Rogers City takes 10 to regionals; state finals berth on the line in Munising

One piece of history remained intact last week while the coach of the Rogers City wrestling team would like his athletes to write a new chapter of history for the storied program. The Hurons (21-4) advanced to team regionals at Munising with their 19th consecutive district championship last week with dominating victories against Mancelona, 55-12, and Charlevoix, 69-9, in the finals.

Coach Pat Lamb has been looking forward to a return to team regionals and would like regional titles to be as commonplace as district titles. “We need to get back down to Battle Creek not only for the seniors on this team, but the program as a whole,” said Lamb. “We need to be in a position to go to Battle Creek every year, and as a coach, that’s what I want to do.

“I would like to see it where we’re going for our 19th regional crown in a row. I guess, for a coach that has aspirations of having a state championship, my expectations are higher than maybe they should be. I want to compete for a state championship, year in and year out.”

TEAM REGIONALS were Wednesday night (see updated story on this site) with Rogers City’s first round opponent being Rudyard. The winner advances to take on the winner of the Gwinn vs. Munising match in the finals. The regional champion is granted a berth in the Michigan High School Association elite eight at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. Double winners at team districts in Onaway were Brian Kruger (103 pounds), Tharin Wilk (112), Brent Freel (119), Dylan Centala (135), Cody Wenzel (140), Tyler Schuiteman (145), Chase McLennan (160), Mark Grulke (171), Chris Rhode (189), and Tyler Gorlewski (215). Single winners were Alex Matthews (130), Matt Tomas (152), and Scott Kamyszek (275).

WHILE HURON were learning if they would advance to state Wednesday as a team, 10 Huron grapplers who qualified for regionals last week at Manton will attempt to place in the top four, to earn a berth in the individual state tournament March 11and 12 at The Palace of Auburn Hills. At individual districts, Rogers City crowned six district champions and will take 10 athletes back to Manton this Saturday.

Topping their weight classes were Krueger, Freel, Centala, Rhode, McLennan and Grulke. Grulke (35-16) knocked off Marty Vogel (40-5) in the district final, 7-6, but Lamb said the score shouldn’t have been that close.

“MARK ACTUALLY took it to him,” said Lamb. “He has shown flashes of brilliance, but he’s also had an inconsistency problem. On this day, he was consistent all the way through.” Before the finals match, Grulke pinned his other two opponents in a total time of 5:41. Rhode pinned his first opponent, earned a major decision, 15-3, and then defeated Marty Schafer of Beal City in the finals, 11-5. Centala tore through the tournament in the two matches he competed in, with two tech falls, 21-6 and 26-8. Lamb said wrestlers were bumping out of 130 pounds to stay away from the two-time state placer. K

rueger is in a good position for his first appearance at state. He pinned his first foe in 2:51, the second in 28 seconds, and then rolled to a 6-0 win against Steve Bassett of Onaway.

FREEL STARTED his day with a 9-3 win, pinned his next opponent in the second period, and then earned an 8-3 decision against Deforrest Warren of Mio. McLennan is the lone freshman champ, pulling out a 9-7 overtime victory over Nathan Ray of Mio for a title. He earned decisions in his other bouts. Wenzel and Schuitemen battled for titles but placed second. Wilk and Gorlewski round out the 10 qualifiers with fourth place finishes.

“Going in as a number one or a number two seed is a heck of a lot better than going in as three and four,” said Lamb. “That’s not to say that Tharin Wilk or Tyler Gorlewski don’t have a chance at qualifying, because they do. They just have to wrestle better this Saturday.”

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