Cedar springs youth state placers and coaches. Missing from photo is Veronica Tapia. Visit Cedar Springs Wrestling on Facebook to follow your local youth and high school champions.

Months of hard work and dedication to one of the toughest sports known to man has paid off for Red Hawk youth wrestlers. From March 28 to March 30, over 2,500 wrestlers, ages 4 to 19, competed at the MYWAY State Championships held at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, MI. Cedar Springs Youth Wrestling Club sent a grand total of 17 state qualifiers to compete at the finals. Of those 17 wrestlers, 12 placed in the top 6, further qualifying them to compete at Nationals. Another accomplishment, not held by any other club in the area, is that Cedar Springs crowned a total of four 2014 State Champions this year!

Landon Demorest took on Mason Willis from Jr Marauders in the championship round. Demorest, who had a career record of 1 win and 2 losses against Willis, defeated Willis with a score of 3-2, making him the 2014 State Champion in the 47lb 9/10 division.

Ryan Ringler went undefeated, 4 pins and one decision, on a chart of 30 wrestlers.  Ringler, with a second round pin against runner-up Devin Trevino from Oxford, was crowned State Champion at 158lb in the 11/12 division.

Sisters, Reese and Allexis Gonzales both took State Champion in the first MYWAY Girls State Tournament.  Reese, who weighed in at 92lbs, earned her State Championship title with first round pins against all of her opponents in the 12 and under Heavy Weight division. Allexis, a seventh grader, took State Champion with one pin and two decisions in the 14 and under 122/130 combined weight division, taking championship over 8th grader, Brittney Ratliff from Onsted.

Pistachio Gonzales battled his way back on a chart of 26 wrestlers after suffering a second round loss to state runner-up, Da’Quavon White from Pontiac Huskies. He worked back to take third at 58lb in the 5/6 division!

Tommy Stevens, who wrestled at 58lb in the 7/8 division also worked his back on a 33 person chart. Suffering only one loss, Stevens took third after a 45 second pin against Oxford wrestler, Auggie Anderson.

Cora Gonzales, who competed at 52lb in the Girls 8 and under division, took a very impressive third place finish.  This was her first year wrestling and she plans to continue.

Rounding off the third place finishers, was high schooler, Jordan Ringler. After his initial loss in the second round, Jordan won his next five matches, three pins and two decisions, to take third place against Michael Gibbs from Waterford.

Zoe Gonzales took fourth in the Girls State 12 and under 76lb division.

Veronica Tapia took fifth in the Girls State 8 and under 44lb division.

On a 29 person chart at 63lb in the 9/10 division, Trevor Marsman wrestled his way to a sixth place finish with a total of four wins and two losses.

Aiden Bouwens, who went 4-2 on a 20 person chart, also finished sixth place at 100lb in the 9/10 division.

The Cedar Springs Youth wrestlers did very well during the 2014 season and will continue to excel against some of the toughest wrestlers here in Michigan and the nation because they ARE the toughest. They work hard and are determined to be champions.

Schreiber and Lenardson are named Cedar Springs Athletic Boosters Student Athletes of the Month for March

Kristen Schreiber

Senior Kristen Schreiber was named the March 2014 Student Athlete of the Month for Competitive Cheer. Kristen is wrapping up her high school career in competitive cheer, having been involved all 4 years, as well as participating 2 year in middle school. Kristen has a 3.93 GPA and will be attending Johnson and Wales University in Florida after graduation. Kristen also participates in Red hawk kids club and is a Rocket cheer coach.

Coach Ramirez comments, “Kristen has participated in Competitive cheer for the past 6 years. This year she has grown as a great leader, and advocate for her team. Next fall as she begins her college career pursuing a degree in culinary arts, I know they will be lucky to have such a dedicated hard working young lady to add to their program!”

Kristen is the daughter of Wendy Schreiber and Rob Hilton.

