Gratiot County sending 14 wrestlers to Ford Field

Pity St. Louis opponents tiring of the Sharks’ success. They’re going to be around for awhile. St. Louis had three champions at Ithaca’s Division 4 individual regional last Saturday – and all three are just underclasssmen. And there was a ninth-grade runner-up. The Sharks’ Colin Kuhn, Alex Rodriguez and Martine Wiggins were regional winners, among St. Louis’ eight state qualifiers.
Kuhn, thanks to his 41-5 record, had a first-round bye at 106 pounds. In the semifinals he took an 18-5 major decision over Hesperia’s Stephen Priese. In the final Kuhn beat New Lothrop’s Blake Wendling with a 7-0 decision.
Rodriguez won his 40th match of the season in the 113-pound championship match, edging Lakeview’s 46-4 Cameron Perez 3-2 in the final. Perez had beaten him the previous week n the district. Rodriguez beat another Perez, 42-8 Joe from Lakeview, in the semifinals, by fall in 1:L27. Rodriguez started the day pinning Cass City’s Zachary Cowdry in just 27 seconds.
Wiggins will join teammate Kuhn with his second state finals appearance in as many varsity seasons after claiming the regional title at 138 pounds. Wiggins, 22-4, pinned New Lothrop’s Caleb Sharp in the championship match in 2:23. That was his third victory via fall on t the day, pinning Brown City’s 42-8 Easton Jager in 2:34 in the semifinals after pinning Vassar’s Cheven Lesko in 1:26 in quarterfinals.
St. Louis freshman Laythan Haworth was second at 126 pounds. He lost a 14-2 decision to Montabella’s Noah Szwed in the championship match. Haworth pinned New Lothrop’s Leo Bauman in the quarterfinals in 2:31, then beat Holton’s Rylee Pierce with a 5-1 decision.
Three St. Louis wrestlers qualified for the state finals with third-place finishes. Sharks sophomore Genaro Soto won a 4-0 decision over Brown City’s 40-4 Wynn Blake in the 120-pound consolation final. Soto opened with an 11-1 major decision victory over Cass City’s Mason Brown. He was then pinned by eventual regional champion Dave Lockwood of New Lothrop. Soto pinned Lakeview’s Bryce Jacobs in in 2:01 in the consolation semifinals.
Justice Onsted is 40-7 in his senior season after placing third at 190 pounds. Onsott took a 9-4 decision against New Lothrop’s Joseph Torres in the consolation final. Onstott pinned Vassar’s Landon Turner in 36 seconds to start the tournament. He lost a 5-4 semifinal decision to Brown City’s Kyle Affer, before pinning Montaella’s Jayden Row in 1:54 in the consolation semis.
Ramon Anguiano won an all Gratiot County 285-consolation final, with a 2-1 decision against Ithaca’s Mason Vancamp. After being pinned by Montabella’s Jerrold Atwell, Anguiano pinned Cass City’s Rylan Kruse in 2:37 before taking a 7-4 decision over Justin Klinesmith from Brown City.
St. Louis will have two 106-pound representatives at the state finals, as Sharks freshman Owen Fogel was fourth in the regional. Fogel started by pinning Vassar’s Landon Reid in 1:25 before dropping an 11-4 decision to New Lothrop’s Blake Wendling. Fogel pinned Montabella’s Jackson Beardsley in 1:50 in the consolation semifinals before losing to Hesperia’s Stephen Priese, 42-8, in the consolation final.
Ithaca has three Division 4 state qualifiers. Joe Dawe, a 38-3 junior, was third at 144 pounds. He beat Cass City’s Cameron Gottschalk 2-1 in the consolation final. He beat St. Louis’ Trenton Farkas by a 16-3 major decision in the consolation semis. After getting a first-round bye, Dawe was upset by New Lothrop’s Parker Noonan in the semifinals, a 7-6 decision.
Ithaca junior Brndon Pass pinned Ravenna’s Juan Castillo in 1:55 in the 215-pound consolation final. He pinned New Lothrop’s Cole Noonan in 2:42 in the consolation semifinals. He lost his first match of the day, a 9-5 decision to Sandusky’s Kory Lambson, then pinned Montabella’s Owen Perior in 46 seconds.
Vancamp was fourth at 285, losing in the 285-pound third-place match to Anguiano. Vancamp beat Cass City;’s Rylan Kruse by a 5-3 decision, was pinned by Montabella’s Jerrold Atwell, then took a 6-1 decision from Noah Walker of Hesperia in the third-place semis.
“Mason has been so close to making it to states in the past and last year he was injured and missed out on the individual tournament so doing this this senior year was special,” Ithaca coach Daryl Dawe said.
The Division 4 individual wrestling state finals are March 3-4 at Detroit’s Ford Field.