke Breuninger (Dexter) 13-7; 112: Ryan Carroll (Jackson Parma Western) m.d. over Aaron Ward (Lakeshore) 11-2; 119: Tyler Daniel (St. Joseph) d. Jaedin Sklapsky (Eaton Rapids) injury default; 125: Austin Nusbaum (Sturgis) m.d. over Aaron David (Lansing Eastern) 12-3; 130: Jake Klingaman (Jackson Northwest) p. Chase Roney (Fenton) 3:22; 135: Andrew Kidd (Sturgis) d. Casey Burandt (Niles) 4-2; 140: Travis Dragomer (Lakeshore) p. Rylen Droscha (Mason) 1:51; 145: Caleb Huff (Sturgis) d. Austin Cottongim (Fowlerville) 4-1; 152: Nick Starzec (Mason) p. Fritzel Findeisen (Niles) 2:52: 160: Drew Barnes (Dexter) p. Elijah Dennis (Lansing Eastern) :33; 171: Brett Dempsey (Mattawan) d. Mike Hovater (Chelsea) 5-3; 189: Matt Hueckel (Battle Creek Harper Creek) m.d. over Jeff Fisher (Linden) 12-1; 215: Brian Moran (Fowlerville) t.f. over Kyle Spear (Lakeshore) 18-3; 285: Adam Coon (Fowlerville) d. Adam Robinson (Mason) 10-3
Consolation Finals
103: Blain Dempsey (Mattawan) t.f. over Brenden Meek (Niles) 18-1; 112: Kyle Abdellatif (Ypsilanti) d. Ben Doll (Chelsea) 5-2; 119: Steve Bleise (Chelsea) m.d. over Noah Hanau (Lakeshore) 13-1; 125: Patrick Blommel (Lakeshore) d. Duane Brown (Jackson Northwest) 8-7; 130: Michael Kempton (Edwardsburg) p. Michael Cagney (Jackson Parma Western) 1:29; 135: Anthony Simmons (Ypsilanti) p. Tanner Jewell (Jackson Parma Western) 1:51; 140: Chris Ketchmark (St. Joseph) m.d. over Hunter Chesher (Jackson Northwest) 11-3; 145: Sean Houghton (Mason) d. Donte Stevens (Niles) 4-1; 152: Corey Kerstetter (Jackson Parma Western) p. Preston Wetzel (Fenton) 1:17; 160: Thomas Beebe (Mason) p. J.P. McDougall (Lakeshore) 1:27; 171: Austin Droscha (Mason) p. Mike Gould (St. Joseph) 4:24; 189: Ryan Casey (Niles) d. Bobby Albert (Mason) injury default; 215: Trent Hurd (Eaton Rapids) p. Luke Patterson (South Lyon East) 1:29; 285: Kyle Carlson (Lakeshore) p. Shawn Chamberlain (Dexter) 3:28
Division 4 Individual Regional
At Constantine
Championship Finals
103: Kyle Barkovich (Lawton) d. Hunter Bell (Decatur) 1-0; 112: Luke Bell (Decatur) d. Ivan Gallegos (Covert) 4-3; 119: Hunter Machus (Bronson) m.d. over Stephon Willis (Bangor) 12-0; 125: Brock Thumm (Watervliet) p. Kahle Scheenks (Bronson) :52; 130: Logan Curry (Martin) d. Patrick Waterstradt (Athens) 8-6; 135: John Tullos (White Pigeon) d. Ryan Hunt (Martin) 8-3; 140: Kyle Miller (Lawton) p. Dan Isbrecht (Watervliet) 4:02; 145: Travis Martin (Watervliet) t.f. over Zach McAndrew (Lawrence) 15-0; 152: Colton Callaway (Lawton) d. Ben Mallo (Constantine) 7-5; 160: Zach Birkhead (Bangor) d. T.J. Hess (Eau Claire) 9-5; 171: Brett Thumm (Watervliet) p. Johnathon Scott (Eau Claire) 3:33; 189: Brad Thomas (Watervliet) d. Nathan Luce (Bloomingdale) 5-2; 215: McKinnon Elkins (Martin) m.d. over Alex Reid (Vermontville Maple Valley) 10-0; 285: Jaxon DeHaven (Watervliet) p. Zack Kennedy (Decatur) 5:51
Consolation Finals
103: Victor Moranchel (Brandywine) d. Pat Lynch (Watervliet) 14-9; 112: Jake Littlefield (Bronson) p. Marcus Rodriguez (Watervliet) 1:42; 119: Austin McClish (Mendon) m.d. over Justin Counterman (Union City) 9-1; 125: Ryan Smit (Decatur) p. Cole Menck (Lawton) :59; 130: Chanc Ravish (Brandywine) p. Tyler Britten (Mendon) 2:16; 135: Corless Parker (Bangor) d. Arin Reyna (Covert) 4-2; 140: David McNealy (Bangor) d. Brandon Losinski (Bronson) 7-3; 145: Dakota Hard (Quincy) d. Kysean Wright (Covert) 7-5; 152: Cash Flower (Vermontville Maple Valley) m.d. over Jesse Ring (Galesburg-Augusta) 19-9; 160: Jeremiah Waterman (Constantine) p. Weston DeHaven (Watervliet) 2:34; 171: Jacinto Arreola (Hartford) d. Dominck Rogers (Constantine) 8-4; 189: Dominic Forbes (Cassopolis) d. Adam Borah (Bangor) 11-8; 215: Mario Aburto (Covert) d. Adan Barajas (Hartford) 9-7; 285: Seth Robinson (Marcellus) p. Andrew Turner (Constantine) :52