Pommerenke nears 100th consecutive win
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
Saturday at the Benzie Central Super Dual Invitational the Rogers City Hurons varsity wrestling team posted a 3-2 record to improve to 22-8 on the season. In their first match of the day the Hurons defeated a tough Grandville team 41-30. Grandville would go on to win the tournament as the loss to the Hurons was their only loss on the day.
Rogers City then fell to Benzie Central 39-33 before defeating Hart 43-33 and Reed City 42-32. In their last match of the day the Hurons fell to Mt. Pleasant 42-28 to finish with a 3-2 record. If the Hurons would have lost only one match on the day they would have been crowned the tournament champions as they had beaten Grandville head-to-head, a thought that has head coach Pat Lamb second guessing some lineup juggling he did in the two losses.
Because the Hurons have several wrestlers weighing in for the same weight class and were absent freshman Caleb Pommerenke, coach Lamb was forced to make a judgement call when he decided if Jacob Reisener would wrestle at 171 or 189 and what class the Hurons would void. In each match coach Lamb has to make coaching decisions on what order his wrestlers will step on the match.
?Who knows in those situations, if I would have done it the other way around, if it would have worked better. However, our boys wrestled extremely well for the whole tournament and I am really proud of their efforts. It?s not their fault they?ve got a bonehead for a coach,? said coach Lamb. Going 5-0 on the day were senior Ben Tulgestke (160) and junior Devin Pommerenke (285).
In his fourth match of the day Devin Pommerenke earned his 150th career victory and ended the day with a career record of 151-11 with 110 wins by pin. Pommerenke is now tied for 14th all-time in victories with 2008 graduate Jerome Gapczynski and needs just 25 more pins in his career to pass Duane Woloszyk?s record of 134 career pins.
Devin already owns the Hurons record for consecutive wins, which he broke a season ago going 59-0 but has not stopped there, he has now won 98 consecutive matches. He also owns the record for team points in a season, pins in a season, consecutive pins and freshman wins. ?Earning his 150th career victory is just awesome for a junior in high school. Devin has just been phenomenal all year. He is a leader and always goes out and gives it all out on the mat,? said coach Lamb.
Ben Tulgestke worked his way to a 5-0 record by doing something he and his coach have talked about his entire career, finishing his moves and non stop movement while on the mat.
?Ben was just phenomenal on the day. He has really been coming on as of late. He gets the whole team motivated and pumped up; when Ben wins it really sets the tone for the rest of the team. He is a captain, he is just a great leader and if he continues to wrestle this way the sky is the limit for what he can do this season,? said coach Lamb.
Going 4-1 on the day were Alex Bidlake (103), Joey Sobeck (112), Travis Fleis (119) and Keegan Urban (130/35). Coach Lamb is very pleased with the success Bidlake is having for the Hurons as he is now 11-3 on the season. Lamb also believes that if captain Fleis believes in his abilities and goes out there and wrestles hard he will accomplish great things this season.
Greg Tulgestke (140/45), in his first action of the season due to a knee injury, was 3-2 on the day as was Jacob Reisener (171/89). Blaise Ryan (130/35) was 2-2 on the day and Evan Lamb (125) was 1-1 on the day before leaving with an injury. Daniel Marx (140/45) and Brandon Haneckow (152) each won one match on the day.
Haneckow had a great match to ignite his team in the victory over Grandville. Down 11-2 he timed a hinny just perfect as his opponent shot in for a takedown. Haneckow flipped him on his back and pinned him
LAST WEDNESDAY at home on parents night the Hurons defeated Rudyard 69-6 and Newberry 69-3. Double winners for the Hurons were Bidlake (103), Sobeck (112), Fleis (119), Lamb (125), Urban (130/35), Ryan (130/35), Ben Tulgestke (160), Reisener (171/89), Chris Pflug (215) and Devin Pommerenke (285). Winning one match on the day were Zach Pierce (145/52) and Haneckow (145/52).
The Hurons were back in action Wednesday (after press time) in Cheboygan and will be at the Northern Michigan Championship in Gaylord Saturday to end the regular season. The Hurons will host the conference tournament on Feb. 6. With the postseason fast approaching coach Lamb is expecting good things from his team. ?Now all we have to do is work on our consistency. When we can come out and beat a great team like Grandville we have to carry that through the rest of the day and be consistent. That has been our Achilles? heel all season, we will have moments of greatness and then slide back into being a good team. To be successful in the postseason tournament we need to stay wrestling at that high level,? said coach Lamb.