Hard-working Jefferson wrestling reaches end of state-tournament road
KALAMAZOO – Expectations have changed for Jefferson's wrestling team.
Nathan Masserant said that when he was a freshman three years ago, the Bears didn't think about the state team tournament.
Then former coach Mike Humphrey, with Ryan Nadeau as his trusted assistant, made the bold move to voluntarily move Jefferson up from Division 3 to Division 2.
Suddenly the Bears had a new goal.
Rather than beating their head against the wall in the team state tournament against Dundee every year, they had a good chance of reaching the final eight in the state.
“When I was a freshman, we never thought about (team) state,” Masserant said. “Then, when I was a sophomore, we got here (the the Wings Events Center) and I thought, 'Wow, this is so big.' Now, we've been here three years in a row.”
The novelty has worn off a bit, but the Bears don't take state for granted.
That why even though the Bears were eliminated 44-22 by Goodrich in the Division 2 state quarterfinals Friday, there were still a lot of smiles in the Jefferson huddle afterwards.
“Our guys just work hard and try to improve,” Masserant said. “Our seniors just wanted a chance to stand right here.”
Nadeau, now the head coach of the Bears, said that philosophy has served his team well.
“We don't look at the big picture,” he said. “We just work hard.”
Nadeau admitted the his team team ran into a better opponent Friday.
“Goodrich is really good,” he said.
Jefferson got a 4-2 win by Ryder Mulherin at 126 pounds to open the dual meet and stayed close early as John Allen (144) picked an 8-3 win and Martre Pearson (157) earned a major decision.
But the only points for the Bears the rest of the evening came on a pin by Masserant at 215 and a forfeit accepted by Tyler Vanderpool at 113
Nadeau knows one thing – his team worked hard enough to win.
“The team worked hard for 14 consecutive weeks,” he said. “I was starting to get worried about them because they never let down.
“These guys were super classy and well behaved the whole time.”
Nadeau will be looking for more of the same next year. Only four wrestlers on the 18-2 team were seniors.
“Expectations will be high,” he said. “We'll get right back to work. We have to keep the tradition going.”
What did Nadeau learn in his first season as head coach?
“It was more fun than I thought it would be,” he said. “We had a heck of a lot of fun. I would come to practice every day and it would be the bright spot of my day.”
STATE QUARTERFINALS
Goodrich 44, Jefferson 22
126: Ryder Mulherin, J, d. Jaden Davis, 4-2.
132: Heremius Cheff , G, tf. Ty Rose, 17-1.
138: Brody Orcutt, G, p. Gary Rice, 1:03.
144: John Allen, J, d. Luke Francis, 8-3.
152: Keegan Switzenburg, G, d. Carter Simota, 5-2.
157: Martre Pearson, J, md. John Golic, 12-4.
165: Max Macklem, G, tf, Andy Cousino, 22-6.
175: Brady Benson, G, d. Seth Minney, 8-3.
190: Easton Phipps, G, p. Malachi Pribyl, 1:40.
215: Nathan Masserant, J, p. Chance Carlson, 3:01.
285: James Mahon, G, p. Gabe Hall, 1:57.
106: Dylan Angelo, G, p. Daniel Allen, 2:46.
113: Tyler Vanderpool, J, wins by forfeit.
120: Ethan Garza, G, md. Issac Masserant, 10-1.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Hard-working Jefferson wrestling reaches end of state-tournament road