Baren Lenardson

Senior Baren Lenardson was named the March 2014 Student Athlete of the Month for Wrestling. Baren is finishing an impressive career having accumulated an impressive 124 wins. He is a 2 time regional qualifier, and a conference champ. Baren excels in the classroom with a 3.8 GPA. Baren is also a member of the Jazz band. After graduation Baren will attend Michigan Tech to pursue a degree in computer engineering.

Coach Nick Emery says “Baren was the hardest worker in the room, especially in the second half of his senior season! He demonstrated great leadership ability! All while balancing, wrestling, 2 AP classes, and playing trumpet in the band. He ends his CSHS career as one of the most winning wrestlers in school history!”

Baren is the son of Chris Ellis and Rick Lenardson.

Coach Dave Andrus and Blake Peasley stepping off the mat after an undefeated season and becoming a 2014 State Champion.

Last weekend was the final tournament for the West Michigan Pursuit 2014 season, MYWA State Finals. WMP took 15 grapplers to compete and five brought home a coveted All State Title. There were 265 teams and over 2,500 grapplers competing.

“I think there is a time when every coach questions the effect they have on their athletes. It’s moments like these that solidify why we do what we do,” said Owner and Head Coach, Dave Andrus.
Jayden Marcano-Cruz wrestled in the 4/5/6 age group in the 43 lb wt class. He battled six times with four ending in victory. Jayden had 31 kids in his bracket and finished out taking 7th place with a final record of 35-6.

Ty Whalen wrestled in the 11/12 age group in the 60 lb wt class. He had 13 kids in his bracket and finished out taking 6th place with a final record of 19-8.

Luke Egan wrestled in the 4/5/6 age group in the 49 lb wt class. He battled seven times with five ending in victory. Luke had 26 kids in his bracket and finished out taking 5th place with a final record of 55-7.

Brocke Fisher wrestled in the 11/12 age group in the 60 lb wt class. He battled four times with three ending in victory. Brocke had 13 kids in his bracket and finished out taking 3rd place with a final record of 19-7.

Blake Peasley wrestled in the 4/5/6 age group in the 58 lb wt class. Blake is our only West Michigan Pursuit grappler who remained undefeated the entire season. He had 25 kids in his bracket. Going into the Championship match, Blake took on Da’Quavon White from the East Region, who also had an undefeated season. The stakes were high on both sides. During the third period, the score was tied 5-5, and, with three seconds left on the clock, Blake got the last take down, with a final score of 7-5. Blake is a second year wrestler who finished out his season with a record of 33-0. He is our first MYWA State Champion! Congratulations Blake on such a huge accomplishment.
We also had Hannah Pienton who competed in the MYWA All-Girls State Championship. This is Hannah’s first year of wrestling and she joined the sport half way into the season. She battled in the 12 and under age group in the 85 lb wt class and finished in 4th place.

Olivia Male competed in the USAW Women’s Nationals. She competed in the 9/10 age group in the 70 lb wt class and finished in 6th place. What a great accomplishment to be recognized as top 6 in the nation. All of our wrestlers who stepped on the mat this weekend wrestled tough. You truly are The Pursuit of Champions!

On Saturday, March 15 and Sunday March 16, MYWAY Wrestling Western Region held Regional Finals at Kenowa Hills High School. Wrestlers have spent the last four months competing in preparation for the tournament. Competition was fierce as the top wrestlers in the western region came to compete to place top four in their weight classes in order to qualify for the MYWAY State Finals. Twenty three Cedar Springs Youth Wrestlers went to regionals and seventeen of those qualified for State Finals, four whom where Champions!

2014 Western Region Champions are Veronica Tapia at 37lb in the 5/6 age group, Keaton Klaasen at 52lb in the 7/8 age group, Landon Demorest at 47lb in the 9/10 age group, and Ryan Ringler at 158lb in the 11/12 age group.

Second place finishers were Pistachio Gonzales at 58lb in the 5/6 age group, Tommy Stevens at 58lb in the 7/8 age group, Trevor Marsman at 63lb in the 9/10 age group, and Jordan Ringler at 106lb in the 99-98 High School division.

