Livingston County puts 8 wrestlers in state championship matches

Eight Livingston County wrestlers have reached the state championship round in their weight class during the individual finals Friday at Ford Field.

Hartland has four finalists in Division 1, the most in program history and second ever in Livingston County only to Brighton’s six in 2020. Hartland had three finalists in 2006, 2007 and 2013.

Making the finals for the Eagles were freshman Bodie Abbey at 113 pounds, junior Vinnie Abbey at 157, senior Nick Rochowiak at 165 and senior Brayden Bobo at 175.

The other boy from the county to reach the finals is Brighton senior Travis Richardson at 150.

Three girls from county schools are in the finals. Fowlerville sophomore Maggie Buurma (125), Howell senior Brynn Green (155) and Brighton junior Sabrina Nauss (190) made the championship round.

“Very excited about the four,” Hartland coach Kyle Summerfield said. “Honestly, top to bottom, I was hoping for eight placers coming out of the weekend. We’re going to have seven, for sure. I’m very happy about that. I’m very excited for all four in the finals. I truly believe we can win all four of those finals matches. The job’s not done.”

All four Hartland finalists will take on someone they’ve already wrestled this season.

Bodie Abbey will wrestle Clarkston’s Archer Anderson for the third time in the postseason, having won 6-4 in the district semifinals and 15-6 in the regional semifinals. After a tough 3-2 victory over Detroit Catholic Central’s Simon Dominguez in the quarterfinals, Abbey won 8-2 over Conor McAlary of Hudsonville in the semis.

Vinnie Abbey will try to derail Detroit Catholic Central junior Darius Marines’ bid to become a four-time state champion. Marines has two state titles and beat Abbey, 12-3, during the team state championship match. Abbey advanced with a 9-3 victory in the semifinals over Justin Gorman of Grandville.

Rochowiak advanced to the championship match with an 8-4 victory over Catholic Central’s TJ Bunn, a state runner-up last year. Rochowiak will take on another Shamrock in the final, Cameron Adams. Rochowiak beat Adams 13-9 in the team finals.

Bobo is facing a three-time state champion in Davison senior Josh Barr. Bobo lost 20-5 to Barr in the regional championship match. Bobo reached the final with a pin of Clarkston’s Brock Trevino in 5:31.

“At this stage of the game, even though you might have wrestled somebody or beat somebody, anybody can win or any day, especially in the state finals,” Summerfield said. “We’re going to watch some film and come to compete. We’re not satisfied with second.”

Richardson will also take on a formidable opponent in Gilcher, who is also trying to become a four-time state champ. Richardson advanced with a 10-6 semifinal victory over South Lyon’s Luke Weaver.

Buurma and Green each had three pins on their way to the finals, while Nauss had a pin and two technical falls.

Buurma, a returning state champion, will face DeWitt’s Jamie Cook for the sixth time this season, having won all five previous encounters.

Green will meet Caledonia’s Maddie Hayden for the third time after losing 3-0 and 2-0 decisions during the regular season.

Nauss is going for her third state championship, the first being under the umbrella of the Michigan Wrestling Association. She will take on Marcellus junior Gabriella Allen, who was the runner-up at 190 last season when Nauss won at 170.

County wrestlers who didn’t make the finals but are guaranteed to finish in the top six are Hartland’s Dallas Korponic (120) and Gabe Cappellano (150) and Brighton’s Easton Hardesty (126).

Other area wrestlers who will finish at least in the top eight and make the all-state podium are Brighton’s Ethan Smith (106) and Zak Knapp (157), Hartland’s Easton Culver (132) and Howell’s Zac Egan (144).

In Division 2, Fowlerville junior Ben Blyveis (150) and Pinckney senior Brady Raymond (175) are guaranteed no worse than eighth place.

Wrestle-backs will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, with placement matches taking place at 11. The championship matches are scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Livingston County puts 8 wrestlers in state championship matches