Wrestling: Holland takes second at Tim Horn Invite; Hamilton wins at Dansville
HOLLAND - It was a successful day for the Holland wrestling team as they hosted the 52nd Annual Tim Horn Invitational on Saturday. The tournament featured 10 schools placed into two 5-team pools.
The Dutch won all four matches in their bracket to advance to the championship match, where they lost 63-16 to a very strong Allendale squad in the finals.
"Allendale is really stacked, so going in there, we knew we had a tough match in order to win it all," Holland coach Nick Lewin said. "I thought the kids actually wrestled okay and had some close matches against them even though the score didn't necessarily show that. Getting to that point was pretty exciting, though. I thought the energy in the Dome for the rivalry match against West Ottawa was really fun. Sometimes the rivalry will go a little further than the championship and beating them to go to the finals is pretty exciting.
"It's just cool to have a community that comes together to have a nice event like this each year."
Holland beat Portage Northern 43-22, Allegan 58-21, Watervliet 60-22, and West Ottawa 48-33 to set up its showdown with Allendale.
One of the top performers of the day for the Dutch was senior 144-pounder Luis Barajas, who finished the day with a perfect 5-0 mark. Barajas recorded three pins amongst those wins, but his most impressive one was a 7-6 decision over Portage Northern's Connor Hogan in his first match of the day.
"In that Portage Northern match, I wrestled sloppy toward the end and (Hogan) got two points, but I didn't stop and get in my head this time like I did last time. I told myself to go until that whistle blew and I reversed it in the last two or three seconds to win by one point. That really shows me that I'm capable of doing more than my body is telling me I can do. He was gassed, but I kept going and I guess it showed who had a little more heart.
"I was a little disappointed in taking third at the Ottawa County Invitational, so I've been putting in more work knowing that I'm not at the level I should be at if I wanna get to state. I don't like being a senior and thinking that soon this is all gonna go away, but I gotta try to leave my mark and make state this year since I got bumped out at regionals last year."
Julian Segovia was also 5-0 (four pins) at 126 for Holland. Aiden Segovia (106), Joel Morin (132), Seth Rodriguez (165), Dylan Flores (190), Romeo Keels (215), and Alessandro Fillmore (285) all went 4-1 on the day for the Dutch.
Zeeland West lost its first two matches of the day (72-3 to Allendale and 48-33 to Otsego), but rebounded in a big way to win its final three matches.
The Dux defeated Forest Hills Eastern 48-36 and Kenowa Hills 52-23 before capping off the day with an impressive 51-28 win over Allegan in the 5th place match.
"We had a lot of guys step up today," said Zeeland West coach Cody Stewart. "We're a little banged up, but Sam (Taylor) and Troy (Postema) both stepped in and had a great day on the mat for us with some big wins.
We continue to improve every opportunity we get and we're really looking forward to seeing how the season ends."
Brody Smeyers (190/215) was 4-0 for Zeeland West. Taylor (106) and Kham Phothisan (113/120) were 4-1 for the Dux, while Justin Sanchez (113/120), Seth Frye (157), Postema (165), and Evan Walters (285) were all 3-2.
West Ottawa won its final match 42-31 over Forest Hills Eastern to finish in seventh place. The Panthers also beat Watervliet 67-9 in their bracket, but lost to Allegan 42-37, Portage Northern 54-24, and Holland 48-33.
"We have a core group of kids right up our middle (weights) that excel, but it's unfortunate in a dual situation that we have a lot of young guys," said West Ottawa coach Ryan Lancaster. "We've lost a lot of guys during the season due to injury and burnout, so it's gotten to the point that we've really had to rely on our middle weights. As always, Owen Foster did a fantastic job today. Payton VanBuskirk also was great today and only has one loss so far this season. Anthony Jaramillo was a kid who couldn't finish a shot his freshman year and now he's someone we rely on. He did a fantastic job and he's one of the guys who has put in the work and is hungry for the next level.
You can only ask so much out of a kid who is brand new to the program, so we've got kids who are first-year wrestlers that haven't gotten a lot of mat time. They're passionate about it though and we're gonna try to build off that."
VanBuskirk (120), Jaramillo (132), and Owen Foster (157/165) all went 5-0 for the Panthers.
Allendale's Jack Guerrero (120/126) won the second annual Steve Kruithoff MVP Award as the tournament's outstanding wrestler.
WRESTLING
West Ottawa placces at girls invite; VanderZwaag, Anaya win
The West Ottawa Panthers wrestling team had a successful showing at the Northview Girls Invitational, with several members placing in their respective weight classes.
Brisa Sandoval placed third at 105 pounds, Maritza Rodriguez placed second at 120, Kaitlynn Heck placed second at 130, Abrielle VanderZwaag placed first at 145 and Isabel Anaya placed 1st at 235.
In key matches, VanderZwaag won by fall over 11th ranked Ava Pelton, Anaya won by fall over ninth-ranked Abigayle Dahl, 14th ranked Mackenzie Wilt, and fourth-ranked Tailyiah Thrush.
"It's great to seen our girls team get some success on the mats. They are putting in the work and it shows," West Ottawa coach Ryan Lancaster said.
Hamilton wins Dansville invite
The Hamilton wrestling team won the Dansville Aggie Invite on Saturday.
Malachi Kapenga won at 113 pounds, Bryce Morrison was first at 126, Jake Chase was first at 150, Shane Dams won at 215 and Seth Nevins won at 285.
Michael Olson was second at 132, whiel Mathew Fales was third at 106, Ethan Goodwin was third at 120, Eli Ramsey was third at 138, Brandon Olson was third at 144 and Remy Foster was third at 190.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Wrestling: Holland takes second at Tim Horn Invite; Hamilton wins at Dansville
