Union City wrestling secures runner-up honors in Big 8; Chargers boast 5 champions, 9 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 Big 8 runner-up, the Union City Chargers)

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 honor 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.

Union City had five conference champions on the day to go along with two runner-up finishes, one bronze medal winner and one fourth place finisher.

Union City sophomore Logan Mears (28-6) wrapped up his second straight Big 8 conference title this year, taking the title at 113 pounds after securing the crown at 103 pounds last season. Oddly enough Mears had to get past the same opponent both times to claim the gold, as it was Bronson’s Aiden Fill standing in his way for the second straight season. Before reaching the finals Mears had to navigate a first round bye, followed by a semifinal win over Zionah Gardner of Homer via a 12-3 major decision, setting up the title match versus Fill. Mears hit the early takedown and never let up, using a cradle to stack up Fill for the pin fall win in :46 seconds to secure the gold medal for the second straight season.

At 132 pounds it was Union City junior Landyn Crance (32-2) securing his third straight Big 8 conference title, winning the crown at 132 pounds in what may have been the match of the tournament. Crance had previously won the 119 pound weight class his freshman season before claiming the 125 pound weight class last year, leading to his third straight conference title this season. Crance opened up his title run with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win over Tyler Milks of Jonesville in 2:49, setting up a championship match with another one of the best wresters regardless of weight in the conference, Quincy’s Jacob Reif (32-2). The two mat technicians battled for three tough periods, with the score tied at 0-0 after a feeling out period in round one. After choosing bottom to start the second period it was Reif earning an escape to lead 1-0 after two periods. Crance chose the down position in the third and final period and quickly earned earned an escape just :09 seconds in the period, before securing the first takedown of the match at 1:19 to take the 3-1 lead. Reif finally found his way free with :23 seconds left but in the end he just ran out of time, with Crance taking the epic 3-2 decision to secure the gold medal.

At 150 pounds it was Union City senior Colton Russell (32-5) securing his second Big 8 conference title, winning the gold medal at 150 pounds after securing the conference crown at 145 pounds last season. Russell wasted little time battling his way to the finals, earning a first round bye followed by a pin fall win over Concord’s Conor Guthrie in :08 seconds in the semifinals, setting up a championship match with Bronson’s Drew Seekman. Russell led 2-0 after one period thanks to a late takedown, followed by an escape and takedown in round two. Seekman managed an escape of his own as it was Russell leading 4-1 after two periods. Seekman chose the down position in the third period and quickly earned an escape, before Russell secured another takedown to lead 6-2. Another escape from Seekman and another takedown from Russell found the final score of 8-3, giving Russell the gold medal win.

In what could be deemed as a little bit of an upset it was Union City junior Maddox Miller (23-11) winning the conference crown at 157 pounds after beating the top seeded Rylinn Hale of Springport in the finals via pin fall. Miller earned three wins via fall on the day, starting with a first round pin over Ben Colbert of Jonesville in 2:49, followed by a semifinal pin fall win over Michael Daniels of Quincy in 3:48, setting up the title match with Hale. Hale raced out to a 5-1 first period lead after securing the first takedown of the match right into a three point near fall, putting Miller on the ropes early. Miller managed an escape a minute into the period, getting out of trouble and closing the score to 5-1 after one period. Hale chose bottom to start the second and hit a quick escape to lead 6-1, only to see Miller secure a takedown with only :08 seconds left to close the gap to 6-3 after two. Miller chose the down position to start the third and hit an escape, followed by a quick takedown at the one minute mark, tying the score up at 6-6. The points did not matter anymore however as Miller hit the takedown right to a near fall, one that turned into a pin fall win over Miller in 5:13, giving Miller his first conference title.

Union City’s final conference title was very expected as senior Grady Iobe (26-1) took home the championship at 215 pounds, his second Big 8 conference title after winning the 215 pound title last season. Iobe opened up his championship run with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win over Evan McColley of Jonesville in 1:20, setting up a championship meeting with Hamilton Spieth of Quincy. Iobe dominated the pace from start to finish in the championship, winning the gold medal with a 7-0 decision victory.

Union City also had two runner-up finishes as Aidan Taylor took second place at 138 pounds while Montana Connell took second place at 144 pounds.

Taylor (25-6) secured his second all conference honor in just his sophomore season after taking the silver medal at 138 pounds. Taylor started his run to the runner-up spot with a first round pin fall win over Grayson Laney of Quincy in 3:05, followed by a semifinal tech fall win over Kaden Zienert of Homer by the score of 18-2, setting up a championship bout with Bronson rival Layne Knisely. The two grapplers have met several times this season, with Taylor holding the season advantage heading into the championship. This time the decision went to Knisely who caught Taylor with a head lock in the second period, earning the pin fall win in 3:44 to give Taylor the very respectable silver medal.

At 144 pounds it was Charger sophomore Montana Connell (20-9) coming within seconds of his first Big 8 title, taking runner-up honors after a razor thin 3-2 loss to Derek Ballinger of Jonesville. Connell actually drew the third seed in the tournament and started his trek to the silver medal with a first round 7-5 decision over Braiden Mosher of Quincy. In the semifinals it was Connell taking down the second seeded Alex Miller (30-5) of Homer by the score of 3-2 after a late escape in the third period. That exciting win led to another exciting match, this time as he took on Ballinger for the championship. Ballinger himself recorded a bit of an upset, defeating the top seeded Daniel Erwin of Bronson 6-1 to reach the finals. In the championship the score stood at 1-0 Ballinger with less than :30 seconds left in the match until Connell hit a late reversal with :21 second left, taking the 2-1 lead. Ballinger came back and hit a reversal of his own with just a few seconds left, taking the exciting 3-2 decision, giving Connell the solid second place finish.

Also earning All Conference honors for Union City with a top four finish was senior Garrett Halder with a third place finish at 285 pounds and freshman Kelub Miller who took fourth place at 126 pounds.

The Union City Chargers will now look to the MHSAA postseason which begins Wednesday at Bronson High School with the Division Four Team District tournament. The Chargers should face their rivals from Bronson in the District Championship, which would be a rematch of last year’s Regional semifinals which saw Bronson take a slim win before advancing on to the state final four. Wrestling begins at 6 p.m. with Bronson facing the Colon Magi while Union City receives a bye into the championship.

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: Union City wrestling secures runner-up honors in Big 8