Wrestlers qualify for state meet
Another goal was reached when the 2005-06 Huron wrestlers earned the schools seventh regional championship and locked up a trip back to Battle Creek. Last year?s Rogers City squad advanced to the championship match before losing to eventual Division IV titleholder Addison There had been previous trips to Battle Creek, but no team had ever made it that far. Much of the nucleus of last year?s team returned and the goal from the moment the team accepted the runner-up trophy in 2005 was to return, and take that next step up the ladder. Rogers City (26-1) will be at Kellogg Center in Battle Creek Friday, March 3 in a quarterfinal match against Lutheran HS Westland.
Some familiar names to the team state finals are also back, including top ranked Hesperia (37-2), Whittemore-Prescott (23-10), New Lothrop (26-5), and defending champ Addison (34-0). Rogers City earned its trip to BC with victories against Munising and Rudyard at the regional tournament Wednesday in Newberry. The Hurons took a lopsided match against Straits Area Conference foe Rudyard, 61-12, and then moved to the championship match against Munising, who had upset the Hurons in Rogers City two years ago.
With the score still fairly close against Munising halfway through, Rogers City put away their regional rivals with pins from senior Dylan Centala, junior Tyler Schuiteman, and sophomore Chase McLennan. The pins gave the Hurons 18 total points. Seniors Cody Wenzel and Mark Grulke also came up with important decisions to help earn six points. Wenzel won his match 10-5, while Grulke faced a tough Ben Miles to take a 7-4 win. A pin is worth six points and a regular decision is three. The score was
In the following match, junior Brent Freel won 9-1 for another major decision. Both Freel and Krueger gave it their all to try and get pins, but their Munising opponents fought hard to keep their shoulders off the mat. Freel and Krueger were extremely close to pins in their respective matches, but couldn?t put the kid away. Sophomore Tharin Wilk had the most exciting match of the regional championship, pinning Kurt Davis with four seconds remaining in the third period to pull out the extra points.
Sophomore T.J. Sobeck also was a winner. Winners in the regional semifinal match were Grulke, Sobeck, Krueger, Freel, Wilk, freshman Zak McLennan, Centala, Wenzel, Schuiteman, and Chase McLennan. A win March 3 will put the Hurons in the semifinals March 4 against the winner of the Decatur (35-7) vs. Hesperia match.