Quincy wrestling places 3rd in Big 8 standings; Orioles boast 2 champions, 10 total All Big 8

(Editor’s Note: Because of the tremendous amount of success of all three local teams when it comes to their efforts on the mat, all three teams and their results will appear in their own separate story. This particular story will recap the results of the Quincy Orioles.)

QUINCY, MI. — The Coolest Gym in Michigan played host to the 2022-23 Big 8 Conference Wrestling Championship in a long Saturday of intense and exciting action.

The Bronson Vikings capped off a dominant conference season Saturday, officially wrapping up the Big 8 conference championship with a win at Saturday’s event. The Vikings finished their dual meet schedule unbeaten at 7-0 and officially became conference champions, reascending to the thrown with a win at Quincy High School with a score of 169 points. Bronson boasted four weight class champions, three runner-up finishes, two third place finish and two fourth place honors, for a total of 10 All Conference honorees.

The Union City Chargers finished in second place at Saturday’s event with a score of 161.5 points and with their 5-2 dual meet record officially wrapped up second place honors in the conference. Union City finished the day with five weight class champions, two runner-up finishers, one third place finish and one fourth place finish for a total of nine All Conference honors.

The up and coming Quincy Orioles finished in third place overall at the tournament with 143.5 points. thanks to two weight class champions, three runner-up finishes, two third place honorees and three fourth place honorees.

Rounding out the end of season standings was the Jonesville Comets in fourth place with 96.5 points; Reading in fifth place with 92 points; Homer in sixth place with 85 points; Springport in seventh place with 52 points; and Concord in eighth place with 26.5 points.

The Quincy Orioles had two Big 8 conference champions on the day as senior Davin George secured his second straight Big 8 crown while freshman Chayse Jensen took his first.

Senior Davin George (29-3) had little trouble earning his second straight Big 8 title, taking the crown at 190 pounds this season after securing the title at 189 pounds last year. Kicking off his run to the gold George took a bye, followed by a pin fall win over Joey Campbell of Reading in 2:32, setting up a championship bout with Isaac Shively of Jonesville. George controlled the pace of the bout on his way to a 8-1 decision win and the gold medal finish.

Freshman Chayse Jensen (28-9) continues his ascent to elite status with a championship win at 106 pounds Saturday at the Big 8 tournament. Jensen just secured his first individual title last week and has since added a Big 8 conference crown after besting the field on Saturday. Jensen started the run with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win over Nate Fritz of Concord in 1:06, setting up a championship match with Landon Winder of Homer. Jensen controlled the match from start to finish, winning the gold with a 9-2 decision.

Quincy had three runner-up finishes as Caleb Rose took second place at 120 pounds and Jacob Reif took second place at 132 pounds, while Hamilton Spieth took runner-up honors at 215 pounds.

Rose (25-10) took second place at 120 pounds after falling to Bronson’s Owen Kimmons in the finale via pin fall in :23 seconds. To reach the finals Rose earned a first round bye followed by a second round 17-13 decision win over Austin Owens of Homer, setting up the title bout with Kimmons.

At 132 pounds it was Reif (32-2) earning runner-up honors after falling to three time conference champion and defending state champion Landyn Crance of Union City via a 3-2 decision. Reif earned a first round bye, followed by a 21-5 tech fall win over Lukas Selph of Reading, setting up the title match. In a bout against two of the very best wresters in the conference regardless of weight, Crance earned a takedown in the third period and held off a hard charging Reif to take the 3-2 decision, giving Reif a very respectable runner-up finish.

At 215 pounds it was Speith (15-8) taking runner-up honors after falling to Union City’s Grady Iobe via a 7-0 decision in the finals. Speith started off his silver medal run with a first round bye, followed by a hard fought 4-3 decision over Bronson’s Matthew Blankenship, setting up the championship bout with Iobe. Speith battled and kept off his back but it was Iobe scoring all the points in the 7-0 win, giving Speith the solid second place finish.

Also earning All Conference honors for Quincy with a top four finish was Conner Guthrie with a fourth place finish at 150 pounds; Michael Daniels with a third place finish at 157 pounds; Landon Beardin with a fourth place finish at 165 pounds; Gavin Peet with a third place finish at 175 pounds; and Lucas Dixon with a fourth place finish at 285 pounds.

The Quincy Orioles will now look to the MHSAA postseason tournament with eyes on postseason glory as they will travel to Hillsdale on Wednesday for the Division Three Team District tournament.

Full Big 8 Conference Results

106 pounds- Chayse Jensen (Quincy) 28-9 over Landon Winder (Homer) 26-11, via a 9-2 decision

113 pounds- Logan Mears (Union City) 28-6 over Aiden Fill (Bronson) 9-3, via pin fall in :46 seconds

120 pounds- Owen Kimmons (Bronson) 28-11 over Caleb Rose (Quincy) 25-10, via pin fall in :23 seconds

126 pounds- David Becker (Springport) 32-4 over Perry Lake (Bronson) 33-5, via a 3-1 decision

132 pounds- Landyn Crance (Union City) 32-2 over Jacob Reif (Quincy) 33-2, via a 3-2 decision

138 pounds- Layne Knisely (Bronson) 33-6 over Aidan Taylor (Union City) 25-6, via pin fall in 3:44

144 pounds- Derek Ballinger (Jonesville) 20-5 over Montana Connell (Union City) 20-9, via a 3-2 decision

150 pounds- Colton Russell (Union City) 32-5 over Drew Seekman (Bronson) 28-9, via a 8-3 decision

157 pounds- Maddox Miller (Union City) 23-11 over Rylinn Hale (Springport) 23-11, via pin fall in 5:13

165 pounds- Carson Norton (Bronson) 34-6 over Austin Bowers (Jonesville) 20-6, via a 9-6 decision

175 pounds- Jacob Britten (Bronson) 36-4 over Lukas Strine (Reading) 18-12, via a 6-0 decision

190 pounds- Davin George (Quincy) 29-3 over Isaac Shively (Jonesville) 30-7, via a 8-1 decision

215 pounds- Grady Iobe (Union City) 26-1 over Hamilton Spieth (Quincy) 15-8, via a 7-0 decision

285 pounds- Eathan Westfall (Reading) 33-0 over Cooper Stevens (Jonesville) 20-13, via pin fall in :35 seconds

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Quincy wrestling places 3rd in Big 8 standings