Three Livingston County wrestling champs on path to win four titles

Three Livingston County wrestlers who won state titles Saturday are at various stages in their quest to become four-time champions.

Brighton junior Sabrina Nauss has one more to go, Fowlerville sophomore Maggie Buurma is halfway home and Hartland freshman Bodie Abbey is just getting started.

All went into the state individual tournament as No. 1 seeds and all lived up to the billing at Ford Field.

Abbey became the first freshman boy from Livingston County since Fowlerville’s four-time winner Adam Coon in 2010 to win a state championship.

Abbey won the Division 1 113-pound championship with a 13-5 major decision over Clarkston sophomore Archer Anderson, whom Abbey beat in the semifinals of the district and regional individual tournaments.

“The second time I beat him by quite a bit, but it was a good match,” Abbey said. “I knew he was kind of funky, so I had to wrestle smart and wrestle sturdy, and it worked out.”

Abbey finished the season with 33 consecutive victories and a 44-3 record.

“I knew I had the talent, but I took an early loss, so it kind of brought me down a little bit,” he said. “I really improved through the year and got better and beat those kids back. I had a clear mind going into the state finals and was ready to win it.”

Buurma had to beat DeWitt’s Jamie Cook for the sixth time this season to win her second state title. Buurma got the job done with a pin in 2:35.

“She’s just a great competitor and, actually, we’re really good friends,” Buurma said. “It was very nerve-racking, but I felt very much in control.

“I was definitely scared leading up. My warmup partner and I were talking and I was freaking out. She’s like, ‘Dude, you’ve got it. You’re doing OK.’ I was nervous walking out to the mat. As soon as the whistle blew, I just wrestled my match. I went out and did my stuff and I just wrestled.”

Nauss completed an unbeaten season by pinning Marcellus junior Gabriella Allen in 1 minute, 9 seconds.

"Just taking care of business and just want to stick to my basics and make sure nothing happened," Nauss said.

Becoming a four-time state champion next year is "definitely super important for me, definitely one of my goals for next season," she said. "It's definitely something I'll be working toward starting now until the next Ford Field."

Nauss is ranked fourth pound for pound nationally by USA Wrestling and No. 1 at 180 pounds. Her next goal is to qualify for the national under-20 team in about a month.

Five other Livingston County wrestlers who qualified for state championship matches lost.

Brighton senior Travis Richardson lost to Detroit Catholic Central’s Dylan Gilcher 20-4 at 150, Hartland junior Vinnie Abbey lost 11-2 to Catholic Central’s Darius Marines at 157, Hartland senior Nick Rochowiak was pinned in 1:03 by Catholic Central’s Cameron Adams and Hartland senior Brayden Bobo lost 17-5 to Davison’s Josh Barr. Barr and Gilcher are four-time state champs, while Marines is a junior with three titles.

Howell senior Brynn Green lost 7-3 to Caledonia’s Maddie Hayden in the girls 155 title match.

Earning third-place finishes were Hartland’s Dallas Korponic (120) and Easton Culver (132). Hartland’s Gabe Cappellano took fourth at 150.

Brighton’s Ethan Smith (106), Easton Hardesty (126) and Zak Knapp (157) placed fifth. Howell’s Zac Egan was seventh at 144.

In Division 2, Fowlerville’s Ben Blyveis was seventh at 150 and Pinckney’s Brady Raymond was eighth at 175.

Fowlerville’s Hannah Blyveis was sixth in the girls 130 weight class.

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

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Three Livingston County wrestling champs on path to win four titles