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Individual State Finals Recap

2008 MHSAA Individual State Finals

Palace of Auburn Hills - March 6-8

DIVISION 3

103 -- The Suitor/Rau rematch lived up to the hype here as returning champ BJ Suitor of Swan Valley came away with the double overtime win over Dundee's freshman Chris Rau. Neither wrestler scored in regulation as they both sucessfully rode each other out for a period before overtime. In the first tiebreaker session of overtime Suitor rode Rau for the entire 30 seconds, then, upon his own insistence, Rau decided to cut Suitor loose rather than try to ride him out and force another overtime. Suitor held Rau off and won his 2nd state title. Neither of these guys cruised to the finals as this weight showed alot of promise from some young wrestlers. Zac Corcoran, Markus Gonzales, and Joey White all challenged the big two and put together good performances this weekend.

112 -- This was one of the bigger upsets and most exciting final matches as Durand freshman came back from a 5-0 1st period deficit to upset Swan Valley sophomore Darius Wass 8-7. Wass threw Wildmo right out of the gates and nearly got the pin, but Wildmo fought off his back and came back using some nasty turns on top to score 5 nearfall points in the third period and complete the comeback.

119 -- Nick Smith of Ida has officially arrived. Most people, including us, figured that whoever won the Germaine/Gustin semifinal would win the title. JT Gustin continued his undefeated season with a win over the Swan Valley's Germaine, however, he then fell in the finals to Ida's sophomore Smith. Smith looked good in making the finals with dominant wins over John Tanner and Nick Bogue before outlasting Gustin in the finals for a 6-4 win. Smith should now be mentioned alongside the elite underclassmen in the state.

125 - Hello Ryan Nieman. Much like Smith at 119, Nieman (also a sophomore) proved that he is for real this weekend. The Bullock Creek sophomore entered the weekend unbeaten and stayed that way with a big semifinal win over returning champ Pete Rendina and then a fall in the finals over Garrett Schaner of Big Rapids.

130 - This weight featured one of the most anticiapted finals matches of the tournament with returning champ Grant Overcashier of Goodrich and Andrew Schutt of Yale. Overcashier's only loss this year came to Schutt at districts and there was no doubt that these two were head and shoulders above the rest at this weight. When saturday night came they lived up to expectations with arguably the match of the night. After a scoreless first period Overcashier scored a takedown in the 2nd to lead 2-1. Then, with a 3-1 lead in the third Overcashier was in deep on a takedown that would have sealed the deal when amazingly Schutt reversed him and somehow came out on top in the final seconds to tie the match and send it to OT. In the tiebreaker session Schutt scored a reversal and rideout to complete the comeback and secure the win.

135 - Mark Weber did the same thing he has done this time of the year for the past three years, he won. Weber looked crisp as he systemattically picked apart all of his opponents and wrapped up his illustrius career as the 13th 4x state champ in Michigan history. Next year he will join Justin Zeerip, who became the 12th 4xer last year, at the University of Michigan.

140 - Donnie Corby of Croswell-Lexington finished his undefeated season with the state title, but it was not easy. After surviving a 3-1 battle with Huston Harrison in the semis Corby held off a relentless Jake Jeske attack to win in the finals 6-5. Jeske looked impressive in defeat as he and Corby really put on a show in the finals.

145 - One of the bigger upsets of the semifinal round came when undefeated returning champ Brian Hittle lost to Shelby's Calib Rought. Rought, a junior, followed his emotional semifinal win with a 10-6 win over Jordan Dusseau of Ere Mason. With the win over Hittle and the state title Rought, who was an all-american in Fargo last summer, should be one of the top college prospects coming out as a senior next fall.

152 - This was a very evenly dispersed weight that saw alot of nailbiters and barnburners. Pinconning Corey's Woodruff was the lone man standing at the end of the weekend as he survived close bouts in the semis and finals. Woodruff took out Kyle Lund in a wild semifinal match and then scored a third period reversal to send his final match with Josh Swanson to overtime, where he scored the final takedown and won in the extra session.

160 - Dundee's Chris Eggert finally won it all after making the finals and falling short the past two seasons. Eggert was tested, however, as he beat David Johnson 2-1 in the semis and held off Corey Robinson in the finals 3-2. Sophomore Mike Curby of Hillsdale looked good in taking 3rd in this weight and showed why is a promising young grappler who should be a force to reckon with in the future.

171 - Kamron Jackson of South Haven made himself a two-time champ and looked pretty good doing it. Jackson came out firing as he pinned his first opponent in 12 seconds and sent him out with medical personnell and didnt look back from then on. He scored big wins in every match and really did not look threatened at any point this season. It would be nice to see Jackson, along with fellow dominant 171lb champs Bennett (D1) and Burge (D2), in a triple-threat cage match!.

189 - Goodrich junior Kyler Elsworth got a wake up call at districts when he got majored by Mike Lasinksi of Richmond, however, Elsworth avenged the loss the next week and has not lost since. He, along with undefeated Celic Bell of South Haven, cruised to the finals with 3 big wins to set up one of the most anticipated final matches. In the finals Elsworth broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with a throw for 2 takedown and 2 nearfall to win the state title.

215 - Gladstone's Joel Vallier almost did it; he almost became the first ever UP grappler to win it all. In the first year of allowing wrestlers north of the Mackinaw Bridge to compete in the State Tournament, Vallier was the only yooper to make the finals, and things were looking good for the first 5 minutes. Trailing 3-1 in the third Dundee's Jimmy Rowe locked up a cradle and secured the fall over Vallier, ending his and the UP's title hopes.

285 - David Oneil polished off his perfect season with a 2-1 win over Birch Run's Earl Leach in the finals. Leach was the only big man to test Oneil all weekend as closest bout prior was a 12-2 major decision.

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