The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Flying high
Dutchmen capture regional championship
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2007
A journey 16 years in the making will continue for the Manchester varsity wrestling team.
Advertisement
The Flying Dutchmen punched their ticket to Battle Creek by capturing the Division 4 team regional championship at Springport High School with a 38-28 victory over the host Spartans.
Manchester (29-7) advanced to the regional final with a 46-24 victory over Bangor in the semifinals. Springport (30-9), ranked No. 4 in the state polls, routed Vermontville Maple Valley 56-12 in the semifinals before having its season stopped by the Dutchmen.
The Division 4 team state quarterfinals will take place Friday at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. Manchester is making its first appearance in the state meet since 1991.
With the finals starting at 160 pounds, Jason Alber helped the Dutchmen send a message right off the bat. Alber opened the finals with a 20-5 technical fall over Springport's Jacob Ebbinghaus.
"After this match, I thought it really set the tone for the rest of the meet," Manchester coach Steve Vlcek said. "Even though (Springport) had beaten us twice this year, our kids were ready for them."
Nathan Kalus (171) answered for Springport with a major decision over Mike Steenson, but the Dutchmen took control by scoring victories in five matches.
Will Rickert (189) scored a surprise pinfall over Lukas Love in 1:14, and then Kyler Ritter (215) scored a 5-3 decision over Cody Longon. Heavyweight Dan Lobbestael pinned Bill Partridge in 3:05, giving the Dutchmen a 20-4 lead.
"Will was the kid they didn't know about since they hadn't seen him wrestle this year," Vlcek said. "They wish they had, and that was a huge win for us."
Jimmy Hamilton and Coyle Render increased the lead for the Dutchmen. Hamilton (103) pinned Josh Raymond in 2:32, and then Render (112) picked up a 7-3 decision over Tyler Fitzpatrick, making it 29-4.
Springport fought back as Jacob Eagen (119) decisioned Cevin Walker 5-2, then Joey Cooper (125) pinned Mike Garrison, but Scott Conway broke the Spartan's momentum in the 130 match.
Trailing 6-3 after two periods, Conway rallied in the third and pinned Kurt Wiborn at the 5:21 mark. The win forced Springport to score pinfalls in the remaining four matches.
"This was a huge win to give us some breathing room," Vlcek said.
After a void at 135, Springport's Drew Harding (140) looked to keep his team's hopes alive against Dustin Catalano. Harding recorded a victory, but only an 8-4 decision, making it 35-22 and clinching the title for Manchester.
"Dusting outscored his opponent 4-2 in the final period and showed there was no quit in him."
After Zach Harding (145) scored a pin for Springport, Bill Cloke capped the Dutchmen's victory with a 2-0 decision over Aaron Underhill in the 160 bout.
"This was a great match for the team," Vlcek said. "Not only did they feed off each other, but they were being pumped up from the great crowd that followed us. It was nice to see all the faces and hear the noise supporting our team."
The Dutchmen controlled the dual with Byron in the semifinals, winning nine matches. Hamilton and Alber both won by pinfall, while Walker scored a technical fall. Render and Cloke won their matches by major decision.
Steenson and Ritter also recorded victories for Manchester.
"I thought this was a good preparation for the team for the next dual with Springport," Vlcek said. "Our boys came out strong."
The Dutchmen will face Bangor (30-6) in the semifinals 1 p.m. Friday. The winner faces the Leroy Pine River/New Lathrop winner in the semifinals 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The finals are scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.
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
