Dan Yates wins 2009 Michigan Grappler Wrestler of the Year
4/27 - The votes are in and it is now final - Hesperia senior Dan Yates is
the 2009 Michigan Grappler High School Wrestler of the Year.
Yates entered this season as a 2x Division 4 state champion and he
was the 5th ranked senior recruit in the fall by Michigan Grappler.com.
Yates continued his in-state dominance throughout 08-09, accumulating
a 63-1 record en route to his 3rd straight state championship. Along the
way Yates scored a handful of impressive wins, including a handful of
wins that he scored while bumped up two weight classes over some of
the state's best 189lbers. Yates' only loss of the season came bumped
up to 189 to help his team at the Dual State Championships in Battle
Creek when he fell to Hudson state champ Gabe Elliot in overtime. He
finished his prep career with an overall record of 248-9.
While Yates' resume was impressive following his 3rd state title, it was his performance at the NHSCA Senior Nationals that put him on the map nationally and as a contender for wrestler of the year. At the senior nationals Yates defeated the 5th and 7th ranked wrestlers in the country in Ohio state champ Kyle Lang and Iowa state champ John Nicholson en route to the 160lb championship.
In all, there were 4 wrestlers ranked in top 12 nationally in Yates weight class at senior nationals and following his win he is now the 4th ranked 160lber in the country according to WIN Magazine. He is the highest ranked Michigan wrestler in WIN Magazine's most recent high school national rankings.
Yates, a senior, has yet to announce his college plans. According to WIN his top college choices are Michigan State University and the University of Iowa.
The Wrestler of the Year was decided based on the voting of a panel of coaches. The other two finalists for wrestler of the year were St Johns freshman Taylor Massa and senior Mike McClure of Holland West Ottawa.
Massa, who was an undefeated state champion and double Cadet National Champion last summer, finished runner-up in the voting, followed by Senior National runner up and heavyweight state champ McClure.
Michigan Grappler.com would like to congrulate Yates for his succesfull year and the honor of being Michigan Grappler.com wrestler of the year. He joins elite company as the past wrestlers of the year have been 3x state champ Ben Bennett, who redshirted this year as a freshman at Central Michigan and 4x state champ Justin Zeerip of Hesperia, who was started this year at 165lbs for the University of Michigan.
Check back this week as the 2009 Michigan Grappler High School Dream Team will be unveiled in the coming days.
Michigan Grappler High School Wrestlers of the Year:
2009 - Dan Yates (Hesperia), 160lbs
2008 - Ben Bennett (Rockford), 171lbs
2007 - Justin Zeerip (Hesperia), 160lbs
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