Prep roundup: Hartland now owns longest run of regional wrestling titles
Hartland affirmed its status as one of the top wrestling programs in Michigan Wednesday, winning a 23rd consecutive regional championship with a 55-22 victory over 10th-ranked Clarkston.
But the Eagles didn’t come into the season on a mission to add more regional hardware to their trophy case.
The only thing that will satisfy Hartland is bringing home the big trophy from the state Division 1 team finals.
Winning another regional was just a necessary step in that process.
Hartland is now one of eight remaining Division 1 teams who will wrestle in quarterfinals at 2:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23 at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.
“The kids don’t want to break that streak,” Hartland coach Kyle Summerfield said. “To be honest, I don’t think any of our kids now are conscious of it. Just having Hartland in the top eight is not enough. Our goal as a program is state championship or bust. That’s kind of our motto now.”
The Eagles now own the longest current streak of regional championships in Michigan after unranked New Lothrop lost 42-25 to sixth-ranked Manchester in a Division 4 regional semifinal Wednesday at Memphis. New Lothrop had a run of 23 straight regional titles snapped.
RELATED: Ranked Brighton wrestler avenges loss, punches Bulldogs' ticket to team finals
Division 3 power Dundee is second to Hartland with 22 regional championships in a row.
In the victory over Clarkston, unranked Michael Cappellano pinned Nathaniel Carter, the third-ranked 132-pounder in Division 1 in a match at 144.
Unbeaten sophomore Bodie Abbey pinned Clarkston junior Archer Anderson in a rematch of last year’s 113 state final won by Abbey.
“Our kids showed up and performed well,” Summerfield said. “We ended up wrestling two JV kids in the last two matches. We were up 55-10.”
Hartland beat West Bloomfield, 71-6, in the semifinals.
The Eagles, the state runners-up last season, are expected to get the No. 2 seed behind Detroit Catholic Central when the quarterfinal draw is announced Sunday.
Skiing
Division 1, Region 3 meet
Brighton’s girls won their third straight regional championship, scoring 82.5 points to beat runner-up Milford by 44.5 at Alpine Valley. Lakeland took the third and final state-qualifying spot with 114 points.
Hartland was in contention after the morning slalom runs, sitting in third place with 77 points, but scored 156 in giant slalom to finish seventh.
Brighton freshman Payton Wedekemper won giant slalom and took eighth in slalom. Abby Storch was seventh in both events, while Vivian Flynn was ninth in giant slalom for the Bulldogs.
Hartland’s Sophia Juviler qualified individually for the state meet Feb. 26 at Boyne Highlands by placing 10th in slalom.
In the boys meet, Brighton’s run of 11 consecutive state appearances and four regional championships ended with a fourth-place finish. Northville won with 75 points, Milford scored 90, Detroit Catholic Central 120, Brighton 156 and Hartland 193. Howell was ninth with 338.
The Bulldogs had the top skier in the meet, however, as junior John Popov swept the slalom and giant slalom championships. He won slalom by 2.63 seconds. Howell’s Alex Cotton was second in both events.
Brighton’s Erik DeKeyser also qualified individually in both events, placing ninth in slalom and 10th in giant slalom. Hartland’s Wyatt Colliton qualified with an 11th-place finish in giant slalom.
Hockey
Brighton 3, Birmingham Brother Rice 1
Ryan Watkins, Charlie Burchfield and Eddie Wheeler scored during a 7-minute, 39-second span of the second period for Brighton against the defending state Division 2 champion.
Levi Pennala stopped 20 of 21 shots, losing the shutout with 1:25 remaining.
Hartland 4, Powers Catholic 1
Michael Zielinski, Todd Halonen, LJ Sabala and Gavin Mitchell scored for Hartland against the defending state Division 3 champion.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland now owns longest run of regional wrestling titles
