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Individual State Finals Recap

2008 MHSAA Individual State Finals

Palace of Auburn Hills - March 6-8

DIVISION 4

103 -- Ithaca's 87lb junior Brenan Lyon was a cinderella story as he went from his #4 spot out of regionals to the state finals. Lyon's remarkable run came to a halt when Hesperia sophomore Collin Zeerip proved too much and won the title with a 10-0 win over Lyon in the finals. Zeerip ended his impressive sophomore campaign with just one loss and added to the Zeerip family state title count (now 5).

112 - Three shutouts and one fall, yep, Zeb Hilyard looked good this weekend winning his first state title. The Hudson sophomore used a tough ride on top to beat Manchester's Jimmy Hamilton in the finals 5-0. Sophomore Blake Birchemeir, who finished 3rd last year and was a favorite coming in, lost in the quarters but came back to finish 3rd once again.

119 - Allen Krupp showed why he is one of the elite wrestlers in all of D4. Krupp dominated his way to the finals and then scored an impressive 10-0 major decision over returning 119lb champ Jon Hayward of Marlette. Krupp, a junior, is now a 2x state champ after winning at 112lbs last year. Hayward actually made an impressive finals run as he avenged losses over Cevin Walker and Jacob Eagen to make the finals.

125 - Addison's Mykel Sumner made it two state titles with a 4-3 win over Tom Webster of Pine River, who had not lost a match all year. Sumner came out on fire with big wins over Jordan Bates and Kevin Schaefer to make the finals.

130 - Dan Osterman controlled three matches against stiff competetion en route to the title. Osterman is now a 2x champ and enters his senior season next year as not only one of the best in D4, but one of the best in the entire state.

135 - Cody Dunn of Leslie survived scares in the semifinals and finals to secure his 2nd state title. Dunn outlasted Tharin Wilk of Rogers City 5-4 in the semis and then mounted a comeback in the finals to force overtime with Nathan Hall and then scored the winning takedown early in the overtime session.

140 - Riley Ewalt of CCC entered this weekend as a heavy favorite to win it all, and he lived up to the reputation. After cruising to the finals he met returning finalist Steve Mena of Martin, who many thought would challenge Ewalt. Ewalt controlled the match and used a constant attack to pick up a 4-1 win and his 2nd state title.

145 - After falling short the past two seasons in Auburn Hills Brandon Zeerip finally won his first state title. After handily making the finals it looked like Zeerip was unraveling in the finals as he trailed John Burns of Decatur 5-4. Zeerip then turned it up, scoring two takedowns and stacking Burns up to score the fall and win his first title. The title was the 2nd of the day for the Zeerip family and their 6th overall (Justin-4, Collin-1, Brandon-1)

152 - Dan Yates entered undefeated with wins over almost all the top guns from all divisions in the state. Due to his impressive record he was everyone's pick to win this weight. Yates did come through and win, however, Matt Tuttle of Reading did not make it easy for him. In a hard fought match that was close from start to finish, Yates won 11-8 over Tuttle to become a 2x champ. An interesting note, Payden Armstrong of Jonesville was pinned by Yates in the first round but came all the way back to finish 4th. The interesting thing is that Armstrong won 4 consolation matches that all went to overtime. Battling back is tough, but wrestling over 6 minutes every time is even tougher!

160 - Traverse City Francis' Andy Anderson has been close to the promise land a couple times but has yet to win it all, until this weekend. The Senior dominated with 1 major decision and 3 tech falls en route to the title. Following the tournament Anderson also commited to wrestle next fall for Div II Norther State University in South Dakota.

171 - Kyle Hillard of Hudson came away with the title in this wide open, wild weight that featured a ton of upsets. Justin Pickford of Athens made the finals, but fell to Hillard 14-10.

189 - Conrad Bovee finished his undefeated season and finally got his first state title. Bovee won a close battle over Chase McClennan of Rogers City in the semisi, which was his toughest bout. McClennan came back to take third and Bovee cruised past Bryant Byler of Bronson in the finals to win it all.

215 - It was an all-Ritter final as Kyler Ritter of Manchester upended Zack Ritter of Bronson 3-1.

285 - One of the deepest weights in Division 4 here and one of the biggest upsets as Rudy Spaulding of Hesperia was upset in the semifinals by Ryon Barker of Adrian Madison. Spalding has been knocking on the door of the state finals the past few years but once again fell just short. Tom Pellegrini of Harper Woods, meanwhile, upended previously undefeated Cody Sehl of Mancelona in the semis to make the finals. In the finals it was Pellegrini who came away with the win over Barker to take home this star-studded chart.

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