Cedar Springs girls varsity basketball ended their season with a loss in a close game in their district, and on their home court against Forest Hills Central on Monday, Feb. 24.

The girls played hard and stayed close for most of the game. Cedar Springs went into half time only trailing by 2 points. Forest Hills Central came out strong and extended their lead in the 2^nd half ending on top with a final score of 45-52.

It was a team effort with all contributing.  Scoring for the Hawks were Brittany Todd, Aubree Mouthaan, Mikenzie Francis, Sam Taylor, Taylor Baker, Sayge Wight and Allison Snavley. Aly Hamiliton grabbed several rebounds and Nikki Matzke and Alysha Chaney chipped in with great defense.

Out with injuries were Mary Monterusso and Jessica Kriekaard, who gave encouragement to all. All in all it was a great effort put out by everyone and it was sad it had to end.

Overall for the season the girls were 6-14, 4-6 in the OK Bronze conference.  Through all the ups and downs the girls played tough and came up just short on several games. Having 9 seniors out of 12 on the team made it very tough for it to come to an end. Playing together for 9 years and knowing that this was the final game they would ever play on their home court at Cedar Springs High School made it even harder. Congratulations on completing the season with a great game.

Brad Brechting going for the shot.

By Kendra Coons 

The boys varsity basketball season has finally come to a close. The Red Hawks took on Sparta, and Forest Hills Northern last week. And on Monday, February 3, the Red Hawks played their first round of Districts against Rockford. Cedar Springs did defeat Sparta 58-42, but unfortunately lost to FHN 58-53 and lost in the first round of Districts against Rockford 59-55. The varsity team ended up 12-9 overall, and 6-4 in conference.

The Sparta game was held on Tuesday, February 25. In the first half, the Spartans scored a total of 24 points, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Red Hawks and they scored a total of 30 points. In the second half, the Spartans scored 18 more points to bring their score to 42. The Red Hawks scored 28 more points making the final score 58-42, with the Red Hawks taking home the win.

“We played a much better second half in which we got back to some things that had been successful for us earlier in the season,” commented head Coach Jeff Patin.

During the Sparta game, sophomore Taylor VanDyke and junior Brad Brechting led the team in total points coming in at 12 each. Senior Mitchell Kooiman also scored for the Red Hawks scoring a total of 8 points for the game. Seniors Aaron Mabie and senior Dakota Bekins also contributed with 5 points.

“It was a good road win for us in the last week of the season,” stated Coach Patin.

On Thursday February 27, the Red Hawks played their last conference game of the season against Forest Hills Northern.

In the first half, the Huskies had a lead of 28-21 over the Red Hawks. In the second half, Cedar Springs tried to fight back and scored 30 more points, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead away from the Huskies, who scored 32 points to take home the win 58-53.

“This game was a physical battle from start to finish. It came down to a couple of possessions and unfortunately we didn’t come out on top,” explained Coach Patin.

Junior Brad Brechting scored a total of 21 points for the Red Hawks. Also scoring for the Red Hawks was senior David Kearney with 6 points, sophomore Taylor VanDyke, senior Cameron Link, and senior Kyler Marble each also scored 5 points.

“In any game you play, you want to give yourself a chance at winning. We had opportunities to win, but it just didn’t work out for us,” said Coach Patin.

Also this week, Monday February 3, the boys had their first round of districts against Rockford. The loss against Rockford concludes the season for the Red Hawks. It was a very close game, but the Red Hawks were defeated 59-55.

In the first half, the Rams of Rockford led Cedar Springs into halftime with the score being 36-25. The Red Hawks came back out after halftime trying to fight back, but came up short, scoring 30 more points while Rockford scored 23. Rockford is now advancing to the second round of Districts.

“We talked before the game about leaving everything out on the court and having no regrets. I feel we did that. We fought hard throughout the whole game and just came up short,” stated Coach Patin.

