The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
FIVE STAR EFFORT
Dutchmen crown five champions in return from holiday break
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 10, 2008
Manchester wrestling coach Steve Vlcek scheduled his team to compete in several weekend tournaments to get his athletes more time on the mat and to make them better prepared for the state tournaments in February.
Advertisement
Judging from the way the Flying Dutchmen have fared in those events so far this season, the team is starting to resemble the one that advanced to the Division 4 state semifinals and sent eight wrestlers to the individual state meet last year.
Five wrestlers went undefeated in their respective weight classes, while four more earned second-place medals Jan. 5 as the Dutchmen placed second in the Dave Elliott Memorial Invitational at Clinton High School.
As a team, Manchester scored 220 points in the 12-team tournament. Tecumseh, ranked in the top five in the Division 2 state polls, won the event with 232.5 points. Host Clinton was third with 172.5, while Onsted finished with 132 points for fourth place.
Cevin Walker, Scott Conway, Bill Cloke, Jason Alber and Kyler Ritter each ran the table on the day and were crowned champions of their weight divisions. Ryan Abrigo, Mike Garrison, Will Rickert and Tyler King each advanced to the finals of their classes and placed second. Jimmy Hamilton placed third in the 112-pound weight class for the Dutchmen.
"We took 11 kids and only lost seven matches on the day," Vlcek said. "The kids couldn't have wrestled much better."
Walker (119) had one of the tougher roads to his championship, with five state qualifiers in his class. However, Walker wrestled his way to the finals, where he scored a 3-2 decision over Clinton's Scott Noble.
Conway (125) was seeded fifth in his division to start the tournament, but captured his title with a 12-2 major decision victory over Tecumseh's Jeff Jenkins. Cloke (152) took first in his weight class with a 6-0 decision over Shane Elkins (Tecumseh).
"Bill looked good all day and was dominant in the finals," Vlcek said.
Alber scored three pins on his way to the 160-pound championship. He pinned Tecumseh's Will Dotson in 1:24 in the finals for the title. Ritter gave Manchester another champion by sweeping through the 215-pound class, clinching the title with a 7-2 over Mike Rudea (Blissfield).
Abrigo (103) continued his strong freshman season by placing second his weight class. The 92-pound Abrigo was undefeated until the finals when he dropped a 5-2 decision to Nate Jaworski (Dundee).
"Ryan has made an impact for us," Vlcek said. "He gives up about 10 pounds in every match, but he's a solid wrestler."
Garrison (130) advanced to the finals of his class before falling 8-4 to Tecumseh's Mike Butler. Rickert (189) scored two pins on his way to the finals, but was pinned by Dominique Walker (Romulus Summit Academy) in 4:19 in the championship match. King made it to the finals of the heavyweight division before Onsted's Ethan Lambes scored a pin at the 1:58 mark to take the title.
Hamilton clinched third place in the 112-pound class by pinning Clio's Herm Gillum in 4:42.
"The kids stepped up to the challenge and were ready to wrestle," Vlcek said.
Other champions in the tournament included Brandon Tehaume (112, Dundee), Brandon Heselschwerdt (135, Napoleon), Nate Hall (140, Blissfield) and Robert Weirich (145, Tecumseh).
The Dutchmen hosted a quad match Wednesday after the newspaper's deadline. Manchester will compete in Saturday's individual tournament at Napoleon.
Onsted Quad
There was no post-holiday break letdown for the Flying Dutchmen as they swept a pair of duals Jan. 3 in a quad match at Onsted, defeating the host Wildcats 43-15 and beating Sand Creek 69-9.
Manchester (17-5) won 12 of the 14 matches against Sand Creek, including eight by pinfall. The Dutchmen scored victories in nine matches against Onsted.
The middle and heavyweights led the charge for the Dutchmen against Sand Creek. Bill Cloke (160) pinned Brandon Delaney in 1:13, while Jason Alber (171) pinned Chad Graff in 32 seconds. Will Rickert (189) needed 23 seconds to pin C.J. Lewis and Tyler King pinned Brad Smith in 26 seconds.
Manchester's other pins against Sand Creek came from Nate Jackson (119), Cevin Walker (130), Scott Conway (135) and Mike Garrison (140), who competed in his first match of the season.
"It's nice to have Mike back," Vlcek said. "We used just about everyone in the event, and everyone contributed very well."
The Dutchmen's lighter weights sparked the victory over Onsted. Ryan Abrigo (103) pinned Steve Bayko in 1:59, while Coyle Render (119) scored a 13-4 decision over Mike Merfert. Walker (125) outlasted Wes Pieper for a 9-7 decision and Conway (130) posted an 11-4 decision over Mike Blyestone.
John Woolams won a 13-8 decision over Austin Burkeen in the 140-pound match for Manchester. Cloke (160) pinned Connor Weisse in 1:38, while Rickert (189) pinned Joe Starke in 1:21. King (215) gave the Dutchmen another victory in the 215-pound match, pinning R.J. Boles in 3:20.
"This teams has more depth and versatility than last year's group," Vlcek said. "We have more numbers, especially at the lower weights, and that allow us to play around. The kids are very competitive with each other, and we're getting better with each week."
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
