PETER JAKEY’S SPORTSBEAT:Christ places sixth at national tournament
The Rogers City High School boys bowling team, which ended up as a state runner-up last month in the Michigan High School Athletic Association tournament, was congratulated for its accomplishment in an ad running on 9 & 10 News. For as long as I?ve lived in the north, 9 & 10 has had the best sports coverage of high school and professional sports.
The ad saluted teams such as the state runner-up Gaylord boys hockey team and the Traverse St. Francis bowling team, which won the state title, defeating Rogers City. It was nice to see the Huron bowlers mentioned, because schools east of Gaylord are sometimes overlooked.
THE COMMERCIAL only saluted teams, so wrestlers were not included. The names of the top wrestlers in the north probably couldn?t be squeezed into a 30 second ad, but if one were produced, it would have to include Rogers City heavyweight Josh Christ. Christ lost only two matches during his junior season, one in the regular season at the Northern Michigan Champions in Gaylord, and the other in the state title match of Division IV. Late last month, Christ was invited to try out for Team Northwest and easily earned a spot. He represented his school and Michigan in respectable fashion at a national tournament in Dover, Delaware. I had never desired to learn much about Delaware until I started writing this column, but did you know it?s called the first state, receiving statehood in December 1787? The state bird is the blue hen chicken.
THE TOURNAMENT at Delaware State University in Dover included 16 heavyweights from Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. It was a 17-hour trip with no motel stops. Josh slept and listened to his classic rock CDs. The goal at the tournament was to finish tops in the nation and earn all-American honors, which would go to wrestlers placing eighth or higher. Christ faced some of the best wrestlers in the country, including state champs and runners-up. The results were typical Josh.
Christ pinned Florida state champ O?Conner Kelly in 1:44, a New York runner-up in 35 seconds, and another kid from Indiana in 19 seconds. In the Team Northwest duals, Christ was 6-1 with five pins and was named ?Outstanding Wrestler? three times. The only loss was to a competitor from Pennsylvania. Christ was attempting a body lock and got caught in a head-lock and stuck. Nobody from Team Northwest won a match against Pennsylvania. The final score was a lopsided 73-0.
AFTER THE duals, Christ participated in the National Folkstyle individual tournament also in Dover. Based on his performance in the duals, he was seeded second. Christ made quick work of Martin Maez, a state champ from Colorado, in 1:01 and Shane Wilson of Virgin
If it weren?t for the injury, who knows what the result would have been? The Florida wrestler he defeated ended up with a third and the Indiana kid was second. Christ ended up placing sixth at the tournament, which earned him all-American honors. Phil Christ, Josh?s dad, said the hip injury is coming along and won?t slow him from competing in the Junior Olympics and the Amateur Athletic Union state championships this weekend in Roseville.
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FORMER HURON softball catcher Angie Asam had a clutch double Saturday for the Alma Scots JV team. In the top of the seventh with the score tied at seven, Asam came up to the plate against Delta College with the bases loaded. With two outs, she blew the game open, bringing in all three base runners. The Alma JV was 14-2 as of Saturday with the sweep of Delta.