Hurons improve to 11-2; Bill Barrett Memorial meet this weekend

After a bit of a lull in the schedule, there will be plenty of competition for the Huron wrestlers in the coming days with the Alpena Quad today and the 7th annual Bill Barrett Memorial Super Duals Saturday at RCHS. Rogers City improved its dual record to 11-2 with a pair of victories on the home mat last Thursday, 72-5 over Newberry and 50-18 against Mio. The Hurons begin action at Alpena against Hale and will later take on the home squad. The match against Alpena should be interesting because many of the wrestlers from both teams know each other from a wrestling camp they attended together in Ohio. Greg Pietsch also was a coach at Alpena, before becoming an assistant in Rogers City. Saturday, the eight schools will be split into two pools.

?RIGHT NOW, us and Whittemore will be heading up the pools,? said head coach Pat Lamb. ?The team that takes first and second will be the only two teams that will be separated. The rest of the teams will be drawn in at the coaches? meeting.? Rogers City claimed the first place trophy in 2006, while W-P took the runner-up trophy. The remaining schools include Charlevoix, Onaway, St. Ignace, Alpena, Oscoda, and Newberry. The coaches? meeting is at 8:30 a.m. with wrestling to begin at 10 a.m. Trophies will be given to the first, second, and third place teams. Medals, with Bill Barrett?s initials engraved on them, will be given to the wrestlers from the first and second place teams. Undefeated wrestlers also will be given a medal. In addition, there will be MVP plaques given to one wrestler from each of the weight classes (lower 103 to 140 and upper 145 to 285).

LAST THURSDAY, double winners against Newberry and Mio included: T. J. Sobeck (103 pounds), Jacob Vogler (112), Michael Vogler (119), Alex Matthews (125), Brent Freel (130), Tharin Wilk (135), Zak McLennan (140), Tyler Schuiteman (152), Jerome Gapczynski (160), and Chase McLennan (215). Winning one match were Dustin Hein (145), Joe Finch (189), and Noah Farmer (285). ?I was really impressed with Dustin Hein at 145. He wrestled a state qualifier,? said Lamb. Other than giving up a three-point move, Hein kept the match close. ?The score would have been much tighter than it was.? Matthews defeated two quality wrestlers and ?has been coming on like gang-busters this year.?

?I am really happy with Zak McLennan. Against Mio, he wore down his opponent. When it was 2-0 heading into the third period, I knew we were in pretty good shape at that point. He wore him out.? With the victory over Newberry it put Zak McLennan?s overall record above .500, which will allow him to be seeded at conference and districts.

WRESTLING NOTES:

? Freel is competing

with a slight shoulder strain and is wearing a shoulder jacket to prevent further injury. It has not happened too often this season, but Freel went the entire six minutes against Aaron Smith of Mio last Thursday. Freel led 3-2 when Smith gave up an escape point in the final 20 seconds. Freel was the aggressor, though, taking a shot at the legs as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The final score was 4-2.

? Coach Lamb expressed his gratitude to assistant coach Greg Pietsch for his help this season. ?He has done a fantastic job,? said Lamb. ?I am sincerely grateful for everything he brings to the program.?

? From the JV ranks, there were six placers last Saturday at the Gaylord JV Tournament. Ben Tulgestke took a first. He was followed by Travis Lafferty, Noah Farmer, and Luke Ryan in second. Taking third were Joe Finch and Jacob Reisener. Mike Mierzwinski, Wade Wilk, and Ryan took matches during SAC action last Thursday at home.

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