by Ben Murphy
Sports Writer
The Lawrence wrestling team sent two grapplers to the girls regional on Howell on Sunday. Both will move on to the state finals thanks to their top eight finishes.
Kennedy Edson is a regional champ in the 135 weight class, winning all four of her matches.
She opened with a first period pin over Destiny Monroe of Sand Creek, then had a second period pin over Rylee Silvis of Allendale in the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals, she had a first period pin over Algonac’s Faith Romain. She had a healthy point advantage in the championship match against Danni Swihart of Hanover-Horton as well, before her opponent dropped out on a medical forfeit.
Kali Reed placed eighth to move on as well. She won her opening match on a first period pin over Shaelyn Vyner of Whittemore-Prescott, and after losing in the quarterfinals, came back to win on a 4-1 decision over Remmie Gavale of Forest Hills Central in the blood round.
“As hard as these girls work anything is possible,” head coach Jon Petrasek said. “They are extremely dedicated individuals and I know these two weeks leading up to the state tournament this entire team will push them to make sure they are prepared. It is an honor to have these young ladies representing us at the state championship.”
Paw Paw has pair qualify for state finals
The Paw Paw wrestling team took part in a Division 2 regional at Niles on Saturday. The day was highlighted by William Bradley winning the 160 weight class.
Bradley, who is 48-1 this season, opened with a 12-1 major decision over Gage Parker of Parma Western, then pinned Braden Gariety of Jackson Northwest in the second period and had a 7-1 decision victory over Nick Martinez of Battle Creek Harper Creek in the finals.
Nolan Berglin also punched his state finals ticket, thanks to a third place finish in 140. He is now 42-6 on the season. He lost his opening match but rebounded with pins in his next two matches to secure his spot at the finals and then won 10-2 in a major decision over Kent Heppler of Stevensville Lakeshore in the third place match.
Jason Bowers (171), Gavin Turk (189, Gavin Parker (285), Tyler Perkkio (112) and Niko Martinez (140) also competed at the regional, but were unable to place.
Mattawan’s James Campbell wins regional championship
James Campbell kept his perfect (33-0) season intact on Saturday, winning the 215 weight class at the Division 2 regional in Niles on Saturday.
Campbell won all three of his matches on first period pins, taking down Sean Okeefe of Pinckney, Harun Mkumbakwa of Lansing Eastern and Vinny Patierno of Pinckney.
Colby Klinger (171) won a match, but was unable to place, ending his season.
Lawton has five qualify at D4 meet
The Lawton wrestling team had a good showing at the Division 4 regional meet at Schoolcraft on Saturday, getting five members to punch their state finals’ tickets.
Caleb Mallory (112) took second place, getting pins in his first two matches, but lost to Trent Kimmel of Martin-Climax-Scotts in the finals on a 6-1 decision.
JJ Crall (135) took second place, getting decision wins in his first two matches before falling to Springport’s Joe Sunkle in the finals.
Carter Cosby (160) was able to take third place, winning his third place bout in a 9-4 decision over Riley Cochran of Schoolcraft.
Austin Garcia (103) was also third, and he won his third place match over Aiden Fill of Bronson in a first period pin.
Another third place finisher was Dustin Mallory (125). He claimed a 14-2 major decision victory over Hunter Dewey of Reading in his third place match.
Also competing, but unable to move on was Victor Ruimveld (119), Andrew Garcia (125) and Andrew VanTuyl (140).
Lawrence sent Conner Tangeman (215) and Jack McLemore (135) to the regional meet, but neither could move on.
The individual state finals are March 4 and 5 at Ford Field in Detroit.
