GAYLORD — Jaron Bensinger likes Ford Field so much, he makes a yearly pilgrimage there.
Bensinger has already made three trips to the state wrestling finals at the Detroit Lions’ home stadium. A fourth seems like a given.
“It’s such a cool atmosphere there,” Bensinger said. “But you can’t treat it any different. You take it one match at a time. It’s a fun atmosphere, though, especially the final.”
The Gaylord junior won the Division 2 144-pound state championship this winter, the only northern Michigan grappler to bring back a title trophy.
That makes him an easy pick for the Record-Eagle’s Wrestler of the Year.
Bensinger placed fourth in the state as a freshman and second as a sophomore, the year his older brother Ty won a state crown.
“Sophomore year, I was just so focused on winning,” Bensinger said. “This year, I realized there’s bigger things than wrestling. After losing my sophomore year, I was mad for days.”
The easy solution to that was to not lose as a junior. At all.
Jaron posted a 43-0 record last season. Division 2’s No. 2-ranked 144-pounder, Buddy Leonard of Freeland, suffered only three losses all season. All three came against Bensinger, each in the finals of districts (by 4-2 decision), regionals (4-1 in overtime) and states.
The third time was the most difficult of them all, going to the ultimate tie breaker, an extra session that only comes after three overtimes haven’t decided a match.
A match tied after regulation goes into one one-minute “sudden victory” period where any score ends the match. If still in a deadlock, two 30-second tiebreakers occur, with no wrestling in the neutral position. If neither wrestler wins in those, the match goes to the “ultimate tiebreaker,” one more 30-second period in which the wrestler who scored the match’s first points gets to choose top or bottom. The UTB methodology is simple: If the offensive (top) wrestler can ride out the 30 seconds, they win. If the defensive (bottom) wrestler gets an escape or reversal, they win.
Leonard (43-3) scored the match’s initial points, with the two knotted up 2-2 after regulation and neither wrestler scoring points in any of the overtimes. He chose bottom. Bensinger rode out the 30 seconds to claim the championship.
Ty Bensinger, a redshirt freshman safety for Northwood University, not only came to the state finals, he was able to be mat-side for his brother’s quest to bring a second state championship to the family.
“It’s more nerve-wracking being there as a spectator than wrestling,” Ty Bensinger said. “I was so nervous for him. He was in the air a couple times and I thought he might get taken down, but he’d get out.”
Jaron Bensinger said his older brother Ty played a critical piece of his own success.
“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be as tough as I am today,” said Jaron, who already has college offers from Buffalo, Northern Illinois and North Carolina, among others. “I had somebody beating up on me every day.”
Jaron wants to be back at team states in 2026, a place the Blue Devils last ventured as an entire team when he was a freshman.
“I’d like to win it all again,” Bensinger said, “but mostly, have fun.”
Traverse City West’s Matthew Quigley took third in Division 3, giving Bensinger a run for his money atop the Dream Team. Charlevoix 215-pounder Sawyer Blaszczyk led all area wrestlers in victories this season with 51.
Bensinger is 129-13 in three seasons, improving his winning percentage every year, despite big jumps in weight classes from 106 to 126 to 144. He’s looking to wrestle at 167 next year to allow for adding more weight to play outside linebacker in football.
“It’s a love-hate relationship,” Bensinger said of wrestling. “Once you get in, you can’t get out of it.”
DREAM TEAM
Jaron Bensinger, Gaylord, Jr., 144 (43-0; 1st in state)
Matthew Quigley, TC West, So., 120 (49-2; 3rd in state)
Grady Rousse, TC Central, Jr., 157 (34-5; 3rd in state)
Zane Willobee, Gaylord, Jr., 165 (29-2; 2nd in state)
Caden Sides, Gaylord, Sr., 285 (39-4; 2nd in state)
Sawyer Blaszczyk, Charlevoix, Jr., 215 (51-6; 3rd in state)
Danny Bonamie, Grayling, Sr., 215 (45-9; 4th in state)
Lane Sanchez, Benzie Central, Jr., 190 (42-7; 5th in state)
Dayne Gillison, Benzie Central, Jr., 126 (41-11; 5th in state)
Luke Phillips, Cadillac, Sr., 190 (44-6; 7th in state)
Conner Wenkel, Benzie Central, Sr., 165 (42-11; 6th in state)
David Wenkel, Benzie Central, Fr., 106 (42-13; 7th in state)
Logan Wilks, Charlevoix, Sr., 157 (34-14; 6th in state)
Collin Jess, Charlevoix, Fr., 150 (47-14)
Theodore Parzych, Mancelona, Jr., 132 (45-12)
Payton Sampson, Cadillac, So., 150 (47-4)
Westyn Haslett, Cadillac, Jr., 138 (46-7)
Kieran Beach, Gaylord, So., 132 (38-9)
Jager Corliss, McBain, Sr., 132 (47-8)
Alex Moore, Grayling, Jr., 106 (43-9)
Owen Lewicki, Grayling, Fr., 120 (41-10)
SECOND TEAM
Gus Carper, Inland Lakes, So., 132 (36-7)
Isaiah Cosgrove, Kingsley, Jr., 165 (30-8)
Brady Vaughan, TC West, Sr., 215 (25-7)
Wyatt Hanel, Inland Lakes, Jr., 132 (33-6)
Robert Patrick, Petoskey, Sr., 144 (31-10)
James Layman, Inland Lakes, Jr., 113 (32-12)
Cam Sellers, TC St. Francis, Sr., 175 (18-5)
Colton Goethals, Kingsley, Jr., 190 (32-15)
Brady Warchol, Charlevoix, Sr., 175 (39-20)
Benjamin Deridder, Benzie Central, Sr., 126 (32-13)
Beau Belanger, TC St. Francis, Sr., 165 (36-13)
Connor Ortiz, Charlevoix, Sr., 285 (37-18)
Bodyn Holmes, TC West, Jr., 144/152 (29-12)
Wyatt Zuiderveen, McBain, Jr., 215 (29-10)
Luke Harper, TC St. Francis, Jr., 120 (27-19)
Michael Risinger, TC Central, Jr., 113 (26-15)
Logan McMullen, Inland Lakes, Sr., 157 (26-16)
Jack Dombek, TC Central, Sr., 138 (25-10)
Gage Warren, TC Central, Sr., 175 (24-14)
HONORABLE MENTION
Ryan Glass, Charlevoix, So., 190 (27-17)
Caleb Thomas, TC West, Sr., 132/138 (26-18)
Caden Sheehan, Glen Lake, Jr., 138 (24-11)
Abraham Feeney, Glen Lake, So., 144 (22-12)
Finn Obrien, TC West, So., 120/126 (22-14)
Gabe Frost, TC West, Sr., 144 (25-18)
Jason Peltier, Benzie Central, Jr., 285 (27-23)
Ryan Stade, Grayling, Jr., 165 (23-20)
Sage Miller, TC Central, Jr., 165 (20-15)
Azrael Horvath, Manton, Fr., 113 (19-10)
Calvin Porath, TC Central, Fr., 106 (16-12)
Trapper Holmes, TC West, Sr., 175 (13-4)
Drew Esper, TC West, Jr., 215 (17-9)
Gavin Brown, TC West, Fr., 152 (16-10)
Isaac Schinella, Glen Lake, Fr., 106 (17-18)
Jacob Peplinski, Glen Lake, Jr., 215 (8-15)