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Bensinger brothers lead big day for Gaylord wrestling at NMC Championships

dylan jespersen, the petoskey news-review
·4 min read

GAYLORD ― If you're a fan of high school wrestling, then Gaylord High School was the place you wanted to be this past weekend.

The elite Gaylord wrestling team hosted the annual Northern Michigan Championships this past Saturday, Jan. 27 as 39 teams of all sizes from around the Northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas competed under the same roof as everyone works towards the postseason.

And, while it was a great day for multiple teams around the area to be proud of, it was no surprise when Gaylord walked away the biggest winner with eight total medalists, three weight class champions and the best overall team score when all was said and done.

Check out the key highlights from a busy day at the Jim Mongeau Gymnasium:

Bensinger brothers lead Gaylord's winning wrestlers

Jaron Bensinger (far left) and Ty Bensinger (far right) were two of the three individual weight class winners at the Northern Michigan Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Gaylord, Mich.
Jaron Bensinger (far left) and Ty Bensinger (far right) were two of the three individual weight class winners at the Northern Michigan Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Gaylord, Mich.

Gaylord has been running the show in the Northern Lower for a while now, winners of the Big North Conference for 16 consecutive seasons and consistent visitors of the individual and team state finals at the end of each season.

To be that consistently good means cycling in and out dominant wrestlers, finding new leaders as the previous ones find their way to the next level. This season, its the Bensinger brothers taking center stage.

Ty Bensinger, Michigan's top-ranked wrestler in the 190-pound weight class, and Jaron Bensinger, the No. 6 ranked 120-pound wrestler, have been two of the most consistent wrestlers on a dominant Blue Devils team and they showed that yet again on Saturday, cruising through their respective weight classes to be two of Gaylord's three individual champions at the Northern Michigan Championships.

Ty Bensinger won his first three matches by fall to qualify for the first-place match at 190 pounds, defeating Cadillac's Dylan Trowbridge (fall 1:19), Standish-Sterling's Brecken Stokoszynski (fall 2:47) and Gladwin's Braden Ritchie (fall 1:42). Bensinger wrapped up a 4-0 day with a major decision victory over Charlevoix's Trevor Streeter (MD 15-5), staying undefeated this season (23-0).

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Meanwhile, Jaron had an equally breezy time in the 120-pound bracket, winning four matches on four separate pins, defeating TC West's Aiden Geetings (fall 1:27), St. Ignace's Jedidiah Brady (fall 1:13), Gladstone's Nathan Beauchamp, (fall 1:30) and TC Ct. Francis's Tyler Sheeran (fall 0:38) en route to his tournament title.

Action from the afternoon and medal matches during the Northern Michigan Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Gaylord, Mich.
Action from the afternoon and medal matches during the Northern Michigan Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Gaylord, Mich.

Gaylord's other individual winner was Zane Willobee, taking home the 157-pound title after defeating Ogemaw Heights Xander Kartes.

Gaylord tops the team scoring, area teams also bring home titles

Unsurprisingly, Gaylord took home the top overall team score as well, finishing with 37 points more than the second-place finishers, Benzie Central.

The Blue Devils were not the only team to see success, however.

Petoskey's Jaden Vanderwall won the 165-pound weight class, going 4-0 while defeating Whittemore-Prescott's Sam Vyner (fall 3:54) in the finals. Meanwhile, Charlevoix's Brady Jess captured the 175-pound title, defeating Kingsley's Caleb Bott (dec. 9-2) in the finals while his teammate, Landon Swanson, securing the 215-pound bracket with a win over TC West's Brady Vaughan (dec. 5-1).

Charlevoix placed third with 142.5 team points.

Other area medalists included Gaylord's Caden Sides (second, 285 pounds), Luka Lehre (third, 106), Kieran Beach (fourth, 165), Sunni LaFond (fifth, 113) and Logan Wolff (fifth, 175), Charlevoix's Trevor Streeter (second, 190) Sawyer Blasczyk (third, 285) and Justin Whisler (fourth, 165) and Petoskey's Adam Goodwin (fifth, 285).

Full leaderboard

1 Gaylord HS 189.02 Benzie Central HS 152.03 Charlevoix HS 142.54 Reed City HS 131.05 Traverse City West HS 125.06 Gladstone HS 124.07 Kingsley Area HS 120.08 Cadillac HS 98.09 Gladwin HS 95.010 Traverse City Central HS 86.011 Sault Area HS 83.012 Standish-Sterling HS 74.013 Petoskey HS 69.514 St Francis HS 66.515 Ogemaw Heights HS 61.516 Whittemore-Prescott HS 57.517 Escanaba HS 55.017 Tawas Area HS 55.019 Inland Lakes HS 53.020 St Ignace 44.021 Munising HS 43.522 Roscommon HS 39.023 Marquette HS 38.024 Mio-Au Sable HS 34.025 Newberry HS 33.026 Alpena HS 31.027 Powers North Central HS 25.028 Cheboygan Area HS 24.529 Rogers City HS 22.030 Pinconning Area HS 19.031 Oscoda HS 16.532 Mancelona HS 16.033 Charlton Heston Academy 11.034 Kalkaska HS 10.035 Negaunee HS 9.036 Alcona HS 8.037 Boyne City HS 5.037 Houghton Lake HS 5.039 Ishpeming HS 0.039 Onaway Area HS

Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord wrestling dominates at Northern Michigan Championships