Junior Brad Brecthing led Cedar Springs in points with a total of 33 for the game. Senior Cameron Link also scored for the Red Hawks with a total of 12 points. Senior Dakota Bekins and senior Austin Hilyer also contributed by Bekins scoring 5 points and Hilyer scoring 4.

The community of Cedar Springs would like to congratulate the boys on such a fantastic season.

“Like almost all seasons, this one had its ups and downs as far as wins and losses. One constant was the effort these 14 guys gave every day. The weather this winter brought its scheduling challenges and really disrupted any type of rhythm we could get into, but it was like that for everybody this year,” stated Coach Patin.

Especially, congratulations to the seniors for all of their hard work they have put into the basketball program for the past 4 years.

Coach Patin concluded, “The hardest part of every season is knowing that you won’t have your seniors anymore. We will be graduating 9 this year, and they will be greatly missed.”

Cedar Springs Youth Wrestlers have been very busy and working hard, wrestling in at least three separate tournaments over the last two weeks. The first two tournaments were both held on February 16, 2104. Half of the team traveled south to wrestle in the Meijer State Games held at the Ford Fieldhouse, downtown Grand Rapids. Champions were Keaton Klaasen at 49lb in the 7/8 division and Gage Gardner at 145lb in the 13-15 division. Lane Wiggins-Russo took second in the 112lb in the 7/8 division.

The other half of the team traveled to the north to wrestle at Tri County High School in Sand Lake. Champions from that tournament were Pistachio Gonzales at 55lb in the 5/6 division, and Trever Marsman at 67lb in the 9/10 division. Second place finishers were Caleigh Wood at 37lb in the 5/6 division, Tacho Gonzales at 67lb in the 9/10 division, and Samuel Couturier at 112 in the 11/12 division. Rounding off the medal winners were third place finishers Chase Sarniak at 46lb and Dominic Vanderhyde at 55lb in the 5/6 division. Carter Falan also took third at 80lb in the 9/10 division.

On February 23, the entire team went to rumble at Sparta High School where they won a grand total of 18 medals!

Medal winners in the 5/6 age group were Veronica Tapia 2nd at 37lb, Caleigh Wood 4th at 37lb, Gavyn Byxbe 4th at 52lb, and Pistachio Gonzales 1st at 61lb. In the 7/8 age group winners were Nehemiah Kaiserlian 2nd at 46lb, Keaton Klaasen 2nd at 49lb, Tommy Stevens 1st at 58lb, Jordan Kaiserlian 2nd at 58lb, JuanAngel Acosta 4th at 72lb, Wyatt Cooper 3rd at 82lb, and Lane Wiggins-Russo 2nd at 112. Winners in the 9/10 age group were Landon Demorest 1st at 55lb, Trever Marsman 2nd at 63lb, Tacho Gonzales 4th at 67lb, and Carter Falan 2nd at 80lb. Medal winners in the 11/12 age group were Reese Gonzales 4th at 95lb and Samuel Couturier 3rd at 112lb. Allexis Gonzales was the lone placer in the 13-15 age group with at 4th place finish at 122/130lb.

Keep your eyes on the Post for more exciting results from your Red Hawk youth wrestlers, including results from the NUWAY National Dual Tournament where five of Cedar Springs own wrestlers represented Team Michigan.

Jayden Marcano-Cruz

This week’s MYWA Western Region tournament was hosted by GVSU. West Michigan Pursuit brought seventeen grapplers to compete, half entering Novice and the other half entering the Open division. Our team battled 61 times with 38 ending in victory. This past weekend placed twelve of our young competitors in the top 4.

“I truly care about each of my wrestlers as individuals and as wrestlers,” said owner and head coach Dave Andrus. “I am honored to be a part of their success in life on and off the mat.”

4th Place Medalists include Nathan Male in the 11/12 Open age group in the 80 lb wt class, and Maston Wood in the 9/10 Open age group in the 100 lb wt class.

