Brighton, Fowlerville teammates clash for regional wrestling titles

Two Livingston County wrestlers had to beat teammates to win individual regional championships Saturday.

Brighton sophomore Easton Hardesty won a 3-2 decision over sophomore teammate Jackson Johnson in the 126-pound championship match at the Division 1, Region 2 tournament at Byron Center.

Hardesty (30-14), ranked eighth in the weight class by MichiganGrappler.com, flipped a 3-2 decision that he lost to third-ranked Jackson (32-6) in the district championship match one week earlier.

In the Division 2, Region 7 tournament at Jackson Northwest, Fowlerville senior Dalton Daniel won a 3-1 decision over sophomore teammate Levi Baker in the 126-pound title match. The two didn’t meet during the district tournament, where Daniel (41-6) placed first and Baker (32-14) fourth.

Brighton also had two qualifiers in the same weight class at 106, where freshman Ethan Smith (30-12) was second and freshman Drake Pollins (25-17) took third. They didn’t meet during the tournament.

Brighton’s other state qualifiers were returning all-staters Travis Richardson (26-6), a senior who took first at 150 with a 6-3 decision over second-ranked Colby Klinger (36-4) of Mattawan, and junior Zak Knapp (32-7), who was second at 157.

Richardson avenged a 10-7 loss to Klinger in the district championship match.

Howell had eight regional qualifiers, but senior Zac Egan was the only one who qualified for the state tournament March 3-4 at Ford Field in Detroit. Egan (30-11) placed fourth.

Fowlerville had three other state qualifiers for a total of five, its largest group for a boys state tournament since five Gladiators advanced in 2013.

Junior Ben Blyveis (42-2) won the 150-pound championship with a 6-0 decision over Chelsea senior Elijah Ratliff.

Also qualifying for Fowlerville were freshman Layne O’Neil (37-16), who placed third at 175, and junior Richard Davis (37-15), who was fourth at 190.

Pinckney senior Brady Raymond (40-7) qualified for the state tournament for the third time in his three seasons on the team, placing second at 175.

Hockey

Hartland 5, Saginaw Heritage 1

Jack L’Esperance continued his hot scoring pace, producing two goals and one assist in Hartland’s regular-season finale. L’Esperance has 15 goals and seven assists in the last nine games.

Lucas Henry, Nick Halonen and Jacob Lewis had the other goals for Hartland (19-6), which broke a 1-1 tie with two goals early in the second period.

Gymnastics

KLAA championship

Hartland finished second with 141.125 points, Howell was fourth with 139.475 and Brighton was fifth with 139.425. Salem won with 141.9.

Junior Brooke Zapfe was eighth on vault (8.9), ninth on beam (8.8), 10th on vault (8.8) ninth all-around (34.975) to lead Hartland.

Delaney Gomolka was fifth on beam (9.125) and 10th all-around (34.75); Allie Goyt was seventh on beam (9.0) and eighth on vault (8.9).

Howell’s Kayla Forsyth was third all-around in Division 1 (36.575), placing second on vault (9.4) and bars (9.35), sixth on floor (9.125) and eighth on beam (8.9).

Howell’s Maria Petru was fourth all-around (36.025), placing second on bars (9.35), third on vault (9.15) and fourth on floor (9.325).

Brighton’s Anna Browne was sixth all-around (35.8), taking fifth on floor (9.15), sixth on beam (9.1) and 10th on bars (8.6).

Among Division 2 gymnasts, Brighton’s Courtney Baylerian was first all-around (3.175) and Talia Richards was sixth (34.1).

Baylerian was first on vault (9.1), tied for third with Richards on beam (9.15) and seventh on floor (8.875). Richards was sixth on floor (8.9). Howell’s Sophia Speer was third on vault (8.85) and teammate Anna Lay was fourth on beam (9.0).

Skiing

KLAA championship

Brighton’s girls won the five-school meet at Mt. Brighton with 28 points, beating runner-up Hartland by 54. Howell was fifth with 106.

Brighton senior Isabella Militello won slalom and giant slalom. Abby Storch was third in both events, while Ava Popov was second in slalom and fourth in giant slalom for the Bulldogs. Howell’s Alanna Fischer was second in giant slalom.

Northville won the boys meet with 44 points, followed by Hartland (81), Brighton (107) and Howell (148).

Brighton’s John Popov won slalom and giant slalom and teammate Hunter Post was second in slalom. Howell’s Alex Cotton was third in each event. Hartland’s Bryce Wheeler was fifth in giant slalom.

Bowling

KLAA tournament

Jimmy Chmielewski rolled a 243 for Brighton, which was seventh in the qualifying round and lost to Belleville in the first round of match play.

Brighton’s girls were 11th, failing to reach match play.

Girls basketball

Brighton 65, Grand Ledge 52

Mary Copple scored 28 points, had six steals and dished out four assists for Brighton (13-8), which won its fourth straight game after a five-game losing streak.

Julia Viau had nine points, while Liv Lutz and Makena Smith each had eight for the Bulldogs.

Brighton will play at Belleville Tuesday in its KLAA crossover. Howell will visit Livonia Stevenson and Hartland will play at Dearborn in other crossovers on the final week of the regular season.

RELATED: Julia Viau sparks Brighton basketball comeback over Canton

Charyl Stockwell 36, Novi Christian 14

Jordan Knight scored 12 points to lead Stockwell (8-10).

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton, Fowlerville teammates clash for regional wrestling titles