Third place finishers Aiden Bouwens at 100lb in the 9/10 age group, Logan Hull at 85lb in the 11/12 age group and Samuel Couturier at 112lb in the 11/12 age group.

Rounding out the state qualifiers in fourth place were Caleigh Wood at 37lb in the 5/6 age group and Gage Gardner at 145 in the 13-15 age group.

Reese and Tacho Gonzales both fell one win short of qualifying by taking fifth place in their weight classes.

Cedar Springs will also be sending four girls to the MYWAY Girls State Championships,which will be held in conjunction with regular state finals. Allexis, Reese, Cora, and Zoe Gonzales will all be competing in the girls only tournament.

MYWAY State Finals will be held this weekend at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, MI from Friday, March 28 until March Sunday, March 30. Anyone wanting to come out and watch the best wrestling in the state of Michigan can get the full schedule at www.mywaywrestling.com.

Cedar Springs youth wrestlers and coaches would like to thank the Post and its readers for their support by printing and reading the wrestling results each week. It has been a great season, with many more to come.

Lucus Pienton in the 13/14 Open age group in the 130/138 lb wt class

Last weekend was the last tournament before State Finals, which was hosted by Ionia. West Michigan Pursuit brought nine grapplers to compete and eight placed in the top four. The team battled 30 times with 17 ending in victory.

“I admire the kids who did not qualify for State but are still on the pursuit of becoming a Champion,” said Owner and Head Coach, Dave Andrus.”

This week’s placements are as follows:

4th Place Medalists include Hannah Pienton in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 75/80 lb wt class.

3rd Place Medalists include Hunter Chilcote in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 100/105 lb wt class and Gage Bowen in the 7/8 Open age group in the 77 lb wt class.

2nd Place Medalist include Nicholas Bartolo in the 7/8 Novice age group in the 67 lb wt class, Derek Egan in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 85 lb wt class, Lucus Pienton in the 13/14 Open age group in the 130/138 lb wt class and Chase Sarniak in the 4/56 Novice age group in the 46 lb wt class.

Champions are Landon Foss in the 4/5/6 age group in the 46 lb wt class.

Please watch for the State Finals results next week, which will be held at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. Good luck to all of the young grapplers competing next weekend! You truly are The Pursuit of Champions!

This weekend was a big tournament, MYWA Western Regionals, which was hosted by Kenowa Hills. Ages 4-10 competed on Saturday and ages 11-High School competed on Sunday. West Michigan Pursuit brought 18 grapplers to compete on Saturday and 15 on Sunday. Our team battled 112 times with 64 ending in victory. This past weekend, WMP qualified 16 young competitors for the opportunity to earn a coveted spot at the State Finals. Of the 16 that qualified, eight of them were novice wrestlers with two years wrestling experience or less.

This year’s State Finals will be held at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek the weekend of March 28-30. “These next two weeks will be our pursuit for the podium,” said Owner and Head Coach, Dave Andrus.

This week’s placements are as follows:

Fourth place Medalists include Casey Eberspeaker in the 7/8 Open age group in the 61 lb wt class, Caden Peterman in the 9/10 age group in the 59 lb wt class, Zak Schmid in the 11/12 age group in the 119 lb wt class, Jay Smith in the 11/12 age group in the 100 lb wt class and Caleigh Wood in the 4/5/6 age group in the 37 lb wt class.

Third place Medalists include Josh Chilcote in the High School age group in the 288 lb wt class.

Second place Medalists include Cameron Fess in the 11/12 age group in the 85 lb wt class, Landon Foss in the 4/5/6 age group in the 46 lb wt class, Anthony Szubinski, Jr. in the 7/8 age group in the 61 lb wt class, Ty Whalen in the 11/12 age group in the 60 lb wt class and Kamden Witte in the 4/5/6 age group in the 49 lb wt class.

