Two place at challenging tournament

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

The Huron varsity wrestling team traveled to the New Lothrop Invitational Saturday and faced some tough competition. Seventeen teams featuring nineteen state champions met on the mats. Of those teams seven of them are ranked in the top ten in their division.

Hesperia, ranked number one in Division 4 would win the match with 181 team points followed by Lowell ranked number two in Division 2. Other ranked teams competing were Addison (#4 Division 4), Durand (#9 Division 3), Montrose (#6 Division 4), St. Johns (#6 Division 2) and Corunna (#3, Division 3).

Eight Hurons would make the trip to New Lothrop and only two would place as sophomore Devin Pommerenke took a first and freshman Joey Sobeck took second. Pommerenke (285) entered the tournament as the number-one seed and quickly showed why, pinning Kevin Miller of Addison in 1:32 and Conor Kruse of Lowell in 3:05 setting up a finals match against Tyler Millerov of Caro.

In the finals Pommerenke again wasted no time pinning his opponent in 1:17 to win the title. Pommerenke?s record now stands at 30-0 with 26 pins. His three other wins have come via the void.

?I have a heavyweight who has 26 pins on the season and four forfeits for a 30-0 record against quality competition. He is just dominating, his performance and preparation both physical and mental is top notch. I am pleased as punch with his efforts, he is a pleasure to be around. He is by far the hardest working heavyweight I have ever seen. What sets Devin apart from others who have success as individuals is that he is the consummate team wrestler. He worries about the team constantly. He is only a sophomore, most kids in his spot are overwhelmed with what they are doing but he constantly puts his team first,? said coach Pat Lamb.

Freshman Joey Sobeck also entered the tournament as the number-one seed at 103 pounds. Sobeck would defeat Cody Hall of Caro by pin in 1:26 and Matt McNeill of Corunna by pin in 1:57 setting up a finals match against Shawn Rosencrans of number-one ranked Hesperia.

In the finals Sobeck would battle with Rosencrans but when the final bell sounded would lose the match by a score of 7-5. Sobecks record now stands at 27-3.

?Joey lost a tight match on what I consider a controversial near fall call. It was a close match and could have gone either way. The first takedown is paramount in a match like that, and we didn?t get that first takedown. Joey will see him again at Regionals, which will be very tough at 103 pounds,? said coach Lamb.

The only other Huron to earn a win at New Lothrop was Jacob Reisener at 160 pounds defeating Billy Gielda of Birch Run 15-5 in the first round of the consolation bracket. Other Hurons wrestling at New Lothrop were Travis Fleis (112), Travis Lafferty (119), Cameron Wilk (125), Greg Tulgestke (130) and Ben Tulgestke (152).

?In my opinion this tournament is one of the toughest tournaments in the state. It is important for us to attend these tournaments to gain recognition for our wrestlers and have the younger wrestlers see what it takes to get to that level of competition. We had two placers and one other win, not exactly the way we wanted it to go, but I hope the young men learned something by having the experience,? said coach Lamb.

LAST WEDNESDAY the Hurons traveled to Mio for a tri-meet with Whittemore-P

rescott and Mio. The Hurons defeated Whittemore 51-24 but then fell to Mio 48-32 to bring their season record to 12-9. Double winners for the Hurons were Sobeck (103), Lafferty (112), Greg Tulgestke (130), Ben Tulgestke (152), Reisener (160) and Pommerenke (285). Winning one match were Fleis (112), Wilk (125) and Mike Pacella (189/215).

?We had a hard-nosed brawl with Whittemore and wrestled very tough and then turned around and went soft against Mio and they took it to us. That is a sign of our inconsistency which we can overcome and will by the end of the year once we can get healthy,? said coach Lamb.

The Hurons are off until January 21 when they host a Straits Area Conference Quad Meet beginning at 6 p.m.

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