Welcome to Episode 4 of the CatchMark Catch-Up for the 2022-23 winter sports season in the West Michigan Conference.
It’s Monday, Jan. 30, and we’re recapping conference highlights from Jan. 23-28.
WRESTLING
It was a busy day for West Michigan Conference wrestlers Saturday.
At Whitehall, the Vikings hosted the annual Rick Champion Alumni Duals. About 30 alumni of the Vikings’ wrestling program, including wrestlers, coaches and statisticians, were on hand for the event.
Division 3 fourth-ranked Whitehall finished runner-up, recording three victories before falling to Division 2 fourth-ranked Allendale in the finals, 42-25. Shane Cook, Darnell Mack and Ryan Goodrich each went 4-0 on the day for the Vikings.
Across the lake at Montague, the Wildcats hosted the annual Randy Jacobs Memorial Duals. Orchard View edged Montague, 36-35, in the fifth-place match pitting West Michigan Conference foes. In the championship match, Hamilton defeated Fruitport, 43-27. Tristan Winkleblack went 5-0 on the day to pace Montague.
BOWLING
Orchard View and Holton were among the West Michigan Conference bowling teams competing in the Reeths-Puffer Invitational on Saturday.
The Orchard View boys competed well, but lost a tight one to Division 1 Rockford in the finals, 376-374.
On an individual note, kudos to Holton senior Chase Albright, who broke a school record with his 279. He placed third overall in the tourney, only six pins behind the individual champion.
Entering this week, Orchard View’s boys bowling team leads the West Michigan Conference standings with a 7-1 record, followed closely by Oakridge at 6-1. Holton is 4-2 and Ravenna 4-3.
On the girls side, Oakridge and Whitehall are tied atop the WMC standings at 6-1. Ravenna is in third at 5-2, followed by Fremont at 4-2.
In case you missed it Sunday, check out our Profile of the Week on the Orchard View boys bowling team.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
In the CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Game of the Week last Friday, Montague’s girls basketball team completed the regular-season sweep of rival Whitehall with a 51-27 victory over the host Vikings. The Wildcats played tough defense and displayed great balance. This Thursday, Montague hosts WMC Lakes Division-leading Ludington in the Game of the Week.
Speaking of Ludington the Orioles remained unbeaten in the division (11-3 overall, 8-0 WMC Lakes) with a 42-40 home victory over Oakridge Friday. This is a challenging week for Ludington, which hosts Reeths-Puffer on Tuesday before making the trip to Montague two days later.
In the WMC Rivers, Hart continues to lead the way at 10-2 overall and 7-0 in the division.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Ludington and Hart continue to remain unbeaten in boys basketball, although the Orioles were pushed to the brink in a 76-74 nonleague overtime win at Division 1 Traverse City Central last Tuesday. They trailed by as much as 45-26 early in the third quarter before David Shillinger erupted for 32 of his game-high 35 in the second half. Gage Jones’ 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the game to OT and Levi Laman’s bucket with two seconds left in the extra period won it for Ludington.
Whitehall also has heated up recently. The Vikings are riding a six-game winning streak, but they have a tough week ahead: Home on Tuesday vs. Mona Shores and on the road Friday at Grand Rapids Covenant Christian.
A week from this Thursday, on Feb. 9, Montague hosts Whitehall in the CatchMark SportsNet WMC Game of the Week. The Wildcats also have been playing well of late with three straight blowout wins. They face a WMC nondivisional test Tuesday night at Mason County Central.
PLEASE REPORT YOUR RESULTS
You’ll notice no mention of competitive cheer in this episode of the Catch-Up. That’s because results are not being reported to CatchMark SportsNet.
We want to include all winter sports in our various forms of content, but we need your help, coaches.
For those West Michigan Conference varsity coaches reporting results on the regular: Thank you!
For the others: Please email your scores, results, highlights and notables to sports@catchmarkit.com on the day or night of the event.
