Hudson, Clinton wrestling teams take on state tournament

KALAMAZOO — All the Hudson wrestlers made weight, then the top-ranked Tigers defeated No. 2 St. Louis in the Division 4 team state championship, 41-17.

So what's next?

"Shamrock Shakes, baby," senior Logan Ryan said.

Hudson wore it on the back of their custom t-shirts all weekend, a saying from assistant coach Trey Reuter 'make weight, win states, Shamrock Shakes'.

"It's been that way since I was freshman," Ryan said. "One year some of us were struggling making weight so coach told us if we made weight and won states he'd by us all Shamrock Shakes. It's just kind of stuck like that."

The Tigers have made a tradition out of winning state championships, making the finals for the 15th time in the last 16 years and winning an 11th title.

"We don't look at those records," coach Scott Marry said. "We're working to make really good men and women and help fix this world. This is small compared to what they're going to do later in life. We keep it in perspective."

The community has the back of the program as well and have almost assigned seats by now behind the Hudson bench on the fourth mat.

It's the community support which allows Marry and the Tigers to continue raise trophy after trophy above their heads.

"It's a really tight-knit community and that bleeds off into this stuff," Marry said. "These kids value family and value God and when you have those standards in your life, the pressure is off. They don't think about winning or losing and they do stuff right."

The Tigers did a lot right in the final with Barron Mansfield (190) getting a pin, Malachi Marshall (285) winning by DQ, Cole Marry (138) and Austin Marry (150) winning by tech falls, Jacob Pickford (165) getting a major decision and Nicholas Sorrow (126), Julien Kimling (132), Coy Perry (144), Logan Ryan (175) and Colt Perry (120) winning by decisions.

"It's nice to go out with a bang," Ryan said. "We've put in a lot of work and we still have another week."

Hudson dominated its way to the state final by beating No. 8 Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary on Friday, 72-3, and against No. 5 Manchester on Saturday, 52-13.

First at 126, Sorrow, who is ranked No. 1 at 120, defeated the top-ranked 126-pounder Sam Stewart, 4-2. Later in the dual, No. 1 144-pounder Coy Perry beat No. 2 Blake Sloan, 3-0.

Colt Perry (120), Kimling (132), Austin Marry (150), Bradley Bertram (157), Ryan (175) and Jaxton Kimling (106) all won by pins while Cole Marry (138) had a major and Chase Clark (113) and Pickford (165) also won by decisions.

Top-ranked Hudson began its journey to a third-straight Division 4 team wrestling state title and 11th overall Friday with a dominating, 72-3, win against No. 8 Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary.

The quarterfinal Friday with a tough test at 190 pounds where Mansfield lost to the Cardinals' top wrestler, Ethan Wakefield, 8-1.

"They started their best kid and we got a kid who's pretty good at 190," coach Scott Marry said. "We started a newbie, who is a junior, but he wasn't in the lineup much last year and you always want to test fresh water. He battled."

It was all Hudson the rest of the way as the Tigers each of the next 13 matches, including 11 pins.

The first pin came right after 190 at 215 with sophomore Kenny Sledge stepping up.

"I think that was pretty cool," Marry said. "I wanted to see how that worked out."

Also picking up pins for the Tigers were Cameron Miller (285), Clark (113), Colt Perry (120), Sorrow (126), Owen Loop (132), Cole Marry (138), Coy Perry (144), Austin Marry (150), Pickford (157) and Ryan (175). Trey Bolenbaugh (106) won a 9-2 decision and Devan Brigman (165) won a 4-3 decision.

Bolenbaugh and Brigman, along with Sledge, were not regional qualifiers, let alone state qualifiers, so their season will end this weekend.

"We're not just building for this weekend," coach Marry said. "We're building for next year. That was a good thing that happened at 190 and 215 because it showed me what these guys will be able to do next year."

On the other mats, No. 2 St. Louis beat last season's state runners-up, No. 9 Climax Scotts-Martin, 39-26, while No. 3 Benzie Central defeated No. 6 Iron Mountain, 59-13.

Division 3

No. 3 Clinton couldn't afford any big point swings from the last time it took on No. 2 Whitehall earlier this season when the Vikings narrowly defeated the Redwolves, 36-35.

Unfortunately for Clinton, Whitehall was able to turn the tide in a few weight classes and beat the Redwolves in the Division 3 semifinal Saturday at the Wings Event Center, 44-24.

"The difference was they brought back Wyatt Jenkins at 190/215," coach Casey Randolph said. "This was his first team wrestling all year and that changed four different weight classes. It pushed some kids down and caused different matchups."

Clinton began the afternoon strong at 165 with Bryce Randolph delivering a pin, but the Vikings answered with a pin at 175 and with Jenkins at 215 while getting a major decision at 190 to lead 16-6.

Hamza Rafferty created a swing of his own by getting a pin at 285 against wrestler who had pinned him earlier in the season.

"That was a 12-point swing from last time," coach Randolph said. "That was a huge flip for us."

Whitehall flipped two matches at 106 and 113 with pins by wrestlers who the Redwolves had pin last time around and then got a major decision at 120 to go up 29-12.

Clinton made a charge with Braylon Long (126) getting a decision, Connor Younts (132) getting a tech fall and Maurice Ames (138) getting a major decision, but at the same time those three won by two tech falls and a pin last time around to make it 29-24 before Whitehall finished the match with a decision and two pins.

"With this team and how young we are, to make it to the semifinals after how last year finished, I'm very proud," coach Randolph said.

If you asked coach Randolph what weight class he'd hope to start at, 126 would probably be one of the top choices.

That's what the Redwolves drew in the quarterfinal Friday against No. 6 Yale and they used the momentum to win, 34-27, to advance to the semifinal.

"We had the opportunity to get momentum," he said. "The kid that wrestled Braylon Long at 126 wrestled him as a freshman and beat him, so that wasn't a gimmie."

Randolph was right, it wasn't a gimmie. But Long gutted out a 2-0 win to get the ball rolling. Connor Younts (132) followed with 13-6 decision, Maurice Ames (138) followed with an 11-3 major decision before Dylan Badge (144) stepped up with a huge 5-4 decision to give Clinton 13-0 lead out of the gate.

The Bulldogs stole some momentum at 150 with a pin, but Cliff Jones battled to a sudden victory win at 157 followed by another big swing match win for John Keibler (165), 9-5, and then Bryce Randolph (165) won a ranked battle, 5-3, to give Clinton a 22-6 advantage.

"For (Keibler) to go out and win that match for us was unbelievable," coach Randolph said. "Dylan Badge's match was really big and we got the flip so we could bump Bryce up to face their really good kid. A lot was on our side tonight."

Yale got another pin at 190 to make it a 22-12 match, but the heavyweights to control back for good with Wyatt Hicks (215) and Hamza Rafferty (285) getting pinfalls to make it 34-12 and seal the win.

"After last year going the way it did, this was really gratifying," coach Randolph said. "That was a good team that matches up with us pretty darn well."

The Redwolves will have another well matched opponent in the semifinal as they'll face No. 2 Whitehall.

The two teams faced each other earlier in the season with the Vikings squeaking out a one-point win. Whitehall defeated No. 7 Gladstone, 52-18.

"We're pretty excited about that matchup," coach Randolph said. "They're better, but so are we and we're excited for the opportunity."

On the other end of the bracket, No. 1 Dundee defeated No. 8 Lake Odessa Lakewood, 58-18, while Constantine survived a late surge from Hart to win, 32-30.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Hudson, Clinton take on MHSAA team wrestling state tournament