3rd Place Medalists include Brocke Fisher in the 11/12 Open age group in the 65 lb wt class, Blake Longcore in the 13/14 Novice age group in the 107 lb wt class, and Lucus Pienton in the 13/14 Open age group in the 130 lb wt class.

2nd Place Medalist include Derek Egan in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 80/85 lb wt class, Luke Egan in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 46 lb wt class, and Cameron Fess in the 11/12 Open age group in the 85 lb wt class.

Champions are Nicholas Bartolo in the 7/8 Novice age group in the 64 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 lb wt class and Jay Smith in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 95 lb wt class. Blake Peasley 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!

Photo by K. Alvesteffer

Cedar Springs boys varsity basketball suffered two tough losses last week. On Tuesday, February 18, the boys took on the Yellow Jackets of Greenville high school. Last time the boys played Greenville the Red Hawks defeated the Yellow Jackets 88-55. This time around, the tables were turned and Greenville took home the win 61-55.

“We didn’t play well defensively for 32 minutes, which is our goal, and that ended up being our eventual downfall,” commented head Coach Jeff Patin.

The lead changed a total of 9 times throughout the game and was tied a total of 6 times. In the first half, Greenville led Cedar Springs 35-32. And then in the second half, Cedar Springs added on 23 more points making their final score 55. But it wasn’t enough because Greenville came back and added on 26 more points making the final score 61-55.

Junior Brad Brechting led the team in total points coming in at 25 for the game. Brechting went 9 for 14 on his shots. Senior Cameron Link also contributed to the Red Hawks score by scoring 9 points for the game, making 2 of 6 on shots. Also scoring for the Red Hawks was senior Austin Hilyer with 6 points, senior Aaron Mabie with 5 points, and sophomore Taylor VanDyke with 4 points.

“Our defensives lapses put more pressure to score on each offensive possession.  We were able to cut our deficit to 2 points on a couple of occasions, but couldn’t get the big stop to get us over the top,” stated Coach Patin.

Also the Red Hawks took on the Wildcats of Northview. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, February 21, but due to the weather the game was moved to Saturday February 22. The first time the Red Hawks played the Wildcats, Northview defeated Cedar Springs 66-49. And the same outcome happened once again with Northview beating Cedar Springs 65-36.

“Northview came out defensively this game and really pressured the ball.  We allowed the pressure to take us out of what we wanted to do offensively,” said Coach Patin.

In the first half, Northview scored a total of 37 points while Cedar Springs scored 21. Then in the second half, Northview took hold of the lead even more by adding 28 more points while Cedar Springs scored 15. Northview took home the win by defeating Cedar Springs 65-36.

“It was disappointing. We didn’t come out and play anywhere near our best.  We have to put it behind us and get ourselves ready for the remainder of the season,” exclaimed Coach Patin.

Senior Cameron Link led the team in points coming in at a total of 14. Link went 3 for 4 on his free throws and had a shooting percentage of 62.5% for the game. Junior Brad Brechting also scored 9 points for the Red Hawks. Brechting went 3 for 5 on his free throws and had a shooting percentage of 42.9%. Also scoring for the Red Hawks was senior Dakota Bekins with 4 points, Mitchell Kooiman with 4 points, and Nate Sorenson with 2 points.

This week the boys varsity basketball team take on their last conference game of the season. On Friday, February 28, the boys go up against Forest Hills Northern. The boys are looking to defeat the Huskies once again. Also, the boys first district game is on Monday, March 3, at Cedar Springs High School against Rockford High School. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. for both games so come on out and support your Red Hawks!

Brocke Fisher

This week’s MYWA Western Region tournament was hosted by Sparta. 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 30 ending in victory. This past weekend placed 14 of our young competitors in the top 4.

“I challenged my kids to beat their personal fastest pin for this season and six rose to the challenge. I now owe six King Sized Candy Bars! These kids have heart and a competitive drive to be the best,” 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 lb wt class and Zak Schmid in 11/12 Open age group in the 112/119 lb wt class.

