By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
SOUTH HAVEN—They came. They saw. They conquered.
That pretty much sums up the performance of the Allegan boys wrestling team at the Division 3 team district hosted by South Haven on Thursday, Feb. 6.
After dispatching Hopkins by a 51-11 score in the semifinals, the Tigers bested host South Haven 60-10 in the finals.
The district title was the first in eight years for Allegan, which entered postseason action ranked fourth in D3 and headed to regionals with a 28-2 record.
“To win the first district title in eight years means a great deal to our program,” Allegan coach Chase Beard said. “However, our eyes are set further down the road.”
Beard was especially pleased with the bonus points earned by his team.
Allegan dropped just five total matches against South Haven and Hopkins, going a combined 23-5 for the evening.
Four of Allegan’s wins came by way of forfeit, meaning the Tigers won 19 matches on the mat. And of those 19 matches, 16 of them were by way of pin, tech fall or major decision.
“The key stat for our team came down to the fact that we managed our bonus points very well,” Beard said.
Picking up pins against South Haven were Cooper Prentice (120 pounds), Hudson VanderKooi (126), Sylar Bush (215) and Sullivan Mogan (106). Treydan VanderKooi (144), Ryan Sparks (165) and Jacob Collier (113) each won by tech fall.
Allegan pins against Hopkins came from Treydan VanderKooi (144), Rysten Williams (175), Bush (215) and Morgan (106). Dylan Ritsema (190) won via tech fall, with Collier (113), Hudson VanderKooi (126), Landon Fance-Coulson (150) and Aiden Pearce (157) all earning major decision.
