MI Grizzly knocks off Ohio, Jersey squads to win Midwest Challenge
5/17 - The Midwest Grand Challenge
attracted 19 teams from all over the
Midwest to Jenison Fieldhouse this
weekend for a great day of wrestling.
After nearly 12 hours of wrestling action
with some of the best wrestlers from
Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, and more,
the 1st place trophy will not be leaving
the state of Michigan.
Team Grizzly stormed through their pool
with three dominant wins to set up a
meeting with the Samsons, a team of
Ohio all-stars who was considered by
many as the favorite to win the
tournament. Grizzly dominated the
Samsons, winning 9 of 14 matches,
including an upset win by Troy Lamson
of Swan Valley, who shutout 2x Ohio
state champ Harrison Hightower 5-0 at
152lbs.
In the Finals the Grizzly met up with Team Triumph out of New Jersey, a team that featured a handful of Jersey state placewinners and nationally acclaimed wrestlers. Grizzly came out on fire, rattling off 8 straight wins to start the dual and they never looked back, winning 42-9 to claim the Midwest Grand Challenge tournament title.
Arguably the match of the day came in the semifinals between Triumph and the Young Guns when Michigan wrestler of the year Dan Yates squared off with NJ state champ Nick Visicaro at 167lbs. In a battle of National Champs, Yates, the 2009 Senior National Champ, defeated Visciario, the 2009 Junior National Champ, 6-4. Click here to watch the Yates vs Visicaro match.
Some other notable matches on the day:
--125lbs - Jared Germaine (Grizzly) dec Alec Mooradian (Shamrock) 5-1...Senior National all-american Germaine of Swan Valley edged D1 state champ Mooradian in a battle of Senior vs Freshman. Mooradian looked a little undersized compared to Germaine, Watch the match: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
--136lbs - Justin Zimmerman (MI Elite) dec Sean Turner (Grizzly) 11-6....In a rematch of the D1 130lb state finals, Zimmerman of Hudsonville outgunned Turner of Monroe in an action-packed match. Click here to view.
--130lbs - Brent Fickle (Samsons) dec Darius Wass (Grizzly 3-1....This match came down to the wire as Ohio freshman phenom and all-stater Fickle scored a last second takedown to knock off 2x state finalist Wass, click here to view.
Final Standings
1st – Team Grizzly (MI)
2nd – Team Triumph (NJ)
3rd – Team Samsons (OH)
4th – Young Guns (IA)
5th – MI Elite Seniors (MI)
6th – Mishawaka Maroon (IN)
7th – MYWAY East (MI)
8th – Flat River (MI)
9th – Lifestyle (IL)
10th – Hartland WC (MI)
11th – Team Shamrock (MI)
12th – Davison WC (MI)
13th – Trojan WC (IL)
14th – MI Elite (MI)
15th – Ironhorse (OH)
16th – Team Kzoo (MI)
17th – Captains (MI)
18th – Mishawaka White (IN)
19th – Salem WC (MI)
Bracket Dual Results
Championship Finals - Grizzly (MI) vs Triumph (NJ)
112 - Chase Lewis (G) dec Troy Heilmann 7-3
119 - Shane Dutton (G) dec Kyle Casaletto 14-7
125 - Jared Germaine (G) md Scott Whalen 15-2
130 - Darius Wass (G) t-fall Jaime Quijano 15-0
136 - Sean Turner (G) dec BJ Young 9-4
142 - Ryan Nieman (G) fall Dave Standridge :37
