17 local grapplers earn All-State honors

It was a strong weekend at Ford Field for several area wrestlers. Four wrestlers each reached the state championship in their respective weight classes, but each finished with a second-place finish.

In total, there were 17 local wrestlers who made their way onto the podium, earning All-State accolades as a finisher inside the top eight spots for their weight classes.

Sturgis

For Sturgis, Lola Barkby wrestled to fourth place in the girls’ division at 125 pounds. Barkby made her way to the state championship match last season, but finished in second place. To begin her career with back-to-back top five finishes is a big accomplishment.

“She wrestled and worked her butt off all year,” Sturgis coach Brad Barkby said. “The support that she has received from her family and friends have been second to none.”

Barkby won three matches on the weekend. She picked up a pair of wins in her opening two bouts over Riley Marbutt of Troy (1:28) and Carlene Cowles of Whittemore-Prescott (1:17) to reach the semifinals. A close 7-6 decision saw Barkby fall to Jamie Cook of DeWitt in those semifinals. Barkby would pin Elyse Morales of Mattawan to reach the third-place match, where she fell to Arden Eschtruth of Midland.

Bronson

Bronson finished with seven wrestlers on the podium to earn All-State.

Mackenna Webster claimed third place overall at 140 pounds in the girls division. She beat Brynna Alwell of Allen Park by pinfall in 51 seconds in that third-place matchup.

Prior to that, Webster won her opening two bouts. She pinned Mya Terranova of East Lansing (2:45) and then won by technical fall, 19-4, over Alwell in the next match. Webster’s only loss at the finals came in the semifinals to Ryen Allen of Goodrich, the eventual state champion. Webster beat Emma Pendell of Montague to reach the third-place match.

Perry Lake made it to the state championship bout at 126 pounds. There, he lost by major decision to Shawn McGuire of Iron Mountain by a score of 12-3. Previous to that, Lake cruised to the finals with three straight victories by decision.

He beat Hunter Dewey of Reading 4-2, then beat Jericho Holmes of Pine River with a 2-0 score. Lake won over Tyler Winch of Iron Mountain, 5-0, to reach the finals.

The Vikings had three separate wrestlers finish fourth in their weight class — Carson Norton at 157, Jacob Britten at 175 and Matthew Blankenship at 215.

Norton wrestled six times during the weekend. He fell in the third-place match to David Hill of Muskegon Catholic Central by pinfall at 2:42. To open the finals, he beat Nolan Rowley of Bath by pinfall (3:24) before falling to Hill the first time in the next round by major decision.

Norton went on to win three straight matches — he beat Aaron Mazurek of Lakeview by pin (4:27), beat Gunner Carson of Manchester by a 10-5 decision, then beat Ryan Ling of Schoolcraft at 4-1.

Britten also wrestled six times. He fell in his first match to Colton Symons of New Lothrop by a 5-4 decision, but then won four straight bouts. He won by pinfall over Logan Hurkmans of Ishpeming (4:23) before beating CJ Copeland of Lakeview by pin at 3:54. Britten then won over Ben Gautz of Manchester at 7-2 and beat Joey Calhoun of Gabriel Richard at 4-1. In the third-place matchup, Brady Jess of Charlevoix won over Britten by a 4-3 decision.

Blankenship won three matches during the weekend.

In his opening bout, he beat Nathan Fletcher of Manchester with a score of 12-5, then knocked off Trevor Streeter of Charlevoix at 3-2 in overtime. Blankenship dropped a match to Daxton Looney of Montrose Hill-McCloy by a 7-1 decision in the next round.

Blankenship would recover with a pinfall win over Andrew Baldwin at 2:18 to reach the third-place match. There, he fell to Streeter of Charlevoix by a 5-1 decision.

Layne Knisely wrestled to fifth place overall at 138 pounds. He won the fifth-place match over Caleb Sharp by pinfall win at 1:45. Prior to that, Knisely won his opening two matches by pin as well. He beat Jacob Gillison of Benzie Central at 2:27, then pinned Grason Weber of Leslie at the 2:26 mark.

Knisely fell to Blake Sloan of Manchester 6-1 and Austin Marry of Hudson in his next two bouts to reach the fifth-place match.

Jacob Dixon placed eighth overall at 190 pounds.

He won his opening match of Landon Swanson of Charlevoix by a 4-3 decision. He then fell to Logan Sallows of Hudson by an 8-0 decision in the next round. Dixon would beat Gaven Teller of Hanover-Horton by pin at 1:46, but fell to Eli DeYoung of Gobles 6-0 to reach the seventh-place match.

In that match, he fell to Justice Onstott of St. Louis by a pinfall to earn eighth place.

Marcellus

Gabriella Allen finished second overall in the 190 pound division for the girls.

Allen pinned her way to the finals, winning her first three matches at the finals. In that championship matchup, Allen fell to Sabrina Nauss of Brighton, who remains undefeated on the season. Allen finished the season with a record of 30-5.

