Five tournament champs at ?Bill Barrett?; Centala is named MVP lower weights
All things considered, Saturday?s Bill Barrett Memorial Invitational in Rogers City had all the ingredients of a successful afternoon. Rogers City had the Most Valuable Wrestler of the lower weights with Dylan Centala?s (125 & 130 pounds) perfect 5-0 day. The Hurons had five tournament champions, three of them freshmen, and a runner-up tournament trophy. So, Rogers City didn?t win its third Bill Barrett Tournament title.
Again, all things considered, there were too many holes. With not enough athletes to fill a roster from 103 pounds to 275, there will be finals like Saturday?s against Whittemore-Prescott, in which Rogers City came up short, 41-34. Overcoming the odds, the wrestlers made it extremely close.
TO GET TO the finals, the Hurons defeated Beal City, 53-15; Newberry, 59-6; Onaway, 57-6; and St. Ignace, 45-33. The match in the finals against the always-tough Whittemore-Prescott team had its moments of excitement, especially from the underclassmen. After Rogers City trailed 6-18, freshman Brent Freel (112 & 119 pounds), enroute to a tournament championship, pinned his opponent for six points. That was followed by one of the best battles of the afternoon, as freshman Mike Mierzwinski (119 & 125 pounds) almost pinned his Whittemore opponent. He settled for a decision, which was good for four points, and trimmed the Cardinal lead to 16-18. Mierzwinski also had a perfect 5-0 day, wrestling at 119 and 125 pounds. Centala received six points at 130 pounds and the Hurons had a 22-18 lead. W-P cut the lead to one, but here?s where coach Pat Lamb probably gets the most frustrated. The coach didn?t have anybody to fill 145 and 152 pounds and the team lost 12 points. The one point lead went to an 11 point deficit. It was too much to make up, although the effort down the stretch was nothing short of warrior-like.
JUNIOR CHRIS RHODE received six points from a void, while freshman Tyler Schuiteman got the crowd energized with a huge pin, but it wasn?t enough. Sophomores Cody Wenzel and Mark Grulke also were bumped up a weight class and Lamb said they ?both gave total and full efforts of themselves. We almost came away with the tournament championship against a very good team. I was very pleased with the way we wrestled on Saturday.?
?Overall we did excellent,? said junior Josh Christ. ?Everyone really worked hard.? ?When I can take three freshmen and tell them I?m bumping them up a weight class and they all pull through with a victory, it shows a lot for their character,? said Lamb. ?Number one, they weren?t intimidated by being bumped up a weight class. Number two, they had no complaints about it. They went out and did their job, and number three, all three of them won. I can?t say much more than that.?
SENIOR STATE QUALIFIER Justin Kelley is anxious to return to the lineup after missing recent tournaments due to injuries. Sitting and watching the excitement Saturday in the RCHS gym makes him have ?more ambition? to wrestle again, he said. Going undefeated and claiming tournament championships were Freel, Mierzwinski, Centala, Schuiteman, and Christ. Hurons with a 4-1 record included sophomore Austin Fairbanks, Wenzel, and Rhode. Tyler Gorlewski (215 pounds) was 3-2, while Grulke finished 2-2.
?We got a lot of compliments about how well the tournament ran,? said Lamb. ?Everything ran smooth. The officiating was great, the parents that helped with the set up and clean up and concessions, it was awesome.? After a week off for exams, Rogers City makes its annual visit to Ithaca High School, one of mid-Michigan?s mos
?IT SHOULD BE a good test on where we are at in Division IV and how far we can go,? said Lamb. The Hurons traveled to Alpena last Thursday and earned a 46-36 win. Starting at 152 pounds, Schuiteman pinned Barry Maag in 3:14 for a 6-0 lead. Rogers City voided 160 and 171 pounds and was down by six, 6-12. Rhode received a void, which tied the score, while Gorlewski earned a pin at the 5:35 mark for a six point Rogers City advantage, 18-12.
The Hurons then had three straight pins from Christ (1:00), Krueger (3:04), and Freel (1:31), to extend the lead to 24. A 19-9 decision from Centala and a Wenzel pin (5:38) sealed the win over the Wildcats.