The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
First step complete
Dutchmen enter team districts with first league title since 1973
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 14, 2008
When the Manchester varsity wrestling team set its goals for this season last fall, it knew that winning a league championship would be a major step toward its ultimate goal of a state title.
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That first mission was accomplished as the Flying Dutchmen outlasted the field and took first place in the Cascades Conference tournament Feb. 8 at Manchester High School.
Along with going undefeated in the dual season of the league schedule, the tournament title gave Manchester the Cascades Conference championship outright. It is the first league championship for the Dutchmen since 1973, when they were members of the Lenawee County Athletic Association (LCAA).
"It's nice to win it outright and leave no doubt about the championship," Manchester coach Steve Vlcek said. "It took all 14 guys performing well to pull this off."
The Dutchmen scored 250.5 points as a team to win the tournament. Defending Cascades and reigning three-time Division 4 state champion Addison was second with 226. Grass Lake placed third with 157, while East Jackson scored 142 for fourth. Napoleon took fifth with 61 team points and Michigan Center rounded out the field in sixth place with 57.
Individually, the Dutchmen crowned six conference champions, one short of the school-record seven they had last year. Jimmy Hamilton (112), Cevin Walker (119), Mike Garrison (135), Bill Cloke (152), Jason Alber (160) and Kyler Ritter (215) took first place in their respective weight classes for Manchester.
The Dutchmen also had four wrestlers place second, another finish third and one more take fourth.
In what could be a sign of things to come in the state tournaments, Manchester had 10 wrestlers competing in the finals, while Addison had nine wrestlers get through to the finals. With the setup of the brackets, the Dutchmen and Panthers could meet again, but in the Division 4 state championship dual.
"We won a lot of big matches to get to the finals, and so did Addison," Vlcek said. "Judging from that, you can really see how well both teams wrestled."
Walker, a junior, captured a conference championship for the third time by scoring a 7-4 decision over East Jackson's Josh Slabinski in the 119-pound finals. Sophomore Hamilton won the 112-pound title, his second in as many tries, with a 14-2 major decision over Payne Blanchard (East Jackson) in the finals.
"We've only had one four-time champ in school history (Brent Woods, 1991-94), so it's nice to see Jimmy and Cevin still in the running for that," Vlcek said.
Cloke and Alber each won their second league championships. Cloke retained the 152-pound title with a 6-4 decision over Addison's Nick Phillips, while Alber won the 160-pound championship with a 12-8 decision over Gage Marshall (Addison).
Both Garrison and Ritter won their first Cascades titles. Garrison recorded a 14-1 major decision over Nick Glair (East Jackson) to win the 135-pound title. A year after backing up standout Dan Lobbestael in the 215-pound division, Ritter captured the crown by pinning Travis Rubingh (Grass Lake) in 4:26.
"As a coach it was nice to see Garrison and Ritter win their first titles," Vlcek said. "It's big for them as seniors to go out with league championships."
Freshman Ryan Abrigo wrestled his way to the finals of the 103-pound class before dropping a 9-5 decision to Addison's Andrew Scoby. Johnny Woolams, another freshmen, placed second in the 130-pound division, while Will Rickert made it to the 189-pound finals before fall to Addison's Frank Thomas. Scott Conway (125) took second after falling to Mykel Sumner (Addison) in the finals, and Tyler King (heavyweight) placed second for the Dutchmen after a loss to Jacob Fuller (East Jackson) in the championship match.
Steve Sheler (145) pinned Grass Lake's Tim Decker in 1:44 to clinch third place in the weight class, while Matt Lahyer (140) finished fourth for Manchester. Cody Sroufe (171) competed also competed for the Dutchmen.
"All three guys that didn't make the finals still contributed with wins and points for the team," Vlcek said. "The freshmen and underclassmen wrested well, but were not satisfied. That shows they're not just along for the ride and they want to compete."
Now the quest for the state title begins. The Dutchmen competed in the Division 4 team district tournament at Adrian Madison after the newspaper's deadline Wednesday. Manchester opened the district against Blissfield, with the winner facing the Clinton/Madison winner in the finals. If the Dutchmen were successful, they will host the Division 4 team regional tournament Feb. 20.
"We hope it's an incentive for the kids," Vlcek said. "They don't want Clinton or anyone else wrestling in the regionals in their gym."
Vlcek credited the big home crowd at the Cascades tournament for giving the Dutchmen an extra boost during the event.
"It was nice to be in front of the home crowd," Vlcek said. "We had a big student section, which the kids appreciate. It's good for the program because it opens people's eyes to what we're doing."
Along with the team district, the individual district tournament is scheduled to take place Saturday at Rochester Hills.
Although facing pressure to succeed throughout the season, Vlcek has been impressed with the way the Dutchmen have handled being among the front-runners in the state.
"We're not stressing just one thing, but most of the kids in the starting lineup have been through this before and know how to wrestle," Vlcek said. "This is a veteran team, and the upperclassmen have done a good job pulling the younger guys through with their leadership."
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