Out of state talent makes for tough BorderWars high school division
2007 Border Wars Nationals
Kellogg Arena - Battle Creek, MI
11/5 - The BorderWars Nationals started saturday with the high school division and many of Michigan's best preps competed. Michiganders winning titles were Ryan Nieman (125), Donnie Corby (140), Justin McDermitt (145), Jeremy Epley (171), Matt Fetterley (189), Nick Whitenburg (215), and Travis Pettengill (285).
While Michigan claimed a handful of titles, a handful of Michigan studs were upended in Battle Creek by out of state talent.
Division 1 state placer Jon Lichorobiec of Novi was back down to 103 for the nationals and looked impressive as he advanced to the finals where he was upended by Alex Dierenger of Wisconsin.
The 112lb bracket saw one of the toughest wrestlers of the entire tournament in double Cadet finalist Jesse Thielke of Wisconsin. Thielke, who was a cadet greco national champ and freestyle runner up, stormed through some of Michigan's best 112lbers, pinning state placer Don Gorman in the quarterfinals and knocking off freshman phenom Roger Wildmo in the semifinals before defeated top ranked 103lber Andrew Brackins in the finals.
The 119lb bracket was the wildest of the tournament. At first it showed promise for a Darius Wass-Bryan Rickard rematch in the finals. Wass, who knocked off Rickard at the EMU Smackdown earlier this fall, held up his end of the bargain, advancing to the finals with wins over MI all-staters Robbie Bidlaingmaier and Brad Jones. Rickard, meanwhile, lost his 2nd match to Pat Levaseur of Minnesota. Levassuer then lost in the semifinals to Ohio state placer Alex Lopez and Rickard stormed back through the consolations, eventually avenging his loss to Levasseur in the consolation finals. Wass then lost to Lopez in the finals to set up the rematch that everyone was waiting to see, as he and Rickard would square off for true second. This time Rickard would be the victor, winning 4-2 and finishing 2nd at 119lbs.
Super sophomore Ryan Nieman cruised through the 125lb bracket as his closest match was a 3-1 first round win over Kyle Leedy. Nieman defeated Jake Fredrickson of Illinois in the finals 8-2.
Dan Sabin of Kent City looked to be in good shape at 130 after his 5-0 win over Haslett's all-stater Zach Crim in the semifinals, however, he too was knocked off by an out-of -towner in Brandon Murphy of Illinois.
Steve Cox of Canton also finished runner up at 135lbs, as did Jake Varilek at 152, who lost to Iowa state placer John Nicholson in the finals 3-1.
State runner up Donnie Corby of Croswell Lexington went 5-0 at 140 to bring home the gold and Davison all-stater Justin McDermitt fended off Jake Portray of Wyoming Park in the finals to claim the 145lb championship.
2x all-stater Jake Bohn of East Kentwood, who earned greco all-american honors last summer in Fargo, entered the tournament as the favorite to win at 160, however, he was knocked off in the second round by Brendan Barrett of Illinois. Bohn would come all the way back to claim true second, picking up wins over Barrett, Nick Licari of Anchor Bay, and Will Machuta of Mt Pleasant, among others.
The 215lb bracket led to a marquee matchup of Michigan Division 1 state placers as Nick Whitenburg of Bedford and Seth Holt of Grand Haven squared off in the finals. Whitenburg came out on top with a 2-1 decision and Holt then held on to true second with a 4-2 win over another state placer, Donald Whitehead of Otisville-Lakeville.
Reigning 215lb Michigan state champ and Dream Team 1st teamer Travis Pettengill of Kearsley bulked up in size and was competing at heavyweight for the nationals, where he went 4-0 to claim the title.
