Photos by Stephanie Moore
MONTAGUE
The Montague wrestling team traveled to the Hemlock Invitational on Saturday to compete in their second scheduled competition this season. The Wildcats finished 2nd overall and had 12 wrestlers who placed, which is more than double what they had just two years ago.
Jimmy Thommen, Chris Aebig and Cale Coppess each made an appearance in their respective championship matches. Coppess finished with a first place ribbon.
Coach Kris Maddox was easily able to see the growth in his team after only two meets. Maddox is looking to finetune finishes in late round matches moving forward but is proud of how his team wrestled.
Montague will host a quad on Wednesday, Dec. 15 with Ravenna, Shelby, and Whitehall. All of which are West Michigan Conference teams.
Medal Placers:
112: Jimmy Thommen – 2nd place, Ethan Hite 4th place and Savannah Winkleblack 6th place
125: Natalie Bassett – 4th place
130: Christopher Aebig – 2nd place
135: Cale Coppess – 1st place
140: Landon Askins – 4th place
145: Tristan Winkleblack – 4th place
152: Michael Moore – 6th place
171: Andy Hernandez 4th place, Logan Kahl 6th place
285: Joe Winkelman 5th place
WHITEHALL
Whitehall traveled to a competitive Southwest Classic at Allegan High School on Saturday. The Vikings finished 2nd overall, losing to Stevensville Lakeshore. Brayden VanPatten and Ira Jenkins placed first in their respective weight classes.
VanPatten won his first tournament of his career and Jenkins won the Upper Weight Outstanding wrestler of the tournament award.
The Vikings will travel across the bridge to Montague to compete in a quad on Wednesday, Dec. 15.
Medal Placers:
103: Nolan Taranko: 4th
130: Riley Buys: 3rd
145: Max Brown: 2nd
152: Alec Pruett: 3rd
160: Wyatt Jenkins: 5th
171: Nick Blanchard: 2nd
189: Brayden VanPatten: 1st
215: Shane Cook: 2nd
285: Ira Jenkins: 1st
RAVENNA
The Ravenna squad competed in the Manton Invite on Saturday. The Bulldogs notched a 5th place finish and had six medalists. Zeke Thompson was the sole champion for Ravenna.
The ‘Dogs will compete on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at a quad in Montague against fellow West Michigan Conference opponents.
Medal Placers:
119: Christian Dohm – 2nd
125: Norman Slade – 3rd
152: Jackson Peebles 4th
160: Zeke Thompson – 1st
189: Juan Castillo – 4th
285: Landen Goerbig – 2nd
OAKRIDGE
Oakridge attended the Forest Hills Eastern Invite on Saturday. Despite their valiant effort, the Eagles fell to Forest Hills Eastern, Muskegon, and Forest Hills Central in pool play. In the crossover, they fell to Northview as well.
Coach Chad Latsch was proud of the improvement that his team made from the previous Wednesday and acknowledged the heightened competition of Saturday’s invite.
Oakridge’s Aiden Johnston (215), Max Hannold (215), and Aidan Rios (285) all found some success gaining their first career victories.
The Eagles will wrestle again on Dec. 15 with Mason County Central at Hart High School.
HART
Hart wrestlers traveled to the Kraai Invitational at Zeeland West High School on Saturday. The Pirates had a bit of a slow start resulting in a 26-34 loss to Wayland Union. However, they picked it up and finished strong with three straight wins. Hart defeated Watervliet 64-15, Zeeland West 68-3, and West Ottawa 42-26 for a third place overall finish.
Caleb Wilson, Trayce Tate, Mason Cantu, and Leo Guadarrama were all undefeated on the day. Following closely behind with 3-1 individual records were Jose Chavira, Emmanuel Ortega, Chance Alvesteffer and Guillermo Ortega.
Hart will host a competition on Wednesday with West Michigan Conference opponents Ravenna and Mason County Central.
MASON COUNTY CENTRAL
The Spartans hosted the Optimist Invite on Saturday and finished 1-4 as a team after defeating Ludington and then falling to Allendale, Reeths-Puffer, Benzie Central, and Shelby.
Andrew Quinn (285) and Zane McCabe (125) both finished the day undefeated. Coach Kendel Trim was proud of their performances. Quinn defeated a ranked opponent in dominant fashion and Zane kept control of each matchup throughout the entire competition.
Hunter Sanford (112) and Jacob Maidens (130) both finished 4-1. Aiden Hirschfeld (119) and Coulter Kirchner (135) both went 3-2.
Coach Trim identified some individual areas of improvement for the Spartans who will visit Hart on Wednesday with Ravenna.
Mason County Central went 1-4 . We beat Ludington in the first match and then fell to Allendale, Reeths-Puffer, Benzie and Shelby.
SHELBY
No details were submitted from the Tigers.
