By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
KALAMAZOO — What has been a remarkable season for Three Rivers’ wrestling team is now officially in uncharted territory.
The Wildcats, for the first time in school history, have made it to the second day of the state tournament at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo with a 47-19 Division 2 state quarterfinal win Friday night against Greenville.
With the win, fourth-seeded Three Rivers will take on the top seed, 11-time defending Division 2 state champion Lowell Red Arrows, in Saturday’s semifinals, which begin at noon at Wings.
“It’s the first time our school’s ever made it to the top four in the state. That’s fantastic,” Three Rivers head coach Jeff Smith said. “That’s who was in front of us, so tomorrow Lowell’s in front of us, and that’s where we need to go.”
Three Rivers got off to a quick start in Friday night’s bout, winning the first four matches of the evening, with three of them by way of pin. Leading off at 157 pounds, Evan Harper capped off a fairly even match with a pin of Greenville’s Chayson Eberspeaker with 1:14 left in the third period to take a 6-0 lead. Braylon Faile at 165 pounds then proceeded to win by technical fall over Deizel Vandentoorn 23-8 to make it 11-0 Wildcats, and then Louis Smith at 175 pounds won by a quick first-period pin just nearly halfway through the first period. However, a premature celebration by Louis Smith following the pin would cost the ‘Cats a team point via unsportsmanlike conduct, making it 16-0 after three matches.
Joey Anglemyer, the hero of last week’s regional finals for the Wildcats, showed his penchant for stunning victories at 190 pounds once again, coming back from being on the mat for seemingly the whole match to pin Spencer Caldwell with 35 seconds to go in the third period to make it 22-0 Three Rivers.
Greenville would get five points back at 215 pounds, as Three Rivers’ Jaxon Smith lost by a 17-1 technical fall to Case Johnson. In the next match, Three Rivers would get three points back as Sam Reynolds won his heavyweight bout over Greenville’s Jordan Sholley 1-0 after he was able to stand up from a downward position with 90 seconds left in the third period, making the score 25-5 going into the lightweights.
At 106, Mason Santos of Three Rivers lost by a 20-4 technical fall to Carter Giles to make it 25-10, but the ‘Cats would come back with two big victories after that. At 113, Brody Morrill won over Greenville’s Nicholas Meyers by a 15-3 major decision, and then at 120, Three Rivers’ Kyler Snellenbarger notched a 7-2 decision against Greenville’s Taevin Roberts to make it 32-10.
At 126, Jak Monroe had been winning in the second period against Greenville’s Kamden Witte, but a major broken nose with blood that couldn’t be kept under control in the time allotted forced Three Rivers to forfeit that weight class and give Greenville six points via injury, making it 32-16. It is doubtful Monroe will be ready for Saturday’s semifinal.
“Without our 126-pounder in the lineup, that’s giving [Lowell] six points,” Jeff Smith said following the match. “His nose is destroyed. I’ve never seen a broken nose that bad. That kills me because I don’t have another kid at that weight, so we’re thin there.”
Three Rivers, though, won three of the final four bouts on the evening to put the match out of reach. Gaven Babcock won by pin over Wyatt MacDonald at 132 pounds, Ethan Moreland won a 12-3 major decision at 138 pounds, and Ayden Keller won by a 17-1 technical fall at 144 pounds to make it 47-16. A last-ditch effort by Greenville’s Conner Peterman in the dying moments of the 150-pound final bout gave the Yellow Jackets their final points of the evening to make the final score 47-19.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s semifinal against state powerhouse Lowell, Jeff Smith said he is treating it like any other match.
“We’re just going to go to work and do what we do. It’s just another day,” Jeff Smith said. “We didn’t come to the tournament to finish second, so you’re going to have to beat them at some point.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
