Huron wrestlers take eighth at Ithaca

The Huron wrestlers are back home this evening hosting St. Ignace and Onaway, following an eighth place finish at an exhausting Ithaca Tournament Saturday. Every tournament has its level of exhaustion, but computer problems prevented the tournament from starting on time, and further glitches halfway through the day compounded the problem. ?We didn?t get out of there until a little after 11,? said head coach Pat Lamb.

Division III school Grayling took first in a very close finish, as Division IV power New Lothrop trailed in second by two-and-a-half points. St. Louis took third.

ROGERS CITY, WITH individual placers in first, second, third, and fourth, was less than 30 points behind Grayling. Actual team points were not immediately available to coaches at the end of the day and were to be mailed. Even with computer problems, the tournament was as tough as everyone expected. ?It was that and more. It was fierce,? said Lamb.

Junior Josh Christ dominated on his way to a first place finish at 275 pounds, taking a total of 2:39 to defeat four opponents with four pins. A regular match lasts six minutes. ?Quite frankly, he was trying some things against his first two opponents…but if he really wanted to, he could have probably finished them all off another minute sooner,? said Lamb. Sophomore Dylan Centala (125 pounds), battling in the finals, lost for only the second time this season, 8-3, to freshman Justin Zeerip of Hesperia. Sophomore Cody Wenzel (140 pounds) had a notable match against senior Tim Ebenhoeh of New Lothrop.

EBENHOEH SPOI

LED Zach Centala?s bid at a state championship two seasons ago. Lamb said Wenzel gave Ebenhoeh an extremely tough match and earned ?legitimate points.? Ebenhoeh is 200-3 in his career. Junior Chris Rhode, in spite of a knee injury, took a fourth. The coaches decided to sit Rhode and not wrestle him in the finals to allow time to evaluate his knee. Finishing with a 3-1 record was Mike Mierzwinski at 119 pounds, which landed him in eighth. Lamb believes more work needs to be done before the post season tournaments heat up in mid-February and he wants the wrestlers to work on ironing out their mistakes in practice.

?From this point forward everything is pointing toward team districts and team regionals at the end of the year,? Lamb said. ?Hopefully, we?ll have a big crowd here in Rogers City and take care of business.? The Hurons are 10-5 in dual competition this season.