Photos courtesy of Whitehall wrestling
The Division 3 third-ranked Whitehall wrestling team sent two competitive squads to Hart Saturday for the Bosse Memorial.
Whitehall’s varsity “A” team finished the day with 269 team points, outpacing runner-up and last year’s champion Three Rivers (252) as well as Hart (218). Three Rivers is ranked No. 8 in Division 2.
“All of our guys competed hard today. We love the effort and the willingness to fight,” Whitehall coach Justin Zeerip said. “There are still some things we have to continue to work out before we get to the end of the season, and they will. They work hard at practice, and they’ll make some adjustments.
Whitehall had nine wrestlers advance to championship matches.
Gavin Craner won the 175-pound title with 28 points. He extended his season record to 11-0 with two pins.
Ryne Christensen (10-0) won the 150-pound weight class and scored 27.5 points with two pins plus a 16-1 technical fall in the finals.
At 138 pounds, Caden Varella was crowned champion, scoring 24 points with a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win over Hart’s Ty Thomas in the finals.
Darnell Mack remained unbeaten on the season and was dominant, scoring 24 team points and winning the 157-pound bracket.
Whitehall’s Liam Leeke, Ryan Goodrich, and Blake Morningstar all finished 2-1 on the day and placed second individually. Newcomers Trenton TenBrock and Jason Smith continued their development, finishing 2-1 and 3-1, respectively, both placing second.
Cody Manzo finished the day with a 2-1 record at 106 pounds, placing third. Jason Shaefer also placed third, going 3-1 on the day.
Max Krukowski and Nolan Taranko both placed fifth: Taranko finished the day 4-1 in a stacked 132-pound bracket. Anthony Raider placed sixth. Cole Pardue won a match on the varsity “A” team but did not place, and rreshman Jace Gimenes also competed with the varsity “A” group.
Whitehall’s “B” team placed 10th in the Bosse Memorial. Blake English was the highest place winner for the Vikings at fourth. Newcomer Ramone Anderson earned a fifth-place medal with an outstanding 3-1 performance. Pablo Lugo and Wyatt McFarren finished the day with 3-2 records and sixth-place finishes. Hunter Peterson, Cam Kequom, and Caden Bowyer finished the day with two wins each. Liam Waller also won a match but did not place. Freshman Hugo Rash competed and showed improvement.
MASON COUNTY CENTRAL PLACES EIGHTH: Mason County Central finished eighth out of 18 teams in the Bosse Memorial. Senior Zane McCabe (132 pounds) finished second to Three Rivers’ Ayden Keller.
“This was by far the toughest weight of the tournament,” MCC coach Kendel Trim said. “Zane wrestled real well, but Keller is real tough. We have lost to him before. We will probably see him again in a couple weeks so we will see what we can do to prepare for the potential rematch.”
MCC’s Hunter Sanford (126) was third, while Parker Overmyer (175) placed fourth and Brayden Overmyer (157) fifth.
“Our attitude and effort is good but we need to get more focused,” Trim said. “Our goal this week will be to get focused on getting a lot better at just a few things. From our newest wrestlers to our seasoned veterans we need to spend this week getting better at the very basics.”
