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U.P. WRESTLING HISTORY: Three State Champs!
 DETROIT---The Upper Peninsula is home to three high school wrestling state champions, as well as two state runners-up. Drew Allgeyer of Bark River-Harris, and Parker Stroud and Shawn McGuire of Iron Mountain, all won titles Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit. BR-H’s Dillon Raab and Iron Mountain’s Tyler Winch were runners-up.  Allgeyer won a Division Four state championship, taking control of his match with Hudson’s Cameron Kimble from the beginning. Kimble had lost only one match this season (43-2) but Allgeyer got a take down in the first period, and then almost got a pin in the second period. In that second period, Allgeyer got five points for a takedown plus near-fall points to take a 7-1 lead, before Kimble recovered with a two-point reversal. But Allgeyer (41-4), a North Central High School student on the BR-H co-op, got another takedown in the third period and then held off Kimble for the 9-5 win. "When I was warming up for the match, I told myself over and over again that six minutes is mine to rule," Allgeyer said. "I went out there with that mindset. Just staying heavy on my head and making sure it's there before I take the shot. And from there, just finish." Allgeyer turned his seaason around after taking two losses to Gladstone's Hunter Potier.  "A loss is always good," Allgeyer said. "You always have more to learn and more to work on. I've been working a long time for this and it finally paid off." A short time later, Raab faced Sebastian Martinez of Riverview Gabriel Richard in the 145-pound championship match. The first period was scoreless. Martinez got two points on a reversal midway through the second period to go up 2-0. In the third period, Raab got a point on an escape to close to within 2-1, but Martinez got a takedown in the final seconds to win 4-1. "Dillon is a warrior," Racicot said. "He's been battling that shoulder injury since U.P.'s and he made it to a state championship match in a tough weight class. He's giving it his all. I have no concerns that he will be back in that match tomorrow." Two Iron Mountain teammates faced off for a state championship at 119 pounds, as McGuire and Winch both went undefeated the whole weekend. McGuire got three points in the first period, then scored a two-point takedown in the third period to go ahead, 5-0, and that’s how the match ended. Later, the most exciting match of the day as Stroud went for the championship in the 152 pound weight class. The Mountaineer was in control from the beginning, getting two points in the first few seconds of the match against Josh Collins of Hemlock. Stroud then flipped Collins in the second period for two more points to lead, 4-0, but Collins quickly got a reversal to get back to within 4-2. Late in the period, Stroud got a reversal of his own to take a 6-2 lead entering the third period. Collins was called for stalling, and Stroud was awarded a point to make it a 7-2 match, and then the two boys traded takedowns. It was a 9-4 match, and Collins made a big comeback, nearly pinning Stroud in the final minute. Collins got a two point take-down and three near-fall points to tie the match at 9-9. But Stroud came up big with a takedown with 13 seconds left in the match and held on for an exhausting 11-9 state championship win.  Two Gladstone high school wrestlers finished strong on Saturday to finish in third place in their weight classes. Heavyweight Brett Boudreau started his day by beating Aden Viar of Montrose, 5-1, and then defeated fellow Yooper Matt Wilson of Kingsford on a pin at 3:58. Then in the third place match, Boudreau won a 6-3 decision over Brady Brooks of Napoleon. 112-pounder Drew Hansen had a dominating day, beating Noah Harris of Richmond on a 10-1 major decision, then pinning Connor Younts of Clinton in 1:48. Hansen then won third place by pinning Jordan Simpson of Dowagiac in 2:29. ESCANABA GIRL MAKES ESKYMO HISTORY The first-ever girls division saw an Escanaba Eskymo reach the podium with a sixth place finish in the 145-pound weight class.  Meanwhile, a former Escanaba student won a state championship on Saturday. Owen Segorski, son of former Eskymo Head Coach Jamie Segorski, is a freshman at Lowell High School. He defeated Bryce Shingleton of Linden High School, on a 6-1 decision, in the 125-pound Division Two state final. MORE CONSOLATION MATCHES For Kingsford, Wilson settled for sixth place after getting pinned in his fifth place match. Marquette heavyweight Chris Ricker finished eighth in Division Two, the only Upper Peninsula boy to make the tournament, and he medaled. Iron Mountain, besides the three guys who wrestled for the state championship, had three other guys reach the podium in Saturday’s earlier action. 145-pounder Evan Haferkorn pinned Colton Russell of Union City in 1:58, and then beat Martine Wiggins of St. Louis, 8-4. Haferkorn settled for fourth place on the podium after losing to Anthony Ward of Oscoda, 4-0, in the third place match. At 171 pounds, Fulton Stroud finished fifth after pinning his first opponent Saturday, getting pinned by his second opponent, before winning his fifth place match on a 7-2 decision over Justice Onstott of St. Louis. Mountaineer 103-pounder Alexander Wilson finished eighth after losing his seventh place match to Aiden Fill of Bronson, 8-2. It was the second time in as many days that Fill defeated Wilson. Munising’s only wrestler to qualify for states, 140-pounder Reagan Bowerman, lost both of his matches on Saturday but still reaches the podium with an eighth place finish. Newberry heavyweight Matthias Miller also finished eighth in his weight class after losing his seventh place match on Saturday.  |
