The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Manchester places second at Cascades meet
Dutchmen crown seven league champs, prepares for districts
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2007
It turned out to be a record-setting day for the Manchester varsity wrestling team.
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A school-record seven wrestlers won championships Friday as the Flying Dutchmen finished second in the Cascades Conference meet at Michigan Center High School.
Two-time defending state champion Addison won the conference team championship with 234 points. Manchester scored 222 points on the day for second place. The Dutchmen finished well ahead of third-place East Jackson, which recorded 170 points.
Four of Manchester's individual Cascades champions came in the lighter weights. Jimmy Hamilton captured the 103-pound division, while Coyle Render won the 112 class. Cevin Walker was champion of the 119 division and Scott Conway took home the 130 class.
Bill Cloke (152), Jason Alber (160) and Dan Lobbestael (215) also captured their respective divisions for the Dutchmen.
"Winning seven league titles is a great feat for our program," Manchester coach Steve Vlcek said. "I thought we could give Addison a run for the title and the kids proved me right. All 12 kids we had wrestled well and contributed."
As far as Vlcek could remember, the previous Manchester record for conference champions was four. Hamilton, Render, Conway, Cloke and Alber each earned the first league titles of their careers.
Cloke went 3-0 on the day and captured the 152 title with a comeback victory over Addison's Corey Kratzer. After falling behind 5-1, Cloke rallied in the third period. He scored a takedown in the final 15 seconds, sending the match into overtime tied at nine. Cloke needed 28 seconds of the extra stanza to pin Kratzer after another takedown and take the crown.
Alber also went 3-0 in the 160 division, scoring pinfalls in the first two rounds and then busting open the finals with four points in the third period for an 8-1 decision.
"The whole meet was exciting," Vlcek said. "As the day went on, the kids kept feeding off each other and building their momentum."
Hamilton, Render and Conway each went 2-0 on the day for their championships. Conway won the 130 title by scoring a pin in the second period of the finals, while Hamilton and Render won their two matches by pinfall.
"Coyle's confidence seems to grow with each meet, which is a good sign for the future," Vlcek said.
Walker captured his second straight conference title in the 119 division by going 3-0 on the day. In the finals, Walker pulled away for an 18-11 decision over Addison's Mykel Sumner, last year's Division 4 state champion at 112 pounds.
Lobbestael scored a pin in the second period of the 215 finals for his second Cascades championship and third league medal.
Mike Steenson (171) finished second in his division for the Dutchmen, placing in the conference meet for the second straight year. Kyler Ritter went 2-1 on the day, giving Manchester a third-place finish, while Mike Garrison and Dustin Catalano both went 2-2 and placed fourth.
"All the hard work the team put in last week seemed to pay off," Vlcek said. "Hopefully, it will be the same for next week in the districts."
The Dutchmen hosted the Division 4 team districts last night and will host the individual districts Saturday morning.
Addison crowned five league champions Friday. Tom Schneider won the 189 class and moved his season record to 45-0. Nate Elston (125), Brandon Douglass (135), Nick Phillips (145) and Wes Schroeder (heavyweight) also won league titles for the Panthers.
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