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Top ranked St Johns wins Eastern with 8 champs

By Steve Widzinski

Michigan Grappler HS Anaylst

Don Johnson Invite Videos

Tournament Photos (Gary Williams)

12/5 - The 2010-2011 MHSAA wrestling season is officially

underway. This Saturday’s Don Johnson Invitational at

Lansing Eastern headlined a very competitive weekend of

wrestling around the state of Michigan. Highly regarded

teams such as St. Johns, Temperance Bedford and Lake

Fenton all were in attendance. Top wrestlers from Divisions

1, 2 and 3 clashed giving the tournament a good mix of

talent and several state championship caliber finals

matches.

At the starting weight of 112, returning state champion

Jacob Schmitt of St. Johns picked up right where he left off,

pinning his way through the bracket to claim the

championship. The nationally ranked sophomore went

untested all day and looked very sharp pinning Zach Henderson of Hudsonville in the finals.

Schmitt’s teammate Brant Schafer kept St. John’s momentum going by taking home the championship at 119 lbs. Schafer battled with returning state runner-up Todd Melick of Lake Fenton. Schafer looked very strong and showed why he is a state title contender, controlling the match and defeating Melick 5-2.

St. Johns continued to roll at 125 lbs, when Josh Pennell scored a quick fall in the finals over Mason Allison of Temperance Bedford. Pennell was dominant all day, pinning and teching his way through the bracket, proving why he is a serious threat to win a state title this year.

Buddy Poyner became the first Non-St. Johns wrestler to win a championship when he claimed the 130 lbs title. Poyner used his strong mat skills to cruise to the finals where he pinned Owosso’s Taylor Trombley in the second period to claim the 130 lbs championship.

The 135 lbs weight class featured one of the day’s premier

matchups. Fargo All-American Camryn Jackson of Lansing

Eastern and returning state placer Zach Corcoran of Lake Fenton

met in a highly anticipated finals match. Jackson looked sharp

scoring a quick takedown in the first period. However Corcoran

took control of the match with strong riding in the second and third

periods and took home a title with an impressive 6-3 decision.

Top ranked Brian Gibbs of Temperance Bedford showed why many

people have him pegged as this year’s 140 pound state champion

in division 1. Gibbs cruised to the finals where he controlled

Fowlerville’s Travis Kern for a 9-0 major decision.

Division 1’s top ranked Jared Zimmerman of Hudsonville and

Division 2’s second ranked Travis Curley met in another big time finals matchup at 145 lbs. Curley looked very impressive, controlling the match in neutral and coming away with a 7-3 decision, showing why he is a state title threat in D2.

One of the day’s premier matchups occurred in the 152 lbs finals. Lake Fenton Senior Justin Melick who is ranked #1 across all divisions at 140 crossed paths with St. John’s Junior Jordan Wohlfert, the top ranked wrester at 152 lbs across all four divisions. The match featured quite a bit of action, but neither wrestler was able to come away with many points. Wohlfert came out ahead with a 2-0 decision in one of the day’s best matches.

Taylor Massa of St. Johns, currently ranked #2 in the nation at 160 by InterMat was the headliner in the 160 lbs bracket. Massa met with Lake Fenton Senior Connor Brancheau in the finals for a rematch of last year’s Division 2 semi-finals. Massa put on a takedown clinic scoring a very impressive 25-10 technical fall.

Division 3’s top ranked Drew Morris of Lake Fenton faced quite a test from Dewitt’s Nate Knauf. The unranked Knauf pushed Morris to his limit, tying the match midway through the third period. However, Morris was able to score a late takedown and eventually came away with a 6-3 decision to take home the 171 lbs title.

While the 189 lbs division didn’t feature quite as many big names as some of the others, it did have one of the days most exciting finals matches. St. John’s Conrado Dominguez scored a late reversal to come away with an 8-7 decision over Temperance Bedford’s Brandon Sunday.

Jerry Westerman picked up big wins in the semi-finals and finals leading to a 1st place finish at 215 lbs. Westerman knocked off Temperance Bedford’s Brian Smith with an exciting 7-5 overtime decision in the semi-finals. Westerman then utilized his strong neutral wrestling ability to pick up a 11-7 win over St. John’s Taylor Pemberton in the finals.

After winning the 215 lbs state title as a freshman, Fowlerville Sophomore Adam Coon looked dominant up at 285 lbs this weekend. Coon met with Temperance Bedford Junior Logan Rimmen in a battle of talented upper weights. Coon pushed the pace in neutral and jumped out to an early lead, eventually scoring a fall late in the third period to win the 285 lbs championship.

The last match of the day at 103 lbs featured two of Michigan’s top little men battling it out in a marquis finals match. Returning state champion Mitch Rogaliner of Temperance Bedford scored a 6-5 double overtime decision over Martin Rodriguez of Grand Ledge in the semi-finals to earn a spot in the finals against nationally ranked freshman Zac Hall of St. Johns. Rogaliner and Hall battled back and forth with the score tied at four late in the third period. Hall took control of the match late when he took Rogaliner down and scored two near fall points to jump to an 8-4 lead. Hall was victorious by a final score of 9-5 in a very impressive high school tournament debut.

St. Johns, who is currently ranked as Michigan’s top team across all divisions, controlled the team race finishing well ahead of the competition. Trailing St. Johns was Temperance Bedford who is currently ranked #6 in Division 1. The new look Lake Fenton squad had three champions, helping them earn a 3rd place finish. Rounding out the top five was Hudsonville in 4th place and Fowlerville in 5th.

Finals Results

103: Zac Hall (St. Johns) dec Mitch Rogaliner (Temperance Bedford) 9-5

112: Jacob Schmitt (St. Johns) fall Zach Henderson (Hudsonville)

119: Brand Scahfer (St. Johns) dec Todd Melick (Lake Fenton) 5-2

125: Josh Pennell (St. Johns) fall Mason Allison (Temperance Bedford)

130: Buddy Poyner (Lake Fenton) fall Taylor Trombley (Owosso)

135: Zach Corcoran (Lake Fenton) dec Camryn Jackson (Lansing Eastern) 6-3

140: Brian Gibbs (Temperance Bedford) maj dec Travis Kern (Fowlerville) 9-0

145: Travis Curley (St. Johns) dec Jared Zimmerman (Hudsonville) 7-3

152: Jordan Wohlfert (St. Johns) dec Justin Melick (Lake Fenton) 2-0

160: Taylor Massa (St. Johns) tech-fall Connor Brancheau (Lake Fenton) 25-10

171: Drew Morris (Lake Fenton) dec Nate Knauf (DeWitt) 6-3