The Red Hawk Varsity Wrestling team made its way to Comstock, Mich. for an individual tournament. The Cedar Springs team went head to head with opponents from 12 Michigan schools that traveled from all borders of the lower Peninsula including Petoskey and Eau Claire.
The double elimination tournament saw 9 of the 14 Red Hawks move on within the championship bracket. Senior Ricardo Rios pinned his opponent early in the first period assisting the Hawks in earning 75 team points to put them in first place going into the championship rounds.
Seven Hawk wrestlers medaled at the tournament. Senior Scott Vodry (160 lb) and Junior Nic Baird (103 lb) went undefeated to earn 1st place in their weight class.
Seniors Jeremy Stellema (171 lb) and Kirk Moore (119 lb), Junior Jake Marsman (145 lb) and Sophomore Aaron Brooks (112 lb) all placed 3rd and Junior Joe Simon (285 lb) placed 4th.
BELDING
The Red Hawk wrestlers started off 2010 with a 2nd place team victory on Saturday, January 2.
Individual wrestlers took to the mat in a double elimination tournament and earned enough team points to take second trailing only to Hastings and defeating seven other teams.
The day started out strong with eight Red Hawk wrestlers dominating their opponents in the first round and the wins stacked up taller in the second round with another 10 Hawks earning falls. One of the highlighted matches involved Sophomore Matt Patin (130 lb) as he ended the first period down 0-2. As the battle ensued he struggled to stay off the mat and was down 0-8 toward the end of the third period. With just seconds left in the match the tables turned and Patin pinned his opponent to win and move into the final rounds.
Kirk Moore (119 lb) controlled his match against Greenville with a takedown in the first period for a score of 2-0. An escape and takedown during the 2nd round brought the score to 5 -0. His opponent earned one escape point during round three, but Moore shot in for the final takedown and won the match 7-1 to take 1st place in the tournament for the 119 lb class.
Scott Vodry (160 lb) and Nic Baird (103 lb) also took 1st place at the event.
Baird went against Hastings and dominated the first period with a score 8-0 and won by fall midway thru the third period. Vodry kept the pressure on throughout his match against Hastings and did not allow his opponent to earn any points keeping the final score 10-0 and to go undefeated for the day.
Austin Wamser (145 lb) took to the mat against Belding in a tough match that went into overtime with a score of 9-9. Wamser swept in and generated a takedown within the first 13 seconds of the sudden death round bringing the score to 11-9 to win the bout and earn the 1st place medal.
Other Red Hawk wrestlers that medaled during the tournament were Jeremy Stellema (171 lb) and Joe Simon (285 lb) placing 2nd , and Matt Patin (135lb), Ricardo Rios (140 lb) and Jake Marsman (145 lb) placing 4th in their weight class.
The Hawks were scheduled to take to the mat at home on Wednesday January 6 against Sparta and Belding. They travel to Shepard for a tournament on Saturday January 12. Congratulations to the Red Hawk Varsity team for a successful start to the 2009/2010 season.
