Could Battle Creek get its first state champ in wrestling in almost 20 years?

BATTLE CREEK - Dayveon Rupert has been rolling around on the mats in the Lakeview wrestling room since he was five as part of the youth program for the Spartans. In all of that time, he has not been able to look up to a Lakeview state champ as a role model to follow.

Now a senior with the Spartans, Rupert is hoping that changes with him.

It's been almost 20 years since the city of Battle Creek has had a state champion in wrestling.

There are a handful of wrestlers who would like to stop that streak this weekend at the Michigan High School Athletic Association individual state wrestling finals at Ford Field.

The last state champ from the city came from Lakeview in 2006 when Mark Harris and Blake Birmingham each stood on the top spot of the podium at the state meet. Harper Creek's and Pennfield's last champ came in the 1990s and Battle Creek Central last won a title in the 1970s.

Rupert leads a local group heading to the state finals on Friday-Saturday in Detroit in an effort to end this dry spell for the schools in Battle Creek when it comes to seeing a wrestler crowned as a state champ.

MORE: Battle Creek-area state finals qualifiers

"Getting a state champ in the city would put us back on the proverbial map again. I know in the city, there are some programs that are on the up and improving, and that would give some validity to that work and that process," Lakeview coach Nicholas Eckstein said. "It would give some validity to all the the time we are all putting in. Especially for a kid like Dayveon, who has been in this wrestling room since he was probably five years old. We used to have to chase him out of the room when he was in the little kids program and he would cry running down the hallways. This would be the culmination of over a decade of hard work he has put in.

"I think a state championship would give this program, on the rebuild a little bit here, an attainable goal, or a carrot we can dangle in front of some of these younger kids. Show them that it can happen here."

Two city wrestlers finished first in the recent regional round, giving them one of the top seeds in the state meet - including Rupert at 150 pounds and Harper Creek's 113-pounder Devan Garcia. Both are heading to Ford Field for the state finals for the first time, Rupert as a senior and Garcia as a freshman.

But Rupert doesn't think he will be phased by the big stage.

"I don't think I'll be nervous. I have wrestled in some big meets before. Wrestled in the nationals over the summer in freestyle greco," Rupert said. "I had a good offseason, traveling around the country wrestling and everything kind of came together for me. Just got a lot better. So I kind of saw this year coming. I have been confident all year, feeling like in every match I was going to win."

Rupert (48-2) will open the state finals with a match on Friday against Grady Rousse (39-8) of Traverse City Central.

In Division 2, Garcia will take his 43-1 record into a match against Habibullah Majedi (35-16) of Southgate Anderson. Harper Creek has two other wrestlers who also advanced to the state finals in Ricky Johnson at 285 and Camren Brock at 106. Johnson, at 40-7, will see Adin Young of Plainwell (42-4) in the first round. Brock, at 37-10, will wrestle Daniel Staniszwski (37-6) of Warren Woods Tower.

Two girl wrestlers in the city have also qualified for the MHSAA girls wrestling state finals in Harper Creek's Alexandra Stiltner (115) and Lakeview's Kennedy Stine (135).

"Over the last 16 years, we have had some tremendous talent come through the city," Eckstein said. "D1 and D2 has been loaded with teams, but I would have thought there were three or four kids that could have done it before now. But there is such a fine line with wining a state title. It can be a point here or there. You have to be hyper locked in to make it happen."

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Creek seeks first state champ in wrestling in almost 20 years