Nine medals pace D4 #7 Union City wrestling to second straight Grover Wrestling Invite title

CONCORD, MI. — The Division 4 seventh ranked Union City Charger wrestling team traveled to Concord on Saturday to compete in the Grover Wrestling Invitational. Union City finished atop the overall standings yet again, bringing home their second straight Concord Invite championship with a score of 191 points.

The Reading Rangers finished in second place in the tournament with 168 points, followed by the Quincy Orioles who finished in third place with 130 points (results for the Quincy Orioles effort at the Concord Invite will appear in their own, separate story). Jonesville finished in fourth place, followed by Centreville, Olivet, Ovid-Elsie, Hanover-Horton, Sand Creek, Athens, Concord, Colon and Tekonsha (results will also appear in a separate article).

Nine total Chargers brought home a medal from the invite, including six weight class champions, two runner up finishes and one third place finish. Indiviudal champions include sophomore Alex Boyer at 126 pounds, junior Landyn Crance at 132 pounds, sophomore Montana Connell at 144 pounds, senior Colton Russell at 150 pounds, junior Maddox Miller at 157 pounds, and senior Grady Iobe at 215 pounds.

Earning runner-up finishes was sophomore Logan Mears at 113 pounds and sophomore Mason Hawthorne at 120 pounds while sophomore Aidan Taylor took third place at 138 pounds.

While all nine medals were impressive in their own right, one of the most impressive pieces of hardware came thanks to the efforts of unranked sophomore Alex Boyer who brought home his first varsity championship with his win at 126 pounds. Boyer kicked off his run to the title with a pin fall win over Concord’s Jordyan Metcalf in :26 seconds, followed by a hard fought win over Hunter Dewey of Reading, the 9th ranked wrestler at 132 pounds D4, winning by a 5-2 decision. With that win Boyer punched his ticket to the finals to face off with the 2nd ranked wrestler at 126 pounds in Hanover Horton’s David Fielder. Boyer battled hard and brought home the win, defeating the number two ranked wrestler via an 11-7 decision.

The defending D4 125 pound state champion and currently top ranked wrestler at the new 132 pounds weight class, Landyn Crance, brought home the gold medal at 132 pounds, going 2-0 on the day. Crance received a quarterfinal bye to start the day, followed by a pin fall win over Gavin Berkeypile of Hanover Horton in :43 seconds, setting up a big matchup with Quincy’s Jacob Reif, one of the top wrestlers at 132 pounds in Division 3. It was a back and forth battle that Crance eventually claimed in the final moments, winning by a 5-4 decision and taking home the gold.

Also bringing home his first championship win at the varsity level was sophomore Montana Connell, a state qualifier from last season, who took home the championship of the 144 pound weight class. Connell started off his day with a 7-4 decision win over Carsom Playford of Jonesville, followed by a pin fall win over Noah Brooks of Centreville in 3:18, setting up a championship match with Reading’s Jacob Hamilton. A long battle ensued until Connell was able to turn his opponent, winning via pin fall in 5:58 to take the gold.

One of the stalwarts of the Charger lineup and 100 match winner Colton Russell, a senior and All State wrestler from last season, brought home the top spot in the 150 pound weight class after going 3-0 on the day. Russell earned three hard fought pin fall victories, starting off with a win in :28 seconds over Jonesville’s Fisher Potts, followed by a pin fall win over Lukas Brooks of Centreville in 1:29. In the finals it was Russell facing off with Landen Bartley of Olivet, a match that Russell would take via pin fall in 4:22 to secure the title.

One other Charger secured his first varsity gold medal as junior Maddox Miller bested the field in the 157 pound weight class for the championship. Miller kicked off the day with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win in the quarterfinals over Ovid Elsie’ Chaycen Thornton in 2:37. In the semifinals it was Miller taking another pin fall win, defeating Colon’s Chuck Wagoner in 3:35, setting up a championship bout with Centreville’s Chasten Wyckoff. Miller was finally able to turn his opponent and secure the pin fall win in 2:47 to take home the gold.

