Hamilton wrestling claims first conference title since 2013; Chix second in OK Green
The Hamilton wrestling team claimed its first conference championship since 2013 on Friday.
The Hawkeyes scored 218.5 points to earn the OK Blue Conference title, holding off second-place Allendale (207).
Defending state champion Malachi Kapenga defeated Allendale's Payton Paguada in the finals.
Shane Dams also defeated a ranked opponent to earn a conference title.
Jacob Chase, Brandon Olsen, Trace Lopez and Remington Foster also won individual conference championships.
Hamilton next heads to team districts on Thursday at Plainwell.
OK GREEN
The Zeeland East wrestling team entered with a share of the OK Green Conference regular-season title with Holland and Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, which meant the winner of the conference tournament would clinch the outright title.
Reeths-Puffer won the title with 207.5, just ahead of Zeeland East (206) and Holland (165) on Saturday at Wyoming
East crowned five champions, two runner-ups, two third-place, and three fourth-place finishers. Conference Champions were JJ Ledford (113), Gavin Drenten (144), Ben DeLost (150), Gabe Amid (190), and Parker Williams (285). Runner-ups were Anders Tibbs (138) and Jonah Heyboer (175). Finishing in third were Eric Segovia (126) and Keaton Draeger (215). Finishing in fourth place were Tommy Le (106), Tyler Voravongsa (120), and Caden Arendsen (157).
Holland's champions were Israel Castro (138), Andreas Valkema (175) and Dylan Flores (215).
Holland's Aiden Segovia and Dylan Dubois secured runner-up positions in the 113-pound and 165-pound weight classes, respectively.
The team's success extended further, with Damion Jordan and Alessandro Fillmore securing third-place finishes in the 120-pound and 285-pound divisions, respectively.
Josh Keller, Makario Stark and Romeo Keels secured fourth-place finishes in their respective weight classes.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hamilton wrestling claims first conference title since 2013
