Hart advanced seven wrestlers to state, and Shelby sent along four more, at Saturday’s Division 3 individual meet in Boyne City.
It was a big day for both squads, as the Tigers produced two individual regional champions and Hart added one more.
The Tigers’ Brody Fessenden and Alden Beyer won regional crowns at 157 and 106 pounds respectively. Fessenden scored a decision win in his first match, then pinned each of his final two opponents, including Kingsley’s Tyler Bray in the finals. Beyer dominated his bracket, scoring three consecutive pins and taking down county rival Jude Salazar of Hart in the championship match.
Hart’s Kole Thomas also reached the top of the podium, at 126. Thomas picked up technical falls in his first two matches and easily defeated Matthew Martin of Tawas by a 16-3 major decision in the finals. Thomas ran his impressive season record to 39-3 with the wins.
Hart also had four runners-up. In addition to Salazar - who earned a pin and a major decision before falling to Beyer in the finals - Halen Boos (144), Haegan Hansen (175) and Adrian Lara (285) all finished in second place.
Boos pinned his first two opponents on his way to the runner-up finish, and Hansen had a pin and a close 6-4 decision on his way to the second spot. Lara also had a pin and a decision.
Shelby’s Jaylin Henderson also finished in second place, at 165, winning by pin and decision in his first two matches.
Logan Jorissen (138) placed third for Hart, and Cesar Cadena (120) did the same for Shelby, both with 3-1 records. Jorissen’s only loss of the day came in overtime, and he scored a technical fall and a pin, as well as defeating teammate Caden VanGelderen in the third-place match. (VanGelderen won by relatively easy 14-5 and 10-4 margins on the day to finish fourth.) Cadena won two decisions to secure his spot in the state bracket, then fought off Jamar Jackson of Essexville Garber in overtime to finish third.
Narrowly missing the state meet were Pirates Abdel Lopez (215) and Aiden Schaner (126), who each went 1-2 and dropped one-point heartbreakers in the blood round.
Schaner’s day was particularly hard-fought; his first two matches, which he split, went to overtime. A 4-3 defeat to Evan Fradette of Cheboygan ended his individual campaign. Lara also lost a tough one in the blood round by a 3-2 margin against Colton Goethals of Kingsley. His one win of the day came by pin.
Hesperia sends 4 to Ford Field
Four of the five Hesperia Panthers to make the trip to the Division 4 regional meet in St. Louis Saturday earned spots on the podium and at state.
Noah Walker, at 285 pounds, and Carter Fuentes, at 106, each won regional titles. Walker, who ran his season record to 45-3, pinned two of his three opponents and added a decision win. Fuentes pinned all three of his foes, including Colten Kady of Cass City in the finals.
Ryan Fuentes was the runner-up at 150, scoring two pins on the day. Aiden Smith (144) finished third, pinning his final two opponents of the meet.
Grayson Gould, at 106, made it to the blood round, but lost a very tough 9-6 battle to Holton’s Jackson Domanski, ending his season.
