Michigan Grappler - Everything wrestling in Michigan

5th ranked Bedford finishes on top at Holt Invite

Steve Widzinski

Michigan Grappler HS Analyst

1/23 - Several of Division 1's top teams made the trip to Holt High School on Saturday for one of the season's most competitive individual tournaments. It was a narrow team race all day long, with squads from Davison, Temperance Bedford, Holt and Howell all battling for first place. Heading into the final round the host Rams had taken control of the first place spot and appeared poised to earn a team title. However thanks to an excellent finals round that featured four individual championships the fifth ranked Mules of Temperance Bedford were able to pull ahead and edge Holt for first place.

While they fell short in the team race, it was an excellent day for Holt who had strong performances throughout their entire lineup. Ten Ram wrestlers finished the day in the top five of their weight class helping Holt to rack up 268.5 team points and finish well ahead of third place Howell. It was an impressive day for Howell as well who had four individuals reach the finals leading to a third place finish forty points ahead of fourth place Davison.

It was an up and down day for Davison who was without several key contributors from their lineup. Particularly harmful to the Cardinals was the absence of highly regarded seniors Terry Turner and Jared LaBelle who both would have been favorites to take home titles in their weight classes. Despite their missing wrestlers the Cardinals turned in some very solid performances including two individual titles to help them accumulate 194 team points for a fourth place finish. Rounding out the top five were the Mustangs of Portage Central who finished just three points behind Davison in the final team standings.

Returning state champion Mitch Rogaliner looked slick all day long in the 103 pound weight class. Rogaliner cruised to the finals where he capped off his day with a second period fall over Howell's Ben Calandrino. While Rogaliner was the champion, Davison's Charles Smith was one of the biggest stories of this weight class. Smith, who was competing unattached, pulled off one of the tournament's biggest upsets early in the day when he knocked off third ranked Shane Wireman of Holt by a score 9-5. Smith went on to finish the day in third place after falling to Calandrino in the semi finals.

The 112 pound weight class featured a battle between two highly skilled freshman in one of the tournament's best final matches. Top ranked Justin Oliver of Davison got a look at some out of state competition when he squared off with Cincinnati Princeton's AJ Kowal in the 112 pound finals. After going back and forth all match Oliver came up with an escape in the bout's final seconds to win 5-4 and finish in first place.

Portage Northern Senior Connor Hughes looked impressive en route to a first place finish in the 119 pound weight class. Hughes dominated his way to the semi-finals where he picked up a 13-4 major decision over Davison's Matt Miller to reach the finals where he met sixth ranked Tyler VanRooyen of Rockford. In the finals Hughes built an early lead and then thwarted a late comeback attempt by VanRooyen to earn a 7-4 victory and an individual title.

Some of the Saturday's best action came in the highly competitive 125 pound weight class. In one of the day's wildest matches second ranked Alex Calandrino of Howell met with third ranked Dominic Trevino of Holt in an intense semi-final bout. After trailing for most of the match, Calandrino came up with a takedown just before time expired to defeat Trevino 10-9 and advance to the finals. In the finals Calandrino built on his semi-final win by controlling Cincinnati Princeton's Corey Selmon by a score of 6-1 to claim an individual championship.

One of the days most exciting matches came in the 130 pound finals where Holt's Drew Dyer matched up against Alex Donoho of Swartz Creek. After falling behind 5-0, Dyer rallied in the third period to close the gap and force overtime. However Donoho put Dyer's championship hopes to rest early into the overtime period when he came with a quick takedown to win by a final score of 7-5.

Angelo Latora of Portage Central turned in one the tournament's most dominating performances along the way to a first place finish in the 135 pound weight class. Latora pinned and teched his way to the finals where he wrestled Cincinnati Princeton's Greg Boglin. In the finals Latora continued to display the dominance he had shown all day earning a second period fall to finish the day on top of the podium.

In the 140 pound weight class second ranked Brian Gibbs picked up some critical team points for the eventual champion Temperance Bedford. Gibbs reached the finals with relative ease where he squared off with Holt's Jeff Lyon. Gibbs controlled the match earning a 9-3 decision to claim an individual title.

Highly regarded Davison Freshman Jordan Cooks turned in another impressive performance along the way to an individual title in the 145 pound weight class. Cooks cruised to the finals where he faced a tough out of state competitor in Cincinnati Princeton's Jeryd Wilder. Trailing 1-0 going into the third period, Cooks pulled away late in the match to defeat Wilder by a score of 5-1.

Perhaps the most impressive performance by any wrestler at Saturday's Holt Invitational came from East Kentwood's Niko Parks in the 152 pound weight class. Parks started his day with a big early win when he narrowly defeated Adrian's Matt Galvan by a score of 3-1 to advance to semi-finals. In the semi-finals Parks continued to impress when he upset third ranked Caleb Haddad of Holt. In the finals Parks capped of his day in style with a 9-0 major decision over Howell's Chad Czerneski.

In the 160 pound weight class Holt Senior Seth Hanton earned an individual title for the host Rams. Hanton picked up his first big win of the day in the semi-finals when he scored a late fall to defeat seventh ranked Nick Zackovich of Walled Lake Central. Hanton's success continued in the finals where he earned a hard fought 3-1 decision over fifth ranked James Mondoux of Portage Northern.

After both defeating quality opponents in the semi-finals Howell's Anthony Patritto and Ferndale's Chevez Ferris squared off in one of the day's most exciting finals matches at 171 pounds. Both wrestlers were extremely aggressive throughout the match putting big points in the board. In the end it was Ferris who came out ahead, scoring a 12-10 decision to avenge an early season loss to Patritto and earn an individual championship.

Temperance Bedford Sophomore Brandon Sunday was dominant all day in the 189 pound weight class along the way to an individual title. Sunday dominated his way to the finals with two pins and a major decision where he received an injury default from Midland's Jacob Snell.

In the 215 pound weight class Temperance Bedford Junior Brian Smith took advantage of a relatively wide open chart to earn an individual title. Smith looked solid throughout the tournament, defeating Howell's Kyle Barjon 7-2 in the finals. Smith's success continued in the finals where he scored a 13-3 major decision of Holt's Cole Johnson to claim an individual title.

The 285 pound weight class featured some of the most competitive wrestling of Saturday's Holt Invitational. Leading the way at heavyweight was eventual champion Collin Teff of Portage Northern. It was a difficult road to the finals for Teff who scored close wins over ranked opponents Ryan Hankins of Davison and Tyler Kulp of Holt before squaring off with Adrian's Mo Jasper in an extremely exciting finals match. Teff pulled off another close win he narrowly defeated Jasper in one of the day's most thrilling matches. Tied 2-2 in the bout's final seconds, Teff took Jasper down to his back for a pin just before time expired to cap off a very impressive showing.

May not be republished or reproduced without expressed, written permission

Contact Michigan Grappler via E-Mail: admin@michigangrappler.com