CHARLEVOIX — Mancelona senior Theodore Parzych broke the school record for most wins in Ironmen wrestling history after he captured his 163rd victory at the Division 4 regionals Saturday at Charlevoix.
“I’ve been preparing the whole week just for that match right there,” Parzych said. “I started doing wrestling because of my Dad. I thought I might as well do it to see if I’m any good. Everything turned around in my junior year, and I started doing really well. I’ve been working hard over the past couple of years.”
Parzych finished fourth overall as five total Ironmen advanced to the state championships with impressive regional performances. With at least two more matches guaranteed, Parzych’s favorite moment throughout his career happened last year after losing three times in a row to an opponent from McBain, before finally earning the win during the district tournament.
“That’s probably the one that stuck out to me the most of me because it doesn’t matter how many times you lose, there’s always a way to come back,” he said.
Michael Clingan finished second at (106) for the Ironmen, followed by Austin Barnhart in third place at 113 pounds along with Hunter Stuck in third place at (215). Gavin Woodcox finished fourth at 285 pounds.
Charlevoix senior Sawyer Blaszczyk earned his third straight regional championship in the 285-pound class with a dominant 8-1 win.
“I came in today with a mindset that nobody can beat you, nobody will beat you,” Blaszczyk said. “I keep that mindset. I get a little nervous for all my matches. I’ve been like that since I was young. But you have to believe in yourself and wrestle to your full ability. You can’t let anyone else dictate your match, just wrestle your match. (Going into states) I’m working on mobility and working on my shots on those bigger guys. I’m not going to be able to outmuscle most of them, but I’ll be working on angles and being quick. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
Charlevoix’s Collin Jess took home a regional championship at 157-pounds with an 11-3 win over Collin Maves of Inland Lakes. The Rayders had two other wrestlers finish second overall.
Benzie Central had itself a day as both Lane Sanchez and Dayne Gillison earned individual regional championships for the Huskies at 215 and 144-pound weight classes.
“I went after my first few matches, got them over quickly. I’ve been dealing with sickness, I was trying to save as much energy I could,” Sanchez said. “I’ll be trying to build my gas tank heading into states. If you can’t go for six plus minutes, you’re screwed because that’s how mostly every match is going to go the full time. There are no really easy matches. They’re all tough.”
Benzie’s David Wenkel finished third at 126.
Inland Lake’s Avery Enos took home a 10-0 win at 175 pounds with a win over Charlevoix’s Lucas Strahan. Ryan Glass finished second at 190 to punch his ticket for the Rayders.
Additional area qualifiers: Inland Lakes: Wyatt Hanel (144); Gunnar Hanel (126); Gus Carper (138); Glen Lake: Gavin Sheehan (144); Abraham Feeney; Johannesburg-Lewiston: Riley Buchler (215); Gavin Woodcox (285).
Local wrestlers will compete in the state individual boys championship March 6-7 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Quigley, Rousse win D1 regional titles
The Traverse City West Titans were in Clarkston for individual regionals on Saturday. Punching his ticket to Ford Field and winning his second regional championship at 120 pounds was Matthew Quigley, claiming his 100th career pin, and bringing his record to 48-0.
Traverse City Central senior Grady Rousse won the 165-pound weight class to book a trip to Detroit for the final.
Finishing the season strong but falling in the blood round were Ryder Morse, finishing the season with 29 wins, and Finn O’Brien, finishing with 35 wins. Jeremy Rybicki finished the season with 23 wins.
D3 wrestling at Boyne City
Kingsley’s Isaiah Cosgrove and Cody Goethals led the stags with third-place finishes at the Division 3 regional tournament Saturday in Boyne City. Colten Sherman finished second for the Stags at 120-pounds.
Boyne City’s Korbin Kopenkoskey finished third and punched his ticket to the state championships as a fifth seed. Grayling’s Alex Moore finished third with a 20-4 win.
Cadillac sends three to states at D2
Cadillac wrestling advanced three wrestlers to the state championships as Westyn Haslett (144) finished second, followed by Payton Sampson (157) finishing third, and Shawn Paszkowski (285) finished second.
Gaylord’s Kleran Beach finished third at 150-pounds.
BOWLING
Lakers’ Crick win regional title
Glen Lake senior Tanner Crick earned an individual regional championship with a five-game baker’s total of 1,198 at the Division 4 bowling regionals Saturday. Crick had three games over 200 (212, 211, 202). Laker senior Reilly Kinnee finished sixth overall to make the cut.
In the Division 3 regional at Sparetime Lanes in Cheboygan, Elk Rapids’ Makai Wyatt and Zach Caldwell made the cut for the state championship game with a fourth and sixth-place finish.
Cadillac’s Keaston Johnson finished third for Cadillac with a game-high 227 pins.
GIRLS HOOPS
Boyne City 40
TC St Francis 33
Traverse City St. Francis (7-11): Kylee Eising 13 points; Helen Biggar 8 points; Brynn Odette 5 points
Pentwater 45
Mesick 41
Mesick (9-9, 5-6 West Michigan D): Madisyn Putney 26 points; Alyvia Osborn 8 points.