Wrestling team faces a formidable foe at State Finals

Another trophy for the case — The Dutchmen wrestling team celebrates their district victory which led up to the Team Wrestling finals last weekend. (Photo courtesy MHS Wrestling Facebook page).

submitted by Coach Steve Vlcek

After an exciting week of weather, the wrestling team traveled to Kalamazoo on Friday morning to face a familiar foe in Bronson, who had beaten us twice this season.

Even though the kids knew we had a uphill battle on our hands, they went out positive and wrestled hard; all 14 kids gave it their all. We lost a tough 39-19 match to the third-seeded Vikings who eventually made their way to the finals and a State runner up team.

We had four wins in the match, with Onyx Ostrom and Gunner Carson collecting pins and Sammy Stewart and Blake Sloan with decisions. Overall, it was a great experience for our young squad and they will able to use this for next season as we are looking forward to improving and wrestling on the weekend next year.

We did have to say goodbye to our senior class Nick Patrick and Brandon Blumenauer, who did a great job as first-year wrestlers, and Ben Gautz and Mason Schmitt who will be attending Individual States this week. A big shout out to all the fans who attended the meet; we really appreciate all the support, including families, friends, students, alumni, and fans. Thanks so much for the support.

This week, our nine State Qualifiers will be traveling to Ford Field, where we will be wrestling Friday and Saturday.

At Individual regionals we had 13 kids participating: sophomores Adam Grebe, Nathan Meyer, and Bubba Duffing all came up a little short. However, all three kids wrestled well. The good thing is, they will have a few more shots at the State tournament, especially for how much all three have improved this year.

Senior Nick Patrick also came up one match short of the tournament. He finished out his career with 37 wins and a league championship to his credit. Onyx went 2-1 on the day, losing to the number-one ranked kid in the finals. He had two pins in the previous matches, and he now has 40 wins on the year; this is his second trip to Ford Field.

Chase Conklin continued his great freshman season going 2-2 on the day to finish fourth and earn his first trip to the Championships. Sammy Stewart, who is still recovering from a hand injury, had a great day going 3-0 and earning his first regional Championship and will be looking to bring home some hardware from Ford Field. Mason Schmitt had a good day going 3-1 on the day to take third place. Earlier in the season, Mason also collected his 100th win in his career. This will be Mason's second trip to the championships.

Blake Sloan continued his impressive freshman season, going 3-0 to win his first Regional Championship along the way. Blake now holds the record for most wins as a freshman, with 51 wins going into Ford Field. Gunner Carson battled back from a tough call to go 3-1 on the day to place third. This was a great day since he was one match away from qualifying last year; he now has 42 wins on the year.

Senior Ben Gautz had a great day, going 2-1 on the day for a second-place finish. Ben has been with us for four years now and has finally been healthy. As long as I have coached, I have never seen a kid with so much dedication to come back from three major surgeries. Ben is one of our Captains and most vocal, he has 34 wins going into this weekend.

Sophomore Nathan Fletcher was one of our surprises as he wrestled great and went 3-1 to place third, and avenged a couple of losses from earlier in the season. Nathan has really stepped it up the past few weeks to put himself in this position. He has 34 wins going into this weekend.

Rounding out our Qualifiers is Dylan Gauss who has had a amazing turnaround this year. With only six wins last year, he improved that greatly to 26 this year and being a great anchor for the team at the top or our line-up. Dylan went 2-2, defeating a previous State qualifier in the blood round to give him his first trip to Ford Field.

As I stated earlier, all 13 kids, along with the other eight kids on our team wrestled well all season long, and I can't wait to see what this young team can accomplish next year.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.