Basketball and wrestling take center stage in the newest CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Player of the Week fan poll.
Six winter sports athletes from the conference who stood out in competitions Feb. 13-19, 2023, have been nominated. Now it’s time for you to vote for Player of the Week.
The poll can be found at the bottom of this story after brief capsules on the nominees. Voting is open and will continue until noon on Friday, Feb. 24.
If an athlete has already won Player of the Week honors this season — Whitehall’s Camden Thompson and Hart’s Hovey siblings come to mind — then he or she is not eligible to be nominated.
Athletes are listed alphabetically:
NICK CANO, Shelby wrestling
The Tigers’ junior 106-pounder captured a Division 3 individual regional championship on Saturday at Grayling. In the title match, Cano earned a 4-1 decision over Gladwin’s Brady Demory. That improved Cano’s season record to 42-7 and earned him a berth in the individual state finals March 3-4 at Ford Field.
JUSTICE HILL, Holton wrestling
The Red Devils freshman became the first female wrestler in school history to earn a state finals berth with her fourth-place finish in the 105-pound weight class of Sunday’s regional at Grayling. Hill, who is 12-25 on the season, competed for third place at the regional but was pinned by Mancelona’s Abby Wildfong in 3:33.
WREN NELSON, Mason County Central basketball
The 6-foot-3 junior led the Spartans to a pair of easy wins last week. In Tuesday’s 50-33 home victory over Whitehall, Nelson finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. In Thursday’s 64-42 home win over Shelby, she scored a game-high 20 points.
JAYDEN PERRONE, Mason County Central basketball
The 6-foot senior guard had a big week for the Spartans, who picked up a pair of comfortable victories. In Thursday’s 70-47 win at Ravenna, Perrone poured in 35 points to go with nine rebounds and four steals. In Monday’s 68-51 home victory over Onekama, he finished with 17 points and four rebounds.
DAVID SHILLINGER, Ludington basketball
The 5-foot-9 junior guard reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career in Friday’s 88-77 home loss to Whitehall. Shillinger scored 27 points in the game. In Tuesday’s 90-48 victory at Montague, he poured in 29 points. Entering this week, Shillinger ranks eighth on Ludington’s all-time scoring list with 1,022 career points.
SAVANNAH WINKLEBLACK, Montague wrestling
The Wildcats junior avenged her lone loss of the season (against female competitors) by recording a pinfall in 5:49 against Mason County Central’s Nyveah Wendt in the 110-pound final of a girls regional Sunday at Grayling. That improves Winkleblack’s record this season against females to 20-1. She advances to the individual state finals March 3-4 at Ford Field.
