MONTAGUE — Whitehall dominated Friday's West Michigan Conference
tournament in Montague, scoring 264 points to earn first place overall.
"It was a great team effort to accomplish the goal and they came to battle every match," the Vikings' program posted to Facebook.
The
host Wildcats also delivered a strong performance, putting up 194
points to take third, just 14 points behind runner-up Hart.
As
in past years in the Lakes and Rivers division format, each weight
class was split by division, with the championship and third-place
matches pitting division winners against each other.
The
Vikings racked up high finishes throughout the bracket, with four
championships. Robert Belinger took first at 106 pounds, pinning all
three of his opponents, including Hart's Jude Salazar in the finals. Dom
Zygmuntowski only had to wrestle twice to take the top spot at 120,
scoring a semifinal pin and blanking Shelby's Cesar Cadena 7-0 in the
finals.
Whitehall's Liam Leeke (kneeling) grabs hold of Oakridge foe Devon Krueger during Friday's WMC tournament in Montague. Leeke rolled to a first-place finish at 165 pounds.
Also for Whitehall, Cody Manzo won the 132-pound title
with three lopsided wins, scoring a pair of pins before earning a
technical fall against North Muskegon's Tayden Fotis. Liam Leeke rounded
out WMC champs for Whitehall by scoring two pins and a major decision
in the 165-pound bracket. He pinned Shelby's Jaylin Henderson in the
title match.
Isaac O'Boyle reached the finals and took second
place at 126. Max Krukowski also finished second at 138 and Colten Kyser
did the same at 157. Third-place finishers for the Vikings were Tanner
Woodworth (190), Blake Wallace (113), Hunter Peterson (144), and Kolten
Weiler (150).
Whitehall also delivered a good performance in
the girls' tournament, a first-time event in the WMC which featured a
round-robin format similar to the GMAA in January. Viking stars Kassie
Sapp and Miley Manzo were both undefeated in their respective weight
classes; Sapp went 5-0, pinning all five of her opponents in the first
period, and Manzo picked up a 4-0 record, scoring three pins and winning
one match by decision. Makenna Deshong added a second-place finish in
the 170/190 weight class, going 4-1 with four pin victories.
Montague was also very impressive, with only the top-10 ranked Vikings and Pirates finishing ahead of the Wildcats.
"We wrestled really well today," Montague coach Kris Maddox said. "It’s great to see us starting to peak at
the right time...Our conference has
some great coaches and wrestlers in it. To be runner-up to Whitehall and third overall behind Hart is a great day."
Two
Wildcats, seniors Fletcher Thommen and Isaac French, secured overall
WMC titles. French pinned all three of his opponents at 190, including
Ravenna's Adam Mulder in the finals, and Fletcher Thommen ran his season
record to 40-1 with three wins at 150. He scored a technical fall over
Hesperia's Ryan Fuentes in the finals.
Three Wildcats won the
Lakes bracket and finished second. Tony Garcia (113), Gavyn Maddox (144)
and Maverick Osborne (285) all pinned their two Lakes opponents on the
way to the overall runner-up finish.
Chayse Maddox took third
at 120, going 2-1 and avenging an early-season loss to Hart's Michael
Chavira in the third-place match, and Kaiden Jeffery was third at 157,
also going 2-1.
In the girls' tournament, Zaniya Meza defended
her home mat and scored a first-place finish at 105, going 3-0 with two
pins and a technical fall.