147 - Ryan Watts (G) dec Scott Festejo 7-3
152 - Troy Lamson (G) wins by disqualification over Mike Intile (-3 tm points)
160 - Doug Hamann (T) dec Jake Johnson 9-4
167 - Nick Visicario (T) inj def over Stephen Kemp
189 - Billy George (T) dec Dillon Kern 10-4
215 - Nick McDiarmid (G) fall Chris Spagnola 1:13
286 - Devin Pommerenke (G) dec Ameer Washington 4-0
Final - Grizzly 42, Triumph 9
Consolation Finals (3rd Place) - Samsons (OH) vs Young Guns (IA)
112 - Griffin (S) fall Willers
119 - Twyner (YG) void
125 - Perrin (YG) fall Getto
130 - Fickle (S) t- fall Parks 16-1
136 - Meuer (S) dec Letney 8-1
142 - Scavuzzo (S) t-fall Donduan 15-0
147 - Malcolm Martin (YG) dec Piatt 9-7
152 - Hightower (S) fall Williams
160 - Churchill (S) fall Smith
167 - Dan Yates (YG) md Meadows 11-0
189 - Utley (S) md Whan 13-1
215 - Schaefer (S) dec Brudor 6-2
286 - Swope (YG) default Daley
Final - Samsons 38, Young Guns 25
Semifinals - Grizzly (MI) vs Samsons (OH)
112 - Mike Griffith (S) fall Chase Lewis 1:53
119 - Shane Dutton (G) forfeit
136 - Sean Turner (G) fall Matt Meuer 2:52
142 - Ryan Nieman (G) md Mike Scavuzzo 12-4
147 - Ryan Watts (G) dec Jake Piatt 8-3
152 - Troy Lamson (G) dec Harrison Hightower 5-0
160 - Chase Churchill (S) dec Jake Johnson 4-3
167 - Stephen Kemp (G) dec Matt Meadows 8-3
189 - Alex Utley (S) md Dillon Kern 9-0
215 - Nick McDiarmid (G) dec Kurt Schaeffer 6-0
286 - Devin Pommerenke (G) fall Greg Daley
Final - Grizzly 36, Samsons 13
Semifinals - Triumph (NJ) vs Young Guns (IA)
112 - Troy Helmainn (T) fall Tyler Willers 2:28
119 - Thorian Twyner (YG) dec Kyle Casaletto 7-3
125 - Adam Perrin (YG) dec Scott Whalen 8-6ot
130 - Jaime Quijano (T) dec Tony Parks 5-2
136 - BJ Young (T) fall Blake Letley :55
142 - Scott Festejo (T) fall Dallas Donovan 2:50
147 - Malcolm Martin (YG) dec Mike Intile 7-3
152 - Dan Staples (T) dec Landon Williams 8-6ot
160 - Doug Hamann (T) fall Ian Smith 2:08
189 - Billy George (T) md Seth Wan 11-2
215 - Nick Bruder (YG) dec Chris Spagnola 7-5
286 - Ameer Washington (T) dec Tyler Swope 8-2
Final - Triumph 37, Young Guns 15
2nd Place Bracket
MI Elite Seniors 39, MYWAY East 20
Mishawaka Maroon 42, Flat River 16
MYWAY East 47, Flat River 23
MI Elite Seniors 37, Mishawaka Maroon 24
3rd Place Bracket
Lifestyle 42, Shamrock 12
Hartland 50, Davison 18
Shamrock 33, Davison 26
Lifestyle 30, Hartland 23
4th Place Bracket
Trojan 45, Ironhorse 25
Trojan 37, MI Elite 25
5th Place Bracket
Kzoo defeated Mishawaka White
Captains defeated Salem
Kzoo defeated Captains
Mishawaka White defeated Salem
Pool Results
Red Pool
1st – Grizzly 3-0
2nd – MI Elite Seniors 2-1
3rd – Shamrock 1-2
4th – Mishawaka White 0-3
Green Pool
1st – Samsons 4-0
2nd – MYWAY East 3-1
3rd – Lifestyle 2-2
4th – MI Elite WC 1-3
5th – Kzoo 0-5
White Pool
1st – Young Guns 4-0
2nd – Flat River 3-1
3rd – Davison 2-2
4th – Ironhorse 1-3
5th – Captains 0-5
Blue Pool
1st – Triumph (4-0)
2nd – Mishawaka Maroon (3-1)
3rd – Hartland WC (2-2)
4th – Trojan WC (1-3)
5th – Salem WC (0-5)
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