Welcome to the eighth week of the CatchMark Catch-Up for the 2022-23 winter sports season in the West Michigan Conference.
It’s Monday, Feb. 27, and we’re recapping conference highlights Feb. 20-25, 2023.
WRESTLING
Whitehall and Hart competed in the team state finals over the weekend at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.
Whitehall advanced to Saturday’s Division 3 state finals, where the Vikings fell to perennial powerhouse Dundee, 60-18. The Vikings (32-4), seeded third, knocked off second-seeded Algonac early in the day Saturday, 40-27.
In Friday’s state quarterfinals, Whitehall doubled up sixth-seeded Gladstone, 48-24, while Hart lost to top-seeded Dundee, 64-15. Hart finished with a 31-6 record.
CLICK HERE for coverage of Whitehall from Saturday’s matches.
CLICK HERE for coverage of Whitehall from Friday’s match.
CLICK HERE for coverage of Hart from Friday’s match.
COMPETITIVE CHEER
A pair of competitive cheer teams from the West Michigan Conference finished in the top four of a Division 4 regional Saturday at Grand Rapids Northview and have earned berths in this Thursday’s state finals.
Hart ran away with the regional title, while Mason County Central finished third to punch its state finals ticket for the second year in a row.
The Pirates and Spartans are among eight teams that will compete for the Division 4 state title at 1 p.m. Thursday at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena.
Elsewhere Saturday, Whitehall and Montague competed in a Division 3 regional at Rockford. The Vikings finished 11th and Wildcats 12th.
CLICK HERE for coverage from Saturday’s regionals.
BOWLING
Boys bowling teams from Orchard View and Ravenna and girls squads from Holton and Ravenna finished in the top three of their respective regionals to earn spots in the state finals this coming weekend. The Ravenna girls team won its Division 4 regional Friday at Park Center Lanes in Wyoming.
A number of individuals from the West Michigan Conference also qualified for the state finals with top-10 finishes in their respective regionals. Here are links to regional coverage:
CLICK HERE for individual regional coverage from Saturday.
CLICK HERE for coverage from regionals on Friday.
CLICK HERE for coverage from regionals on Thursday.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hart’s boys basketball team made history Thursday, becoming the first team in 60 years to capture a conference title with its 63-45 victory over visiting Mason County Central. The Pirates, champions of the WMC Rivers Division, won again on Saturday against Newaygo to improve their record to 20-0 entering the final week of the regular season.
CLICK HERE for complete coverage of the achievement.
In the WMC Lakes Division, Ludington and Whitehall remain on track for a title share. Ludington (18-2 overall, 10-1 WMC Lakes) wraps up divisional play Tuesday with a game at Orchard View. Whitehall (15-5, 9-1 WMC Lakes) has two more divisional games to play, Tuesday at Fremont and Thursday at home vs. Orchard View.
Boys basketball district draws were released Sunday.
CLICK HERE to see next week’s boys district matchups, which will be updated by CatchMark throughout the districts.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Girls basketball districts tip off tonight. CatchMark is planning to produce free, live audio streams from the Division 2 district at Montague on Wednesday and Friday.
CLICK HERE to see the girls district matchups, which will be updated by CatchMark throughout the week.
