Nave and Robins qualify for state finals

by Angie Asam-Staff Writer

Freshman Isaac Nave and senior Morgan Robins each placed third at individual regionals in Rogers City on Saturday and punched their tickets to the individual state wrestling finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills beginning on Feb. 28.

Nave, a district champion at 103 pounds, defeated Tony Moore of Pine River 11-5 in his opening round match. He then fell to No. 4 ranked Davian Gowens of Hesperia 15-11. Gowens went on to earn the regional champioship.

Nave then battled through the consolation bracket, pinning Mio’s Patrick Stephens in 1:31 and defeating Moore once again 8-0 to place third.

State finals brackets are out and Nave (33-11) will take on No. 2 ranked Jacob Voss of Addison, a junior with a record of 40-9, in the opening round Thursday, which begins at approximately 2 p.m.

Robins qualified for the regional meet after finishing second at 140 pounds in the district tournament. Robins pinned Mio’s Harley Foust in 1:38 before falling to No. 3 ranked Kyle Nixon of Pine River, the eventual regional champion, 11-1.

Robins then pinned Devon Posey of Sanford Meridian and defeated Cole Gonzalez of Manistique to finish third.

 

No. 9 ranked Robins (27-10) will face senior Justin Schroeder of Addison (32-19) in the opening round of the state tournament.

Both wrestlers are qualifying for their first trip to the finals as they will look to earn all state honors by finishing in the top eight.

Senior Justin Gedda (160) narrowly missed out on a chance to continue his career. Gedda fell to No. 2 Lee Siersema of Hesperia, the eventual regional champion, by pin in 1:32. He then pinned Manistique’s Zavier Gonzalez in 4:31. Gedda then fell to Pine River’s Justin Seeman by 11-4 decision to end his season. Had he won his final match he would have finished in the top four a

nd advanced to the state finals.

Junior Casey Watson (189) fell to No. 6 ranked Jonathan Zarzoza of Hart 17-4 in the opening round. Watson then pinned Manistique’s Cheyene Shaver in 1:46 before falling to No. 5 ranked Eldon Graham of Hesperia by pin in 1:36 to end his season. Watson too was one win away from a trip to the state finals.

Sophomore Joe Traynham (112) fell to Eric Wales of Traverse City St. Francis 12-8 in the first round. Traynham then pinned Gwinn’s Alex Anderson in 1:59 before losing a tough 8-6 decision to Elijah Flores of Hart to end his season, one match from the state finals.