Hurons look to reclaim SAC title and keep team district streak alive

It?s what the Huron wrestlers have been preparing for all season. The end of the season tournaments start with Rogers City trying to reclaim the Straits Area Conference title Saturday at home (10 a.m.). On Wednesday, they?ll host Onaway and Charlevoix for team districts. The Michigan High School Athletic Association tournament is single elimination; a loss and teams are done. The Hurons kept a long-standing streak going last year with their 17th consecutive team district title as Charlevoix was a no-show in the RCHS gym. With victories Tuesday at home against Roscommon, 44-33, and Grayling, 56-17, Rogers City looks poised for the post-season.

?HOPEFULLY, WE can keep this going and wrestle well all the way through,? said coach Pat Lamb. ?I?m really proud of our kids, they wrestled extremely well tonight.? The Hurons improved their dual record to 15-8 with the home wins and will be looking to add to that total tonight (Thursday) when they host SAC foes Rudyard and Newberry. The wrestling starts at 6 p.m. Rogers City dropped two matches at Whittemore-Prescott last Thursday. The Hurons lost to W-P 49-30 and to Bay City Central 38-36.

The winning tradition continues, though, as Rogers City is assured of another winning record. ?My boys, they love wrestling here in Rogers City, and it shows,? said Lamb. ?We have a total team effort every time we wrestle here on our mats.

?We didn?t have a very big crowd tonight, but what we had was true wrestling fans. They were loud and boisterous. They were really voicing their support for our team and we really appreciate it. We?ll be home from now on, for basically the rest of the year, except for individual districts and individual regionals.?

AUSTIN FAIRBANKS (140 pounds) earned a pin (1:33) to put the Hurons up, 6-0 against Grayling. The Vikings won the next two matches to retake the lead, 7-6. Scott Keller (160 pounds) held tough late in the third period with a reversal in the last 20 seconds, which clinched a 13-10 win. That would give Rogers City a lead they wouldn?t relinquish. Chris Rhode received a void at 189 pounds, Tyler Gorlewski (215 pounds) pinned Joe Ferrigon (1:24), and Josh Christ (275 pounds) received six points from a void. The lead was 27-11. Brian Krueger (103 pounds) kept things going with a 16-0 technical fall in his match against Jeff Hardwood, while Charlie Wickersham (112 pounds) had a void. Brent Freel (119 pounds) had the toughest loss of the night.

The freshman was winning his match against Cody Verlinde on the scoreboard, but made a mistake and was pinned with one second left in the third period. Mike Mierzwinki (125 pounds) received a void at 125 pounds. Dylan Centala (130 pounds) made quick work of Corey Metzer with a pin in 42 seconds, while Justin Kelley (135 pounds) finished off the Vikings with a pin in the last minute of the third quarter.

IT WAS THE

first dual win against Grayling this season, and not to take anything away from the victory, but the Vikings didn?t bring everyone for the match. ?They are banged up,? said Lamb of three wrestlers who didn?t make the trip. ?It still feels good, especially the way we beat them, convincingly.? Roscommon also had defeated the Hurons this season. Mark Grulke broke a 21-21 tie against the Bucks with a hard-fought, 4-3 win. He was followed by Rhode, who earned a technical fall to increase the Rogers City lead to eight. Pins then came from Gorlewski (1:17) and Christ (1:46). Krueger made it 44-21 with a 9-5 decision.

Double winners at W-P last week were Christ, Centala, and Fairbanks. Winning single matches were Cody Wenzel (145 pounds), Grulke, Krueger, Kelley, Rhode, and Mierzwinski.