Behind 5 champions Union City wrestling claims title at BC Central's McGinnis-Evans Invite; Chargers take 12 podium spots in win

BATTLE CREEK — All season long the Union City wrestling program has claimed to be “Trophy Hunting”. Well the Chargers may want to rethink that claim, perhaps they should change it to “Trophy Collecting”.

On Saturday the Union City Charger grapplers traveled to Battle Creek Central High School to face off with 21 other teams in the annual Battle Creek Central McGinnis-Evans Invitational. Union City came away victorious, boasting a total of five weight class champions, one runner-up finish and a total of 12 placements in a dominant effort that saw Union City take home the championship with a score of 530 points.

Grandville, the Division Two seventh ranked team, finished with runner-up honors with a score of 433 points. Plainwell followed in third place with 351 points while the Bronson Vikings finished in fourth place with 349 points (results for the Vikings effort on Saturday will appear in a separate article). Parma Western finished in fifth place with 305 points. \

The Coldwater Cardinals also competed on the day, finishing in sixteenth place overall with a score of 147 points. (Coldwater’s efforts will appear in a separate article)

Five Chargers brought home gold, taking first place in their respective weight classes with big efforts on the day. Taking first place honors were Logan Mears at 103 pounds, Landyn Crance at 125 pounds, Garrett Iobe at 160 pounds, Garrett Halder at 189 pounds, and Grady Iobe at 215 pounds.

Senior Brayton Mears secured a silver medal finish, taking runner-up honors at 140 pounds while freshman Mason Hawthorne finished with the bronze at 112 pounds. Also earning a spot on the podium was Alex Boyer in fourth place at 135 pounds, Colton Russell in fourth place at 145 pounds, Maddox Miller in sixth place at 152 pounds, Aidan Taylor in seventh place at 130 pounds, and Hunter Gillies in eighth place at 285 pounds.

Senior Garrett Iobe, 38-1 on the season, claimed the championship at 160 pounds in his final career McGinnis-Evans invite with a throughly dominant effort. Iobe kicked off the tournament with a first round bye, followed by a second round pin fall win over Hunter Munson of Coldwater in 1:04. In championship round three it was Iobe having little trouble with Rico Hart of Adams High School, winning via an 11-2 Major Decision. Iobe advanced on to the semifinal round where he defeated Landon Hunt of Grandville in another dominant effort, winning by a 13-0 Major Decision, sending the Charger senior to the championship match to face Amaris Bush of Grandville. Again Iobe had little trouble in the gold medal match, defeating Bush by an 11-2 Major Decision, taking home the gold.

Once again the Iobe household needs to make a little more room in their trophy case as Iobe’s younger brother, Grady Iobe, also brought home a gold medal after winning the title at 215 pounds.

Iobe, 32-1 on the year, rolled through the 215 pound weight class, winning via pin fall three times as well as an injury default. Iobe’s run started with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win over Landon Holibaugh of Marshall in :27 seconds. Iobe then defeated Mohamed Murray of Adams High School via injury default in 2:52, followed by a semifinal pin fall win over Coldwater’s Christopher Mobley in 2:53. In the championship it was Iobe securing another pin fall win, defeating Battle Creek Central’s Kaijehl Williams in 3:56 to take home the gold.

At 103 pounds it was freshman Logan Mears, 35-2 on the year, defeating a familiar foe in the championship finale, pinning Bronson’s Aiden Fill in 3:02 to claim the gold. Mears started off his tournament with a first round bye, followed by a pin fall win over Matty Spuck of Adams High in 1:20. Championship round three saw Mears pin Marshall’s Carson Drumm in 3:04, followed by a semifinal win over Henry Huynh of Kalamazoo Central by a 11-2 Major Decision to advance on to the finals to face Fill.

At 125 pounds it was sophomore Landyn Crance, 32-2 on the year, bringing home the gold medal after defeating Dakota Quinlan of Adams High via a 9-3 Decision in the finals. On his way to the gold Crance kicked off the tournament with a first round bye, followed by a second round pin fall win over Robert Shilz of Maple Valley in 1:11. In round three it was Crance defeating Kyle Almeida of Harper Creek by pin in 1:29, followed by a semifinal victory over Cole Gritter of Grandville by a 6-1 decision before his gold medal win over Quinlan.

Union City’s final championship of the day came at 189 pounds where junior Garrett Halder, 32-8 on the year, claimed the gold after defeating a familiar foe in Bronson’s Jacob Dixon by a 1-0 decision in a razor thin championship matchup. On his way to the championship Halder took a first round bye, followed by a round two pin all win over Andrew Romanski of Adams High in 2:39. Round three saw Halder pin Kalamazoo Central’s Rashawn Terrell in 2:59 before a semifinal win over Carlos Alvarado of Grandville by a 3-2 decision, leading to the exciting championship finale against his Bronson rival.

Union City also had one runner-up finish as senior Brayton Mears, 27-4 on the season, took second place at 140 pounds. Mears started with a first round bye, followed by a second round 11-2 Major Decision win over Drew Seekman of Bronson. Round three saw Mears defeat Grandville’s Bryce Lubber via pin fall in 3:25 followed by a semifinal win over Killian Campbell of Ionia by a 9-2 decision, setting up a championship meeting with Matthew Martinez of Harper Creek (28-1). Martinez went on to defeat Mears by a 8-3 decision, giving the Charger co-captain the silver medal.

Union City also got a bronze medal finish from freshman Mason Hawthorne, 26-12 overall on the year, who took third place at 112 pounds. Hawthorne kicked off his day with a pin fall win over Andrew Maynard of Adams High in 5:34 followed by a pin fall win over Eli Crist of Parma Western in 2:52. Hawthorne then went on to defeat Jake Olson of Portland via pin fall in 2:00, sending the Charger rookie to the semifinals to face Josh Vasquez of Grandville. Vasquez (28-2) caught Hawthorne early and won via pin fall, sending Hawthorne to the consolation finals. There it was the Charger grappler facing off with Braylin Swank of Pennfield, a match that Hawthorne would claim the 11-9 decision win in the first tiebreaker.

Also earning points for the Chargers was Aidan Taylor, seventh place at 130 pounds after finishing 2-2 on the day; Alex Boyer, fourth place at 135 pounds after going 3-2 on the day; Colton Russell in fourth place at 145 pounds after going 2-2 on the day; Maddox Miller with a sixth place finish at 152 pounds after going 2-2 on the day; and Hunter Gillies who finished in eighth place at 285 pounds after going 2-3 on the day.

Union City will have the week off as they prepare for next Saturday’s Big 8 conference championship. The Chargers enter the tournament in first place in the Big 8 conference standings and need only to perform well at the tournament to claim the title.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Behind 5 champions Union City wrestling claims title at BC Central's McGinnis-Evans Invite