Three Huron grapplers qualify for state finals
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer Seniors Greg Tulgestke and Keegan Urban along with sophomore Evan Lamb have punched their ticket to the individual state wrestling finals March 3-5 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Rogers City hosted the individual regional tournament Saturday with wrestlers looking to finish in the top four to qualify for the meet while some athletes saw their seasons or careers come to an end. ?Let?s just go down there and have fun and place. That is the way we have to look at it. We need to work hard these next 10 days and get ready for battle. Each match, each point down there is a battle. We?ve got to go down there with the mentality that we are going to wrestle the very best that we can at all times and we have to maintain focus and intensity and good things will happen,? said coach Pat Lamb.
Lamb will be making his second consecutive appearance in the finals after taking third at 125 pounds. Lamb defeated Mio?s D.J. Burden 7-5 in overtime before falling to Pine River?s Abel Langworthy 5-3. Lamb then defeated senior teammate Travis Fleis 7-2 to ensure a spot in the finals. Lamb then again defeated Burden, this time 9-5 to take third. In making a return trip to the finals Lamb will look to again find himself on the medal stand as he placed sixth as a freshman. Lamb is now 50-3 on the season and has 99 career wins. When he steps on the mat at the finals he will be looking for win 100. ?Evan came back strong. It?s a shame he had to face his own teammate, one going on and one staying home. That is really a shame, I would have rather had them see each other in the finals. Evan had to beat the same wrestler twice in one day, and that isn?t easy to do,? said coach Lamb.
Urban will be making his first trip to the finals after taking fourth at 135 pounds. Urban lost to Cameron Longstreth of Clare 8-1 before battling back with a 7-5 overtime win over Pine River?s Mitch Kelsey and a thrilling 3-1 victory over Hesperia?s Cody Wiseman to punch his ticket. In the match for third place Urban again faced Longstreth and fell 21-3. The trip to state is one Urban has been working for his entire career. The last two seasons he was virtually seconds away from earning a spot in the finals, and now has finally accomplished that goal. Urban is now 43-8 on the season.
?It was Keegan?s turn this time. After not being able to make it the last couple of years in the blood round he pulled off, I don?t know if I would call it an upset, but I would call it a very well wrestled match to score a takedown right at the end to send him into the state finals. I am very proud of him for sticking through it, and staying mentally tough through the whole match,? said coach Lamb. Tulgestke, who just missed the finals a year ago qualified as he finished fourth at 140 pounds. Tulgestke defeated Manton?s Scot Babb 14-6 before losing a close 7-6 match to eventual regional champion Scotty Jordan of Farwell. Tulgeske then battled back with a 9-5 win over Saginaw Nouvel?s Jesse Vaszuez. In the match for third place Tulgeske fell to Babb 10-5 to take fourth.
Tulgestke is now 46-7 on the season and will battle at the state finals in two weeks. ?Going to state is gravy for Greg. Being able to wrestle healthy all year and have the type of year that he has had, this is the icing on the cake for him,? said coach Lamb. Tulgestke has been battling a knee injury and will have surgery at the conclusion of the season. FOUR OTHER Hurons participated in the regional tournament after finishing in the top four at districts a week ago. Fleis lost his first match 2-0 before facing his sophomore teammate in Lamb and being knocked out of the tournament. Fleis finished the season with a 34-15 record and is a member of the century club as his career record was 119-79.
Senior Daniel Marx lost his first match by pin before rallying to a 14-4 victory in his second match. In the match he needed to win to stamp his ticket to state Marx fell 2-0 to end his season at 35-17 his career record ends at 85-63. Junior Joe Sobeck, a two time state qualifier was not able to make it out of regionals this time as he fell 9-3 before a 12-0 win followed by a tight 2-1 loss to end his season at 43-8. Freshman Andrew Selke lost his first match 14-3 before earning a pin i
?The wrestlers that lost all lost in the blood round too, so we were right there with all seven of our kids. As a coach I am really second guessing my willingness to host individual regionals. We, the coaches, spend countless hours up here trying to get ready for the tournament and I think sometimes we overlook our wrestlers a little bit. I really feel bad about that, I don?t think I had them totally mentally prepared for what they faced Saturday,? said coach Lamb.
Following a girls? basketball game at home Friday night the wrestlers and coaches spent a couple hours setting up the mats, the score tables, the chairs and all the things that needed to be ready for Saturday morning. All in all it was a great day of wrestling and coach Lamb heard a lot of compliments on how well the tournament ran.