3rd Place Medalists include Blake Longcore in the 13/14 Novice age group in the 107/114 lb wt class and Kaden Schmid in the 9/10 Novice age group in the 71 lb wt class.

2nd Place Medalist include Derek Egan in the 11/12 Novice age group in the 80/85 lb wt class, Brocke Fisher in the 11/12 Open age group in the 65/70 lb wt class, Lucus Pienton in the 13/14 Open age group in the 122/130 lb wt class, Colton Schmid in the 7/8 Novice age group in the 61 lb wt class and Maston Wood in the 9/10 Open age group in the 95/100 lb wt class.

Champions are Luke Egan in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 49 lb wt class, Cameron Fess in the 11/12 Open age group in the 85 lb wt class, Jayden Marcano-Cruz in the 4/5/6 Novice age group in the 43 lb wt class, Cody McHenry in the 13/14 Novice age group in the 155/170 lb wt class and Blake Peasley in the 4/5/6 Open age group in the 49/52/58 lb wt class. Blake still 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!

We somehow missed Brocke Fisher from last week’s Champions. He also took 1st Place at the Tri County tournament in the 11/12 Open age group in the 65 lb wt class. Way to go!

Event from last December. “We have a great time at Try Hockey for Free!”

On Saturday, March 1 Rams Hockey will host their third Try Hockey for Free event this season. Rams invites boys and girls ages four to nine years old to Cedar Rock Sports Plex for a free clinic to experience ice hockey for the first time and learn the basics of the sport in a fun, safe environment.

The Try Hockey for Free clinic is part of USA Hockey’s seventh annual Hockey Weekend Across America celebration, which runs nationwide Feb. 28- March 2. This program, designed to provide youth hockey associations a national platform to introduce new kids to the sport, is a joint-effort between USA Hockey, the National Hockey League, and NHL member clubs.

“We look forward to introducing new families to our sport,” said Dave Bina, Rams Hockey President. “To help keep costs reasonable for parents, we’ve discounted our introductory programs to provide first-time players with a cost effective way to join us for the weeks after the event and learn even more about the game.”

For this event there will be equipment available for use, and many helpers on hand.  Please join us from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., Saturday, March 1 at Cedar Rock Sports Plex and give hockey a try.  To register for Try Hockey for Free visit www.TryHockeyForFree.com or find more information at www.ramshockey.org

Their first conference championship

The Cedar Springs boys bowling team finished the 2013-2014 OK Bronze conference season with a first place co-champion position with Northview. It’s their first ever conference championship.

The Cedar team consisted of Senior Josh Austin, Juniors Kyle Knarr and Mitchell Johnson, Sophomores Jacob Cartwright, Blake Fisk, Jarod Plank, and Shane Robarts, and Freshmen Trevor Ruark and Dugan Conely. The boys finished a successful season by finishing strong and challenging Northview to the end.

Cedar started the bowling season by winning the pre-season tournament on December 7 at Northfield Lanes. Cedar took the tournament with a total pin count of 2715 followed by Northview with 2684, Forest Hills Northern with a 2628, Forest Hills Eastern with a 2406, and West Catholic with a 2154.

Regular season matches took place and Cedar stayed strong throughout the season with a standing of 6 wins and 2 losses.

“The losses came early on in the season, but the boys rallied together as a team to finish a strong season,” commented Coach Austin. “Each bowler contributed a piece to such a successful season.”

The post-season tournament on February 15 at East Brook Lanes was a close match for the boys as they fought to finish first in their conference. Jacob Cartwright led the Cedar team and finished 5th in the post-season tournament with a 352 series. After 2 games, Cedar was behind Northview by 123 pins. Cedar came back strong in the 6 Baker games, but came up 18 pins short to claim the tournament from Northview.

“The boys struggled in their second game, but rallied back to finish strong with their Baker games,” explained Coach Austin. “I am proud of their accomplishments and personal bests this season.”