Constantine

Constantine finished with a pair of second-place flights at the finals.

Troy Demas at 190 and Bennett VandenBerg at 215 each reached the state championship match in their weight classes. Each lost in overtime by sudden victory, 5-3.

Demas dominated his way to the finals. He beat Tristan Lietz of Armada by pinfall in the opening round and then pinned Branson Goodman of Portland in the next. The semifinals saw Demas beat Cole Potier of Gladstone by a 3-1 decision.

In the finals, he fell to Bryson Hughes of Reed City by the 5-3 score in overtime.

VandenBerg won three straight decisions to reach the finals. He beat Jarail McKinstry of Lincoln with a 7-2 score, beat Robert LaPointe of Cheboygan with a 7-1 score and then knocked off Jackson Cook of Whitehall by a 3-1 score in the semifinals.

In the finals, VandenBerg was defeated by Elizin Rouse of Kingsford by the sudden victory in overtime.

Brody Jones wrestled to seventh place at 144 pounds. He lose his first match to Cody Ueberroth of Swan Valley but battled back to win his next two matches in the blood rounds, then falling in the third consolation round. Jones came back to beat Ueberroth in the seventh-place match by pinfall (2:13).

Mendon

Mendon’s Noah Iobe wrestled to fourth place at 285 pounds on Saturday.

Iobe won his first two matches, pinning Jerrold Atwell of Montrose (50 seconds) followed by a 6-2 decision over Alex Burhans of Evart in the next round. The semifinals saw him fall to eventual state champion Eathan Westfall of Reading by pin (1:44).

Iobe would once again beat Atwell in the consolation semifinals by a 4-1 decision. In the third-place match, he fell with a 2-0 score to Braydon Ross of Decatur.

Three Rivers

Three Rivers had three wrestlers earn All-State honors.

Talan Flowers wrestled to fourth place at 120 pounds. Flowers lost his first match to Ashton Clark of Lakewood by pinfall at 2:50 of the match.

Flowers then won the next four bouts. He pinned Brett Root (4:24) of Big Rapids and Malachi Hill (1:56) of Freeland in back-to-back matches, then won over Connor Busz of Clinton with a 15-0 technical fall match.

Flowers then beat Clark, who pinned him in the opening round, with a 7-6 decision. This put him in the third-place match, where Lucky Gartin beat Flowers by pin at 4:38.

At 157 pounds, Jeremiah Detwiler wrestled to seventh place. In that seventh-place matchup, he beat Mason Roth of Napoleon by pinfall at the 2:28 mark.

Detwiler won his first match at the finals. He beat Lee Braun of Grand Rapids Catholic Central with a score of 7-4. Detwiler then dropped two of his next three matches, but did beat Ian Cump of Millington by pinfall to secure a podium finish.

Jacob Reynolds finished eighth overall at 285.

He won his first match over Ryan VanDyke of Kingsley with a 5-2 score. Landen Roe of Birch Run then picked up a 4-3 win over Reynolds, but he would win his next match by pin over Logan Russell of Madison at the 2:15 mark. Reynolds dropped his last two matches to earn eighth place. Wyatt Spalo of Reed City won in the seventh-place match at 10-4.

White Pigeon

White Pigeon finished with a pair of All-State wrestlers.

Mazzy Lambert took fourth place at 106 pounds. In the third-place match, he fell to Colin Kuhn of St. Louis by a score of 11-2.

To get there, Lambert wrestled five previous matches. He dropped his first one, a 7-6 decision, to Stephen Priese of Hesperia. Following that, Lambert won four straight bouts — he beat Jonathan Castellanos of Gabriel Richard and Bryant Wing of Pine River by pinfalls, then beat Tyler McKenney of Capac and came back to beat Priese by decisions.

Caleb Lane wrestled to seventh place at 165 pounds. He won the seventh-place match over Easten Cook of Muskegon Catholic Central by pinfall at 4:53. Prior to that, Lane dropped his opening bout to Calix Campbell of Hudson with a pin. Lane than won two straight matches, beating William Kline of Pellston and Isaac Paull of Rogers City. Logan Ryan of Hudson beat Lane to send him to the seventh-place match.

There were also several wrestlers who were able to reach the state finals, but did not place on the podium.For Bronson Aiden Fill at 113, Owen Kimmons at 120, Logan Long at 126, Drew Seekman at 150, Mason Lindsey at 157 and Zoay Herbert in the girls’ division each reached Ford Field and the finals, but did not place.

For Constantine, that included Bear Geibe at 126 and Gregg Reed at 285. Three Rivers’ Lilly Ruesink (girls, 130), Landon Moreland at 144, Louis Smith at 150 and Lloyd Ruesink at 190 all reached the state finals but did not place.

White Pigeon’s Drew Johnson at 120 also did not place.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: 17 local grapplers earn All-State honors