Ty Whalen

The West Michigan Pursuit team brought 22 grapplers to compete this past weekend. Pursuit entered 20 grapplers to battle at Fruitport and two battled at Alma. Fruitport offered Novice and Open Divisions and the Alma tournament is an Open Tournament that appealed to the more seasoned wrestlers with trophy awards being offered. The team battled 71 times with 35 ending in victory and 18 grapplers placing in the top 4.

“I am very impressed with the performance consistency of these kids and how hard they work to continuously improve,” said Owner and Head Coach Dave Andrus.

This week’s placements are as follows:

4th Place Medalists include Hunter Chilcote in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 95/100 lb wt class, Austin Ortowski (06/05 Open) in the 97/112 lb wt class, Kaden Ortowski in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 46 lb wt class, Lucus Pienton in the 13/14 Open age group in the 122/130 lb wt class, Kaden Schmid in the 9/10 Novice age group in the 71 lb wt class and Zak Schmid in 11/12 Open age group in the 112/119 lb wt class.

3rd Place Medalists include Nathan Male in the 11/12 Open age group in the 80 lb wt class, Olivia Male in the 9/10 Open age group in the 71 lb wt class, Hannah Pienton in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 80 lb wt class and Maston Wood in the 9/10 Open age group in the 100 lb wt class. *Hannah’s first competition!

2nd Place Medalist include Casey Chlebek in the 7/8 Open age group in the 58 lb wt class, Derek Egan in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 85/90 lb wt class, Corbin Orange in the 11/12 Open age group in the 85 lb wt class and Jay Smith in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 95/100 lb wt class.

Champions are Luke Egan in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 46 lb wt class, Jayden Marcano-Cruz in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 43 lb wt class, Blake Peasley in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 58/64 lb wt class and Ty Whalen in the 11/12 Open age group in the 60/65 lb wt class.

Special recognition still applies to Blake Peasley, who remains undefeated. Congratulations to all of you grapplers for stepping out on the mat and working as hard as you do. You truly are The Pursuit of Champions!

If you are interested in learning more about wrestling, feel free to check out West Michigan Pursuit. We are located in the Cedar Springs Sports Plex and practices are on Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 p.m.—8:00 p.m.