Regional champions are Luke Egan in the 4/5/6 age group in the 49 lb wt class, Brocke Fisher in the 11/12 age group in the 60 lb wt class, Jayden Marcano-Cruz in the 4/5/6 age group in the 43 lb wt class, Jacob Osmolinski in the 11/12 age group in the 85 lb wt class and Blake Peasley in the 4/5/6 age group in the 58 lb wt class. Blake Peasley remains undefeated.

Congratulations to all of our grapplers for stepping out on the mat and working as hard as you do. You truly are The Pursuit of Champions!

On Sunday, March 2, Grand Valley State University hosted one of the last two regular season tournaments at the campus field house. Competition was fierce, as over 600 wrestlers from all over the state of Michigan attended. Seven Red Hawk youth wrestlers brought home medals.

First place finishers were Caleigh Wood at 37lb in the 5/6 age group, Tommy Stevens at 6lb in the 7/8 age group and Allexis Gonzales at 122 pounds in the 13/15 age group.

Second place finishers were Pistachio Gonzales at 55lb in the 5/6 age group and Wyatt Cooper at 82 lbs in the 7/8 age group.

Third place finishers were Carter Falan at 80 lb in the 9/10 age group and Gage Gardner at 145 lb in the 13-15 age group.

On March 9, 10 wrestlers won medals at the last regular season tournament hosted by Cedar’s backyard rivals, Rockford.

First place winners were Veronica Tapia at 37lb in the 5/6 age group, Pistachio Gonzales at 58lb in the 5/6 age group, Tommy Stevens at 58lb in the 7/8 age group and Landon Demorest at 51lb in the 9/10 age group.

Chase Sarniak took second at 46lb in the 5/6 age group.

Third place finishers were Caleigh Wood at 37lb in the 5/6 age, Wyatt Cooper at 82lb in the 7/8 age group, Lane Wiggins-Russo at 112 in the 7/8 age group, Aiden Bowens at 95lb in the 9/10 age group, and Sergei Byxbe in the 110 pound 9/10 age group.

These youth wrestlers spent the last three months conditioning and competing at developmental tournaments in preparation for MYWAY regionals and state finals. Regionals were held March 15-16  at Kenowa Hills. MYWAY state finals will be held at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek,  Michigan on March 28- March 30. Be sure to check next week’s Post to see which of your favorite Red Hawk wrestlers placed at Regionals and will be going to State Finals. Anyone wishing to attend state finals may get information online at www.cedarspringsyouthwrestling.com or www.mywaywrestling.com

On February 27, 2014 Zachary Wamser traveled to the Palace of Auburn Hills to compete in the MHSAA State Finals Wrestling Tournament at the 171 pound weight class.

Wamser began his journey there when he took first at the Conference tournament, moved onto District and was District champ and made his way to regionals along with Jordan Ringler, Baron Lenardson, and Logan McGahn. The four boys wrestled their hardest. Jordan, Baron and Logan came up a little short at Regionals, but Wamser ended up taking 4th place, earning him a ticket to the State tournament.

Wamser did not place at State, “But it was a major accomplishment just to be there,” said Wamser.

Zachary Wamser ended his season with a 26-5 record. “Looking forward to place next year at State as a senior,” says Wamser.

Zachary was also awarded most outstanding wrestler for 2014 from his coach, Nick Emery.

On February 16 and 17, five Red Hawk youth wrestlers and two coaches traveled to Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, to represent Team Michigan, at the 2014 NUWAY Dual National Championships. There were 64 of the toughest teams from all of the U.S., from as far east as Maryland, to as far west as California.

The tournament was held in conjunction with NCAA Division 1 Championship wrestling. The youth competed amongst some of the greatest college wrestlers in the nation and were able to attend the “Mat Mayhem D-1 Championships” upon completion of the NUWAY National Championships.

One of the youngest Hawks, nine-year-old Landon Demorest, wrestled for the MYWAY 10U Red&Black team. Landon, who went 0-8, wrestled his heart out against opponents who were a year or more older than he. His team ended up taking 6th over-all in their division.

