The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Cloke captures first state title
Junior reigns at Palace, five more Dutchmen earn medals at state meet
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2007
Bill Cloke managed to keep his composure throughout his final match of the season.
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But when it was over and he scored the biggest win of his career, Cloke began to feel the emotion.
The junior captured the state title in the 152-pound weight class and five other members of the Manchester varsity wrestling team earned medals last Saturday at the Individual State Wrestling Championship tournament at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
While Cloke won the only state championship for the Flying Dutchmen, Dan Lobbestael capped his fine prep career by finishing second in the 215 division. Jason Alber (160) earned a third-place medal, while Kyler Ritter (215) placed sixth. Cevin Walker (119) and Mike Garrison (125) earned seventh-place medals for Manchester.
In his first appearance at the state tournament, Cloke went undefeated for the weekend, clinching the 152 title with a 6-4 victory over Addison's Corey Kratzer.
"I've never gone to states, and I never thought I'd get this far and take it," Cloke said. "I was more nervous than I've ever been, but was excited to see everything."
Cloke defeated Doug Greening (Breckenridge), Ruben Flores (Holton) and Chase Weber (Pittsford) to advance to the finals against Kratzer.
The Addison senior jumped to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, but Cloke countered with a two-point takedown before the end of the frame. A reversal gave Cloke a 4-3 lead early in the third, but Kratzer tied the match with an escape. With overtime looming, Cloke caught Kratzer in a spin with three seconds remaining, scoring two points and clinching the championship.
"That was a snap and spin, and he stayed with it and got him," Manchester coach Steve Vlcek said. "Bill has his own style and keeps every match close. He was a dark horse coming in, but he earned this."
The victory also avenged a loss to Kratzer in the regional tournament. Despite falling into the early hole, Cloke never lost confidence.
"I knew I had plenty of time," Cloke said. "I put in the move and hoped he'd keep spinning. I was more aggressive this time."
Cloke posted a 50-9 record on the season.
Lobbestael stormed through the first three rounds of the 215 division, beating Nick Murphy (Bangor) and Tony Reece (Mayville) by major decision, then pinning Cody Sehl (Mancelona) in 3:12. The senior looked to score his third victory of the season against New Lathrop's Roger Emmendorfer in the finals, but the 47-3 senior had other ideas.
After a scoreless first period, Emmendorfer caught Lobbestael in a takedown and scored the pin at 2:48.
"He didn't do anything different than before; he just caught me," Lobbestael said. "Obviously, I didn't want to lose my last match, but (getting to the finals) was a pretty good way to go out. It was a good season overall."
Lobbestael closed out his prep career with a 60-2 senior season.
"There's different ends of the spectrum," Vlcek said. "Dan expected to win, but he had a great career and finishing off being a state finalist is nothing to be ashamed of."
Despite two-thirds of his losses coming to Lobbestael, including the team state meet on March 3, Emmendorfer entered the finals confident.
"I wasn't as nervous then last time," Emmendorfer said. "I knew that if I just go wrestle hard I could win."
Roger wasn't the only Emmendorfer to win a state title for New Lathrop. Cousin and fellow senior Dennis Emmendorfer captured the 171 championship a half hour before Roger's match.
"Dennis has been like my little grasshopper all my life, and when he got his championship, I knew I had to get one," Roger said. "We've wrestled all our lives and helped each other get better."
Alber enjoyed a breakout performance at the Palace, going 4-1 to place third in the 160 bracket. After losing to eventual-champion Justin Zeerip (Hesperia) in the third round, Alber scored a 15-8 decision over Ethan Geppert (Webberville) and a 10-3 decision over Pat Mehan (Sand Creek) for his third-place medal. Alber finished with a 52-5 record this season.
Ritter finished sixth in the 215 bracket, posting a 2-3 record in the tournament. The junior defeated Nick Voss (Schoolcraft) before falling to Roger Emmendorfer. The third round saw Ritter score a 2-1 overtime victory over Byron's Zack Ritter, but losses to Sehl and Ithaca's Logan Sanders kept him in sixth.
"Everyone on this team works hard, and without them none of us would've been here," Cloke said.
Both Walker and Garrison went 3-2 in their respective brackets and placed seventh for the Dutchmen. Walker (119) clinched his medal with a 13-2 major decision over John Ramirez (St. Louis), while Garrison (125) rebounded from two technical fall losses earlier in the event and scored a 2-0 decision over Bronson's Drew Ferry in the state final for his medal.
"It was a great tournament," Vlcek said. "I'm very pleased with having six state medallists."
Freshman Jimmy Hamilton and sophomore Coyle Render also qualified for the state meet, but didn't medal. Hamilton (103) dropped close decisions to T.J. Berridge (Martin) and Dakota Talbot (Sandford-Meridian). Render (112) went 1-2 in the tournament, defeating Shawn Lynch (Watervliet) in the second round before falling to Sandford-Meridian's Corey Cordero in the third round.
Cordero's victory over Render was the 100th of his career.
"Both Render and Jimmy competed and this was a learning experience to see what this is all about," Vlcek said.
Zeerip, the 160 champion, went undefeated for his prep career, finishing with a four-year record of 260-0. The University of Michigan commit now holds both the national prep wins record and the nation's record for consecutive victories.
Other Division 4 state champions include Steve Bassett (103, Onaway), Allen Krupp (112, New Lathrop), Jon Hayward (119, Marlette), Derrik Marry (125, Hudson), Riley Ewalt (130, Carson City-Crystal), Cody Dunn (135, Leslie), Phil Khozein (140, Hesperia), Dan Yates (145, Hesperia), Zac Johnson (189, Morenci) and Wes Schroeder (285, Addison).
As a team, Manchester posted a 30-8 record and advanced to Battle Creek for the state tournament for the first time since 1991. The Dutchmen's quarterfinal victory over Bangor clinched their first-ever appearance in the state semifinals.
"Getting to the semifinals was beyond what we expected," Lobbestael said. "This team was unified got along so well and they'll be a good team next year."
Individually, the Dutchmen had five district champions, 11 regional qualifiers and eight state qualifiers. All are school records.
"We had some good teams in the early '90s, but overall this was our best season," Vlcek said. "The kids are still pretty hungry, and they're not done."
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