Three Huron grapplers at state finals
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
Seniors Keegan Urban and Greg Tulgestke and sophomore Evan Lamb begin wrestling at the state finals today (Thursday) at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Wrestlers were at the Palace this morning for inspection and weigh in before returning at 1:30 p.m. to prepare for the grand march. Announced as the best wrestlers in the state of Michigan all the participants in the finals march around the palace before the national anthem with wrestling scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m. at the 135-pound weight class.
URBAN WHO is making his first appearance at the state finals will be the fifth match wrestled at the finals. Urban is 43-8 on the season and will face sophomore Clayton Simons of New Lothrop who is 40-10 this season. ?It?s going to be a tough match but Keegan is not immune to being in tough matches; he has been in a lot of tough matches all year long. I am waiting for Keegan to wrestle and get comfortable and we should have fun. If we wrestle hard and have fun good things will happen for us,? said coach Pat Lamb.
TULGESTKE WILL be the next Huron to step to the mat as he is in the first bout of the 140-pound weight class. He will face off against Addison senior Kyle Fletcher (50-3), last year?s state champion. Tuglestke will also be making his first appearance at the finals and enters with a 46-7 record this season. ?Obviously he is a good wrestler, he is a state champion. But you know in order to be the best you have to beat the best some where down the line and I guess the first match would be a good place for us to start,? said coach Lamb. LAMB?S MATCH will be towards the end of the round as he is competing at 125 pounds. Lamb (50-3) enters the finals with 99 career win
Lamb took sixth at 125 pounds a year ago and will be looking to improve upon that this year. ?I truly feel that the winner of that match has a really good chance of being in the state finals. Hopefully we can start out strong and end up strong,? said coach Lamb. Going into the finals coach Lamb is hoping he and his wrestlers can go to state and have fun and enjoy the moment. ?The people that can go down there and relax and wrestle loose are the ones that are going to be successful,? said coach Lamb.
Thursday each wrestler will have one match in round one. Round two begins at 8:30 a.m. on Friday with rounds 3-5 to follow. Saturday will feature round six, seven and eight before the finals scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Saturday. The tournament is double-elimination with wrestlers looking to finish in the top eight of the 16-man bracket to earn a spot on the podium and an all-state medal.