Female wrestlers Allexis, Reese and Cora Gonzales, wrestled for the MYWAY Girls 14 and under division under the coaching of Cedar Springs Youth and MYWAY Girls head coach, George Gonzales Sr.  Team Michigan wrestled three weight classes short, giving up a total of 18 points before even stepping on the mat. They wrestled very well, taking runner-up to the full squad, Team Ohio, 42-36 in the finals. Allexis and Reese both went undefeated, 2-0, pinning their opponents. Cora, another young Hawk, went 0-2. Coach Tracie Shore from Ohio told Coach Gonzales he had no doubt that MYWAY would have been the champions if they would have had all of the weight classes.

Undefeated in 2013-14, Ryan Ringler wrestled for the MYWAY 12U Red&Black team under the coaching of Cedar Springs youth and MYWAY boys assistant coach, Paul Ringler.  Suffering his first loss of the season, Ryan went 5-1; losing only his last match of the tournament with a score 3-2 to undefeated wrestler from Illinois, Cory Peterson.  Even though he lost, Ryan wrestled impressively enough to receive the «12U Outstanding Wrestler Award» for having a grand total of 5 pins in a time of 3 mins 36 secs. His victories were essential to his team’s fourth place finish in their division.

Coaches from all over the state of Michigan, as well as all of the other states represented at the tournament, were very impressed and commented on the talent and technique coming out of the little town of Cedar Springs. They said they look forward to watching of all these wrestlers into their future (high school) careers.

Both Coach George and Coach Paul agree. “Watching our kids excel at this level is awesome. The real goal is if we can keep all of our youth wrestling kids competing up into the higher levels, we could have a great Varsity team.”

Corbin Orange in the 11/12 Open age group in the 85 lb wt class

This week’s MYWA Western Region tournament was hosted by Rockford. West Michigan Pursuit brought twenty grapplers to compete, half entering Novice and the other half entering the Open division. Our team battled 59 times with 31 ending in victory. This past weekend placed thirteen of our young competitors in the top 4. “Hard work, dedication and perseverance are things that can’t be taught, but the skills and technique that take those three qualities and maximize them to become a top competitor can be, said Owner and Head Coach, Dave Andrus.” This week’s placements are as follows:

4th Place Medalists include Nicholas Bartolo in the 7/8 Novice age group in the 64 lb wt class, Hannah Pienton in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 80/85 lb wt class and Lucus Pienton in the 13/14 Open age group in the 122/138 lb wt class.

3rd Place Medalists include Hunter Chilcote in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 100 lb wt class, Kaden Schmid in the 9/10 Novice age group in the 71 lb wt class and Maston Wood in the 9/10 Open age group in the 100 lb wt class.

2nd Place Medalist include Derek Egan in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 80/85 lb wt class, and Zak Schmid in 11/12 Open age group in the 119 lb wt class.

CHAMPIONS are Brocke Fisher in the 11/12 Open age group in the 65 lb wt class, Luke Egan in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 49 lb wt class, Jayden Marcano-Cruz in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 43 lb wt class, Corbin Orange in the 11/12 Open age group in the 85 lb wt class and Blake Peasley in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 55/58 lb wt class. Blake Peasley remains undefeated.

Special Recognition to our very own Olivia Male, who competed at an All Girls tournament this past weekend. War of the Roses is a Girls Wrestling Series which aims to create and improve on expanding opportunities in quality girls wrestling. Olivia brought home a Women’s Michigan State Championship Title in her wt class and age division. She brought her A Game and has been invited to participate in a National Competition for girls by the Head Coach of the USA Women’s Wrestling Team. This is a huge honor for a 10 year old girl! While wrestling continues to be a sport that mostly practiced by boys, the opportunities available for girls in wrestling are growing every year. Women’s wrestling is now an official medal sport at the Olympics and there are more girls’ wrestling teams than ever before. If you’re a girl who’s interested in joining a wrestling team, don’t let the outdated ideas of some discourage you. There are many opportunities out there.

Congratulations to all of our grapplers for stepping out on the mat and working as hard as you do. You truly are The Pursuit of Champions!