Hurons an impressive third at Marquette, host Cheboygan and Onaway tonight

The Huron wrestlers competed in the competitive, yet entertaining, Marquette Challenge Invitational over the weekend. The all-day tourney took place last Saturday at Marquette High School with some of the best wrestling programs from two states competing. Rogers City followed up last year?s fourth place finish by placing third this year. Mason won the tournament with 178 points and was followed by runner-up Merrill, Wisconsin with 151.5 points. The Hurons were right on their tails with 143 points. ?We wrestled extremely well,? said head coach Pat Lamb. ?We were only eight-and-a-half points out of second.? He said the main goal was to have fun and ?see where that would lead us.? At the end of the day, Lamb believes his young men accomplished their goal.

ON TUESDAY, Lamb wondered what would have happened if the Orange and Black had not voided 215. Derek Schleben, who started the season at the weight class, has been injured. There also was some close matches against some quality opponents. If the matches had gone Rogers City?s way, maybe the final standings would have been even better. With most of the team returning next December, Lamb said his boys will have their sights set on bringing home a first place trophy.

Next up, though, is the first home meet of the season. The Hurons will roll out the ?Bill Barrett? mat in the RCHS gym as they host Cheboygan and Onaway tonight at 6 p.m. A couple of the highlight matches against Onaway include Chase McLennan against Andrew LaLonde, Zak McLennan against John Pomranke, along with the match at 103 between arguably the best wrestlers in Division IV at that weight class. T.J. Sobeck, who was the lone individual champ at Marquette, awaits his match against Steve Bassett.

AT MARQUETTE, Sobeck battled back in the quarterfinals to will himself to a first place medal. Tony Burge of Mason took Sobeck down moments after the opening whistle and had him in a headlock for most of the first period. Down, 5-0, Sobeck outlasted Burge to claim a 9-7 win. He went on to win 4-1 in the semis and 10-2 in the final

s against Nate Fix of Comstock Park. Finishing second were Brent Freel (125), Tharin Wilk (130), and Chase McLennan (171). Freel lost in the finals to Mason?s state champ at 103 from 2005. The final score was 8-3. Wilk had an outstanding day and was caught in a ?standing-Peterson,? to a wrestler who won his third consecutive Marquette championship. Only four wrestlers have won four. Rogers City?s all-time win leader, Dylan Centala, won three. Wilk was pinned in a time of 3:25. Chase McLennan lost to Jacob Burge of first place Mason, 14-6. He had a technical fall, pin, and a 9-4 decision to get into the finals.

JEROME GAPCZYNSKI placed third, Tyler Schuiteman (152) placed fifth, while Jacob Vogler (112) and unseeded Dustin Hein (145) placed sixth. Also earning points for the Hurons were Michael Vogler (119) and Alex Matthews (135). Lamb said Marquette always puts on a tremendous show. One year school officials played Destiny Child?s ?Survivor.? This year, they used a ?Deal, No Deal? game show theme. Lamb said, it is why schools travel such far distances for this tournament. He added that even a mild wrestling fan would appreciate the experience.

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