KALAMAZOO — Facing a familiar opponent like the Whitehall Vikings didn’t change the approach for Hart heading into Friday’s quarterfinal match at Wings Event Center. Unfortunately, the Pirates were also unable to change its seven-year run of being turned back one stop short of the final four, dropping a tough 45-25 decision.
It would’ve been a major upset had Hart, seeded No. 7, been able to knock off the No. 2 Vikings, but when its first two wrestlers - stars Abdel Lopez and Adrian Lara - scored nine team points with wins in the first two bouts, the team had confidence more success was to come. Whitehall, though, had success at the lower weights with three straight pins to go ahead for good. In the process, the Vikes took advantage of the Pirates’ missing some of their best, such as Jordan Thies, who is injured and would have been an imposing opponent for any Whitehall grappler.
“We were missing a couple guys down low, which gave them opportunities to get bonus points,” Hart coach Rocky Smith said. “I thought all our kids wrestled well today...Once you get here, all the teams know each other and know what to expect. I don’t think (familiarity with Whitehall) played a factor.”
Hart kept battling after the Vikings’ three straight pins, winning two of the next three bouts. Kole Thomas scored a 14-0 major decision victory at 126 pounds against state qualifier Isaac O’Boyle, and Logan Jorissen took a 5-0 decision at 138. However, Whitehall’s ability to secure bonus points in every win built a lead too big for the Pirates to overcome.
“I think that was a big thing,” Smith said. “Their kids did a good job of staying in good position and not giving up the bonus points, and on the flip side, they got pins where they needed to.”
As Smith noted, Whitehall did well to keep Hart from scoring its own bonus points, including in Jorissen’s win; he was visibly frustrated when opponent Hunter Peterson was able to keep him from making his win more lopsided.
Maybe the Pirates’ most impressive win of the dual came at 144, where Halen Boos battled six minutes with Max Krukowski, a 132-pound regional champion who bumped up two weight classes, and was able to come away with an 8-6 victory. That made the score 22-19, and the Pirates had a glimmer of hope.
Unfortunately, that hope was soon extinguished, as the Vikings’ next two wrestlers, Kolten Weiler and Colten Kyser, secured a second-period pin - in a bout that was scoreless going into the period - and a technical fall respectively. Whitehall’s Liam Leeke then scored a quick pin that mathematically ended Hart’s chances of a win.
Although there was a sour ending, the Pirates continue to take heart in the reputation they’ve built as a fixture in Kalamazoo. The future looks bright, too; many of the Pirates who wrestled Friday will be back next season, and members of the middle school program made the trip south to cheer on their high school heroes.
“All the kids that went out there competed hard and wrestled very well, whether they won or lost,” Smith said. “It’s the culmination of how hard we worked these last four months. Each year we’re one of the best teams in the state.
“It shows what the high school program is about, and hopefully it will get some excitement for those kids coming up into high school.”
The season isn’t over for seven of the Pirates, of course. Those seven will be wrestling for individual hardware at Ford Field next Friday and Saturday.
“We’re looking forward to getting some kids on the podium,” Smith said.
