Six wrestlers try to make it to state finals
Six Huron wrestlers will be trying to qualify for the state tournament at the individual regional meet Saturday at Ithaca. Individual districts were in Rogers City last Saturday with the top four placers from each weight class advancing to the mid-Michigan meet.
Sophomore Joshua Christ (275 pounds) and freshman Dylan Centala (119 pounds) both claimed district championships with first-place finishes. Freshman Austin Fairbanks (112 pounds) and junior Justin Kelley (125 pounds) both took second. Taking a third was sophomore Chris Rhode (189 pounds), while freshman Cody Wenzel (130 pounds) earned a fourth.
?I SUITED UP 13 kids that day, so that?s how many I wanted to take (to regionals),? said coach Pat Lamb. The top four qualifiers in each weight class advance to The Palace of Auburn Hills for the individual state finals March 6-8. Team regionals were Wednesday at Munising, with a regional semifinal match-up against Ishpeming-Westwood, who the Hurons defeated a year ago. Rogers City lost in the regional final in 2002 to Munising, who lost to Ishpeming this season.
Iron Mountain and St. Ignace are pitted against each other on the other side of the bracket. The Hurons kept a long-standing streak going with their 17th consecutive team district title as Charlevoix was a no-show in the RCHS gym last Wednesday. With no school to wrestle, the title stayed in Rogers City.
INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS were conducted three days after the scheduled date for team districts, and a host of talented wrestlers invaded the RCHS gym, which was a well-received tournament by the visitors.
?It was a very fine event,? said Lamb. ?We heard a lot of compliments from a lot of coaches, that this is one of the better districts that they have ever been to, as far as how smooth everything ran.?
Christ has been sensational in February and continued a torrid pace, pinning his way into the finals. ?He went through the first period against Brice Erickson from Pine River, tied,? said Lamb. ?There were no takedowns given. Josh chose up, and in typical Josh fashion, took his time and turned him and pinned him.? Christ (39-3) is matched up with Mike Campbell (3-2) of Breckenridge.
CENTALA DEFEATED Josh Birch of Whittemore-Prescott in the finals 16-5, improving his season mark to 44-2. Centala is matched up against Eduardo Cervantes (20-19) of Ithaca, so Dylan?s opponent will have the home school fans rooting for him. Kelley (31-15) lost to state champ Justin Jacobs of Pine River in the finals, 6-0. ?He really showed a good effort out there,? said Lamb. ?He (Kelley) proved a lot to himself in that match, that he can hang with the best in the state. Justin has had some tough matches against some tough competition. Statewide, 125 is tough.?
THE COACH SAID Kelley has more than held his own, and now will meet Andrick Pruit (17-9) of Freeland at regionals. Fairbanks (36-10) lost 8-6 in the final
Wenzel (31-14) settled for fourth, but still has his ticket stamped for regionals, as he suffered a one-point loss going for third place against an opponent from Manton. Wenzel faces Paul Lyon (42-0) of Ithaca.
Absent from the list of regional qualifiers was senior Mackenzie Grulke who struggled with two ailing knees. He missed state a year ago because of an injury at regionals.
(For wrestling photos from the districts in Rogers City, see the photo gallery. Click on at left.)