Four Hurons move on to state finals

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

Two freshman, a sophomore and a junior will travel to the Palace of Auburn Hills March 4-6 to compete in the individual state finals wrestling tournament after finishing in the top four at regionals Saturday held in Rogers City. Junior Devin Pommerenke (285) will look to defend his state title from a year ago. Devin Pommerenke placed first at regionals to improve to 55-0 on the season. Devin defeated Zeon Turner of Farwell by pin in 19 seconds, pinned Jeremy Quezada of Blanchard Montabella in 2:23 and pinned No. 2 ranked Cody Wolever of Hesperia in 2:47 to capture the regional title.

Devin Pommerenke has now won 114 consecutive matches, has a career record of 167-11 and is ninth in all-time career wins as a junior. He will be making his third appearance at the finals in three years. Sophomore Joey Sobeck (112) is making his second consecutive state finals appearance after taking second at regionals. Sobeck defeated Adam Taggart of Mio 6-0 then defeated No. 3 ranked Alex Rodriguez of Hart 7-6 before falling to eighth ranked Cameron Jones of Iron Mountain 5-0 in the finals.

Sobeck is now 43-13 on the season and will look to earn a place on the medal podium at the Palace. Freshman Evan Lamb (125) placed third at regionals. Lamb fell to Jordan Lippert of St. Louis 6-0 before battling back through the losers bracket to place third. Lamb defeated Tommy McDade of Onaway by pin in 2:24 then defeated Chase Gendron of Iron Mountain 4-0 and Abel Langworthy of Pine River 3-0 to place third. Lamb is now 46-9 on the season.

Freshman Caleb Pommerenke (189) younger brother of Devin Pommerenke placed fourth at regionals to qualify for a trip to the Palace. Caleb fell to Dillon Sibley of Hesperia in 1:51 before defeating T.J. Cotter of Munising by technical fall, 16-0 in 2:40. In his match to get into the top four Caleb was down 5-1 to Travis Barton of St. Louis before rallying to win 7-6 and stamp his ticket to the state finals. In the match for third place Caleb Pommerenke again faced Sibley of Hesperia falling 5-1. Caleb Pommerenke is now 35-15 on the season.

Six other Huron wrestlers competed in the individual regional tournament. Keegan Urban (130), Greg Tulgestke (140) and Ben Tulgestke (160) were each one win away from a trip to the finals. ?The individual regionals are like a rollercoaster ride for a coach?s emotions, a wrestlers emotions and a wrestlers families emotions. It is so great when you get kids qualifying and then you have someone else that doesn?t qualify and it is heartbreaking,? said head coach Pat Lamb. Urban, a junior, fell to Jake Faber of Blanchard Montabella 2-1 before defeating teammate Blaise Ryan in 1:54. Urban then fell to Dylan Carr of Iron Mountain 4-2 to end his season with a 43-14 record.

Junior Greg Tulgestke fell to Scotty Jordan of Farwell by pin in 3:59 before defeating Tyler Dumas of Newberry. Greg Tulgestke then fell to Tyler Watson of Pine River 4-0 ending his injury shortened season with a record of 16-9. Senior Ben Tulgestke finished his season at 38-19. Ben fell to Solomon Kerkulah of St. Louis 11-3 before defeating Brandon Bordeaux of Hesperia 4-3. In his match to qualify for the state finals he would find himself leading late in the match before Stephen Thome of Hesperia scored a reversal and near fall points to win the match 8-4.

?Our boys wrestled hard, they wrestled determined and we put on a good show. It is so tough to talk to a young man after his dreams and hopes are dashed but at the same time it gives them something to shoot for in the future as long as they aren?t a senior. Now in Ben?s case, the hardest thing you ever have to do is say goodbye. We aren?t really saying goodbye but you know you?re never going to see him wrestle on mat in competition again,? said coach Lamb.

Also competing and going 0-2 on the day were junior Travis Fleis (119), sophomore Ryan (130) and junior Daniel Marx (135). Sophomore Alex Bidlake (103) qualified for the regional tournament but was unable to compete, as he did not make weight Saturday

morning. ?To take four guys down to the state finals is great, I would rather have had 10 or 11 but whatever you can get through is icing on the cake. I know these four kids are going to go down there and give it their all. I had nothing but compliments on how well the tournament ran and our fans. We had several compliments on our fans being very supportive of the team, very knowledgeable of the sport and very sportsmanslike. It has just been a fantastic year for Rogers City wrestling. I can?t say enough about our parents and all the people who follow our team. Its been a wonderful experience,? said coach Lamb.

WEDNESDAY THE HURONS traveled to Manistique to compete in team regionals. The Hurons were up against the Iron Mountain Mountaineers in the semifinals and fell 36-24. Winning for the Hurons were Greg Tulgestke (140), Marx (145), Jacob Reisener (189), Caleb Pommerenke (215), Devin Pommerenke (285) and Fleis (119).