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HARRIS---The three Delta County high school wrestling teams got together for a triangular Thursday night in Bark River.
The Gladstone Braves easily won the event, beating Escanaba, 70-12, and topping Bark River-Harris, 60-18. The Broncos beat the Eskymos in the other match, 42-37.
Gladstone dominated the entire evening as the Braves gear up for another potential long playoff run in Division Three, after making it to the team finals last year.
"It was good," Gladstone Coach Jeff Brazeau said. "The kids wrestled great. We had a few good matches here. Esky was shorthanded. They've got a good group of kids. Overall, it was good."
Three Braves wrestlers (Austin Solis, Cole Potier, and Drew Hansen) were coming off a big invitational at Detroit Catholic Central High School. They all reached the podium there.
"We've been trying to get them some matches against some of the guys downstate," Brazeau said. "It comes down to post-season, and for seeding criteria."
Against Escanaba, it was pin after pin after pin for the Braves, with only Trent Turchin and Eli Gardner managing victories for the Eskymos. Those came after Gladstone already led, 66-0.
One of the best match-ups was between Gladstone's Drew Hansen and Escanaba's Cade Krueger at 120 pounds. Hansen won the match on points. Cole Potier, at 215 pounds, needed just 37 seconds to record a pin.
Austin Solis, at 140 pounds, defeated Escanaba's Trevor DeGrand on an injury default. Solis picked DeGrand up several times and threw him to the mat, and on one of those occassions, DeGrand hurt his shoulder. He tried to keep wrestling, but a few moments later, DeGrand was forced to retire due to intense pain.
Gladstone also controlled Bark River-Harris in the final match of the triangular. One highly-anticipated match-ups came at 215 pounds, with Gladstone's Cole Potier wrestling up to face defending state champion Drew Allgeyer. Potier won the match on points, 14-4, and as the match ended, tempers flared, with Allgeyer throwing down on Potier.
Allgeyer was ejected from the match.
Another highly-anticipated match was between BRH senior Dillon Raab and Gladstone freshman Trevor Thorbahn. Raab is going for another podium finish at the state individual finals, while Thorbahn is one of Michigan's highest-ranked wrestlers in Division Three in his weight class. Raab pinned Thorbahn for one of the only BR-H wins in that dual meet, which Gladstone won going away, 60-18.
The most competitive of the dual meets was between Escanaba and Bark River-Harris. And the pivitol match came at 113 pounds, and it was a girl who picked up the huge win. Maddy Corrigan was trailing her match to Cannon Arnt, 2-0, and he had pinned her just last week in another dual. But Corrigan was able to catch Arnt and pin him in the second period.
"I was determined," Corrigan said. "I told myself that I wanted to win, and if I didn't pin him, we weren't gonna win as a team. I kind of reached for his head like coach tells me NOT to. But sometimes if you feel it, you've just got to take it. It was easier to go for something that's hard, because I probably wasn't going to beat him any other way. I mean, strength-wise, he had a lot on me, so this was one thing that I can do."
Those six points were key, as Bark River-Harris won, 42-37.
"That was an amazing win," BR-H Coach Joe Racicot said. "All the boys, and ladies, did an amazing job. Even those who knew they were in a position where they weren't going to win, they knew that every point mattered, and they were wrestling at that point to not get pinned. They managed to do that, and the final score was the result of that total team effort."
Escanaba got wins from Turchin and Gardner, the only two Eskymos to win both of their matches in the triangular. Escanaba Coach Josh Ling decined an interview request after the two matches were completed.
Wrestling continues on Saturday at a tournament in Kingsford.
HARRIS---The three Delta County high school wrestling teams got together for a triangular Thursday night in Bark River.
The Gladstone Braves easily won the event, beating Escanaba, 70-12, and topping Bark River-Harris, 60-18. The Broncos beat the Eskymos in the other match, 42-37.
"It was good," Gladstone Coach Jeff Brazeau said. "The kids wrestled great. We had a few good matches here. Esky was shorthanded. They've got a good group of kids. Overall, it was good."
Three Braves wrestlers (Austin Solis, Cole Potier, and Drew Hansen) were coming off a big invitational at Detroit Catholic Central High School. They all reached the podium there.
"We've been trying to get them some matches against some of the guys downstate," Brazeau said. "It comes down to post-season, and for seeding criteria."
Against Escanaba, it was pin after pin after pin for the Braves, with only Trent Turchin and Eli Gardner managing victories for the Eskymos. Those came after Gladstone already led, 66-0.
One of the best match-ups was between Gladstone's Drew Hansen and Escanaba's Cade Krueger at 120 pounds. Hansen won the match on points. Cole Potier, at 215 pounds, needed just 37 seconds to record a pin.
Gladstone also controlled Bark River-Harris in the final match of the triangular. One highly-anticipated match-ups came at 215 pounds, with Gladstone's Cole Potier wrestling up to face defending state champion Drew Allgeyer. Potier won the match on points, 14-4, and as the match ended, tempers flared, with Allgeyer throwing down on Potier.
Allgeyer was ejected from the match.
Another highly-anticipated match was between BRH senior Dillon Raab and Gladstone freshman Trevor Thorbahn. Raab is going for another podium finish at the state individual finals, while Thorbahn is one of Michigan's highest-ranked wrestlers in Division Three in his weight class. Raab pinned Thorbahn for one of the only BR-H wins in that dual meet, which Gladstone won going away, 60-18.
The most competitive of the dual meets was between Escanaba and Bark River-Harris. And the pivitol match came at 113 pounds, and it was a girl who picked up the huge win. Maddy Corrigan was trailing her match to Cannon Arnt, 2-0, and he had pinned her just last week in another dual. But Corrigan was able to catch Arnt and pin him in the second period.
Those six points were key, as Bark River-Harris won, 42-37.
"That was an amazing win," BR-H Coach Joe Racicot said. "All the boys, and ladies, did an amazing job. Even those who knew they were in a position where they weren't going to win, they knew that every point mattered, and they were wrestling at that point to not get pinned. They managed to do that, and the final score was the result of that total team effort."
Escanaba got wins from Turchin and Gardner, the only two Eskymos to win both of their matches in the triangular. Escanaba Coach Josh Ling decined an interview request after the two matches were completed.
Wrestling continues on Saturday at a tournament in Kingsford.
