By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
KALAMAZOO — Momentum can mean a lot in sports.
If a team has momentum go in their favor, they can feel like nothing can stop them and they can do anything. On the other hand, if momentum is going against them, it can feel draining and agonizing, and it can end in heartbreak if it isn’t turned around.
The two teams in the second of two MHSAA Division 2 state team wrestling semifinals Saturday afternoon at Wings Event Center, the second-seeded Three Rivers Wildcats and the sixth-seeded Eaton Rapids Greyhounds, personified both ends of that spectrum throughout their match.
At the end of the day, it would be a shift in momentum midway through the match that would go against the Wildcats, as an upset-minded Eaton Rapids squad used a streak of seven wins in a row to come back and stun Three Rivers 39-30.
In the beginning, the Wildcats got out to a blazing start to take momentum early, winning five of the first six matches in the middleweight and heavyweight portion of the card. Ethan Moreland started the day for Three Rivers by taking a 10-1 major decision over Eaton Rapids’ Logan Adleman at 144 pounds, and then Carter Hensley won by a 17-7 major decision over the Greyhounds’ Gavin Pickott at 150 pounds to take an early 8-0 lead.
Eaton Rapids would get their first win of the day at 157 pounds, as Three Rivers’ Evan Harper lost to the Greyhounds’ Mike Chapates to make it 8-3. However, the Wildcats would rebound, as Braylon Faile would win by technical fall 18-2 against Nolan Saltman at 165 pounds, and then Louis Smith would win by forfeit at 175 pounds to put the Wildcats up big early 19-3.
Three Rivers would get a tough six points at the 190-pound match, one of the biggest highlights of the day. Jaxon Smith gave it all he had – figuratively and literally – coming back from down 7-5 after the first period to win by pin at the 5:18 mark in the third period against Eaton Rapids’ Gavin Sebastian. Smith punctuated the victory with the literal sense of giving it his all, puking into a nearby trash can just moments after the match concluded.
The 25-3 lead at that point for the Wildcats would be the high point of the afternoon, as the Greyhounds started to seize the momentum back. At 215 pounds, Eaton Rapids’ Donny Hoyt – normally a 190-pounder – managed to pin Three Rivers’ Noah Howes just seven seconds before the first-period buzzer to make it 25-9. The heavyweight bout was much quicker, as Eaton Rapids’ Jamison Brown pinned Three Rivers’ Drew Webster in just 60 seconds to bring it to 25-15.
Turning to the lightweights, the losses continued to pile up for the ‘Cats, as Owen Moreland lost by major decision 15-2 to Maiko Sherman at 106 pounds, and Mason Santos was pinned at 113 pounds by the Greyhounds’ JJ Hackworth in 5:26 to tie the match at 25-25.
The Wildcats had an opportunity to seize momentum back near the end at 120 pounds, as Kyler Snellenbarger of Three Rivers and Jameson Onstott of Eaton Rapids had one of the closest bouts of the lightweight section of the afternoon. Down 1-0 after the second period, Snellenbarger managed to gain one point back with 10 seconds to go in the third period and hold off Onstott to take it to sudden victory. However, just seconds into sudden victory, momentum was snatched right out of their grasp as Onstott took down Snellenbarger to win 4-1 and give the Greyhounds their first lead of the afternoon, 28-25.
Eaton Rapids would win the next two bouts to snuff out any chance of a Wildcat comeback. Three Rivers put in Brayden Niemi – listed as a 113-pounder in the program – at 126 pounds to try to set up Brody Morrill – their normal 126-pounder – for the match at 132 pounds, but the strategy did not pay off. Niemi would lose by technical fall to Nicholas Wade 19-4 at the 4:18 mark, and Morrill would get pinned just 42 seconds into the 132-pound match by Brayden Thorn to put Eaton Rapids up 39-25 and seal the victory.
Jak Monroe would finish up the afternoon with a 19-2 technical fall win over Jeremiah Klink at 138 pounds to get the Wildcats to 30 points, but by that time, the energy on the Three Rivers side – both wrestlers and fans – had been more or less sapped and their fate sealed, as Three Rivers left Wings Event Center with the 39-30 loss.
The loss ends the team season for the Wildcats, who finish with a record of 36-5, ending with their second straight appearance in the state semifinals and their third straight time making it to the state rounds, a feat unprecedented in the history of the program. Eaton Rapids, in their first state finals appearance in 11 years, would lose in a blowout to Lowell in the state finals later in the afternoon.
Eleven individual Wildcat wrestlers will be going for titles in the individual state finals, which begin Friday, March 6 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
