KALKASKA — All eyes are now on Ford Field after varsity boys regional wrestling tournaments around the state finished up Saturday, producing a wealth of area qualifiers for the individual state finals in Detroit in two weeks.
Kingsley’s Gavyn Merchant looks to win his second state championship at Ford Field this school year after capturing a Division 3 regional championship at Kalkaska on Saturday.
Merchant, who quarterbacked the Stags to a Division 6 football state title in November, moved to 17-0 as the top seed in the 132-pound weight bracket with a tech-fall win in the quarters and a pinfall win in the semis.
Merchant needed just three seconds to get the pin in the regional championship match, taking down teammate John Pearson. Pearson (28-9) won his quarterfinal match by major decision, 11-2, and his semis tilt by a 9-8 decision.
The two are among five Stags headed to Ford Field in Detroit on March 1-2 for the individual state finals.
Isaiah Cosgrove (22-8), who was also on the Kingsley football team, has the same opportunity to win two state titles in Detroit after he emerged from the middle of the 165-pound bracket to earn a regional championship, winning via pinfall in the quarters and by an 8-4 decision in the semis to reach the title bout. Cosgrove won the championship after his opponent was forced to bow out due to injury after four minutes.
Another Kingsley football state champ, Max Goethals (25-3) reached the championship match of the 190-pound bracket after picking up pins in the quarters and semis. The senior lost by a 7-0 decision in the finals but still qualified for state with the runner-up finish.
Cameron Dundas (28-8) is also bound for Detroit. The Kingsley senior lost in his opening match at 138 pounds but won the rest of the way to take third place. Tyler Unterbrink (157 pounds) qualified for the state finals by finishing in fourth place, but he was unable to compete in the consolation championship match due to injury.
Colton Goethals (150) and Caleb Bott (175) both went 1-2 to fall short of the top four qualifying spots.
Traverse City St. Francis’ Tyler Sheeran (38-8) was the No. 1 seed in the 120-pound weight bracket. The senior Gladiator won his first match via pinfall but lost in the semifinals. Sheeran made it to the consolation championship match for third place where he lost to finish fourth and qualify for the state finals.
Fellow Gladiators Beau Belanger and Matthew Rialson both reached the semifinals of the consolation bracket at 165 pounds after first-round losses, but neither could make it to the third-place match to qualify for state. St. Francis’ Luke Harper (113) and Cam Sellers (175) both lost their first two matches to miss out on the state finals.
Grayling’s Jake Huspen is headed to Detroit, winning the 190-pound bracket’s consolation championship and taking third place with a 4-0 decision.
Huspen will be joined by teammate Logan Malonen, who also took third place in his weight class. Malonen won via pinfall in the consolation championship of the 285-pound bracket.
WRESTLING REGIONALS
2 Titans, 1 Trojan qualify for D1 finals
LAPEER — Traverse City West and Traverse City Central will be represented on the mats at the Division 1 individual state wrestling finals after qualifying performances in Saturday’s regional tournament action at Lapeer.
Traverse City West’s Brady Vaughan and Matthew Quigley along with Traverse City Central’s Grady Rousse all earned a spot to wrestle at Ford Field on March 1-2.
Vaughan (42-5) came in as the top seed in the 215-pound weight bracket, picking up pinfall victories in the quarterfinals and semis before falling by a 4-2 decision in the regional title bout.
Quigley (43-3) won his first match in the 113-pound bracket via pinfall but then lost in the semifinals. He finished fourth to qualify for state.
Rousse (39-8) won his quarterfinal match in the 150-pound bracket via a 15-12 decision but also lost in the semifinals. He finished in fourth place to qualify.
West’s Trapper Holmes (157 pounds) and Central’s Gavin Love (190) both lost in their first two matches, and Central’s Michael Risinger (120) fell just short of the top four to miss out on the state finals.
Gaylord, Petoskey, Cadillac all qualify wrestlers for states
CADILLAC — The lone area Division 2 regional champion to come out of Cadillac on Saturday was Gaylord’s Jaron Bensinger.
Bensinger (35-1) won via tech fall in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 126-pound bracket and then earned a 14-6 major decision in the championship finals to win an individual regional championship.
Fellow Blue Devil Ty Bensinger (33-1) reached the regional finals of the 190-pound bracket with an undefeated record but fell by a 1-0 decision in the championship bout. His runner-up finish after pinfall wins in the quarterfinals and semis was good enough to qualify for the state finals.
Gaylord’s Caiden Sides made it to the championship bout where he also fell short of a regional title in the 285-pound bracket. Sides won his first two matches via pin before losing 7-4 in the finals. He’ll wrestle in Detroit as well.
Other Blue Devils qualifying for state were Jason Cranick (29-9), who took fourth place at 113 pounds, and Zane Willobee (25-3), who took fourth place at 157 pounds.
Petoskey’s Robert Patrick (33-10) took fourth place in the 138-pound bracket to qualify, and Cadillac’s Luke Phillips (43-9) won his quarterfinals match but lost in the semis before finishing in fourth place to qualify at 165 pounds.
BOWLING
Ramblers win conference title
BOYNE CITY — The Boyne City varsity boys bowling team earned a conference championship Saturday, bringing the Ramblers’ season record to 8-2.
The Ramblers knocked off Grayling in the finals and were led by Eric Mansfield with high games 192 and 202, Liam Dart with a 137, Tim Aemmer with a 190, Zach Piechan with a 173 and a 189, and Johnathan Shepherd with a 166 and a 223.
GIRLS HOOPS
Frankfort 59
Swartz Creek 33
Frankfort: Savina Anhalt 21 points; Evelyn VanTol 19 points; Addie Chownyk 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists.
UP NEXT: The Panthers (14-5, 7-5 Northwest) travel to Buckley on Friday.
Temp. Bedford 60
Lake Leelanau SM 43
Lake Leelanau St. Mary: Delana Kirt 12 points, 8 rebounds; Della Bunek 11 points, 5 rebounds.
UP NEXT: The Eagles (14-2) travel to Onekama on Wednesday.
BOYS HOCKEY
Orchard Lake SM 7
Bay Reps 1
Bay Reps: Grant Lucas 1 goal; Carter Denoyer 1 assist; Ethan Coleman 1 assist; Tyler Boynton-Fisher 22 saves.
UP NEXT: The Bay Reps (15-8-2) play either Cheboygan or Gaylord in the Division 3 regional semifinals on Thursday.
Gaylord 8
BA Thunder 6
UP NEXT: The Blue Devils (7-17, 1-9 Big North) play Cheboygan in the first round of Division 3 regionals at the Wex in Cadillac on Tuesday