At 215 pounds it was the second ranked wrestler in the state and the returning third place finisher at 215 pounds, 100 match winner Grady Iobe, bringing home the championship. Iobe made quick work of his three opponents, only leaving the first round once the entire day. Iobe kicked off the day with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win over Colon’s Wyatt Downs in :19 seconds in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals it was Iobe defeating Luke Follett of Ovid Elsie via pin fall in 2:36, setting up a championship match versus Quincy’s Hamilton Spieth. Iobe quickly took Spieth down and turned him, taking home the pin fall win in :19 seconds to claim the gold medal.

Earning runner-up honors at 113 pounds was state runner-up at 103 pounds from last season, sophomore Logan Mears. Mears started the day with a bye before defeating Quincy’s Chase Jensen in :52 seconds, advancing on to the finals to face Ovid-Elsie’s Talan Parsons. Parsons went on to win the match, holding Mears scoreless in the 3-0 decision, giving Mears the silver medal.

Also taking silver was sophomore Mason Hawthorne at 120 pounds. Hawthorne kicked off the day with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win over Hanover Horton’s Jason Bearden in 1:14, setting up the championship bout with A.J. Fielder of Hanover Horton. It was a closely contest matchup but in the end it was Fielder taking the 6-4 decision, giving Hawthorne the very impressive runner-up finish.

The final medal of the day for Union City came at 138 pounds where sophomore state finalist Aidan Taylor finished in third place. Taylor kicked off his bronze medal run with a pin fall win over Braxton Harker of Centreville in :44 seconds, advancing on to face Cole Workman of Ovid Elsie in the semifinals. In another hotly contest matchup it was Workman defeating Taylor by the slimmest of margins, winning via a 4-3 decision, sending Taylor to the consolation bracket. In the consolation semifinals Taylor defeated Clayton Juhas of Ovid Elsie via pin fall in 3:23, setting up a third place matchup with Collin Thompson of Concord. Taylor controlled the bronze medal match, defeating Thompson via a 12-0 Major Decision to bring home the hardware.

Also wrestling hard on the day for Union City was sophomore Andrew Tundevold who finished 3-2 at 138 pounds and John Olmstead who finished 0-2 at 175 pounds.

Weight class champions are as follows:

106 pounds- Rockne Hamilton of Centreville defeated Brock Glispy of Athens via pin fall in 3:32113 pounds- Talan Parson of Ovid-Elsie defeated Logan Mears of Union City via 3-0 decision120 pounds- A.J. Fielder of Hanover Horton defeated Mason Hawthorne of Union City via 6-4 decision126 pounds- Alex Boyer of Union City defeated David Fielder of Hanover Horton via a 11-7 decision132 pounds- Landyn Crance of Union City defeated Jacob Reif of Quincy via a 5-4 decision138 pounds- Lukas Selph of Reading defeated Cole Workman of Ovid Elsie via pin fall in 1:36144 pounds- Montana Connell of Union City defeated Jacob Hamilton of Reading via pin fall in 5:58150 pounds- Colton Russell of Union City defeated Landen Bartley of Olivet via pin fall in 4:22157 pounds- Maddox Miller of Union City defeated Chasten Wyckoff of Centreville via pin fall in 2:47165 pounds- Tyler Schofield of Olivet defeated Austin Bowers of Jonesville via a 20-5 Technical Fall175 pounds- Gavin Peet of Quincy defeated Lukas Strine of Reading by a 4-3 decision190 pounds- Davin George of Quincy defeated Isaac Shively of Jonesville by a 9-2 decision215 pounds- Grady Iobe of Union City defeated Hamilton Spieth of Quincy via pin fall in :19285 pounds- Eathan Westfall of Reading defeated Laken Piepkow of Olivet via pin fall in :22

Union City wrestling will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Brandywine for a non-conference double dual.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Nine medals pace Union City wrestling to second straight Grover Wrestling Invite title