Some personal accomplishments this season were Blake Fisk finishing 1st in the Conference with a 208.5 average, Josh Austin finished 4th with a 191.7 average, Trevor Ruark finished 7th with a 182.2 average, and Jacob Cartwright finished 10th with a 175.9 average. Honorable mention for Kyle Knarr for a 166 average.

Congratulations to the Cedar Springs boys bowling team on a successful season.

Red Hawk Austin Hilyer takes the ball down court. Photo by K. Alvesteffer.

By Kendra Coons

The boys varsity basketball team had one tough lineup last week. On Tuesday, February 11, the boys played the Grand Rapids Christian Eagles. The game was a long hard fought battle, but in the end Grand Rapids Christian came out on top 64-56.

In the first quarter, the Red Hawks came out scoring fast and put a total of 15 points on the scoreboard. Grand Rapids Christian wasn’t far behind them coming in at 12. Going into the second quarter GRC came back and put up a total of 17 while Cedar Springs put up 7. The Eagles went into halftime with the lead 29-22 over the Red Hawks. Cedar Springs came back out after halftime and put up another 17 points. This wasn’t enough to take back the lead though. The Eagles scored a total of 14 points in the third quarter making the score 43-39 in favor of GRC. Then came the fourth quarter and Cedar Springs put up another 17 points, but GRC came back with 21, giving the Eagles the win 64-56.  The game had a total of 3 lead changes throughout and was tied twice, but in the end GRC came out on top.

“This was the second of back-to-back games and it was against a quality opponent.  We knew it was going to be a battle,” commented Head Coach Jeff Patin.

Cedar Spring’s players senior Cameron Link, junior Brad Brechting, senior Aaron Mabie and senior Kyler Marble were all big scorers for the Red Hawks. Link led the team in points coming in at a total of 14. Brechting wasn’t far behind him with 11 and Mabie and Marble both came in at a total of 8 points. Cedar Springs went a total of 23/48 on their field goals and had a shooting percentage of 47.9 percent.

“We gave a great effort throughout the game. Christian is a very athletic team, and we were able hang with them,” stated Coach Patin.

Also this week the boys varsity basketball team took on the Falcons of West Catholic for a second time this season. The first time the boys played them the Red Hawks fell to the Falcons 43-46. This time around on Friday, February 14 Cedar Springs returned the favor and defeated West Catholic 56-45, bringing home a great Valentine’s Day present to all Red Hawks!

In the first quarter, the Red Hawks were up 19-14. In the second quarter, West Catholic came back and scored 7 more points. The 7 points still wasn’t enough to take the lead though because the Red Hawks put up 11 keeping the lead going into halftime, 30-21. The Falcons came back fighting hard after halftime and scored 13 points in the third quarter while Cedar Springs scored 9. The Red Hawks still had the lead though at 39-34. In the fourth quarter West Catholic scored 11 points and Cedar Springs came in and finished strong putting up 17 more points to take home the win, 56-45.

“The first time we played West, we felt we let one get away from us. This time, at their place, we knew we had to play a complete game to stay in the hunt for the conference championship,” said Coach Patin.

The Red Hawks fought exceptionally hard for this game. Junior Brad Brechting and Seniors Cameron Link, Aaron Mabie and Kyler Marble played a huge role in the win for Cedar Springs.

“Cam Link led us with 23 points.  Brad Brechting had 15 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 blocks. In the fourth quarter we had a big 3-pointer by Aaron Mabie and two big defensive plays (a blocked shot and a charge) by Kyler Marble,” remarked Coach Patin.

The boys varsity basketball team’s record is now 11-5 overall and 6-1 in conference. The boy’s next game is Friday, February 21 at Northview. Tip-off is at 7:30 PM. This game is expected to be a very great match-up. So come on out and support your Red Hawks!

Cedar Springs youth wrestlers have never been know to run away from competition. So when Alma announced its Monster Trophy Tournament held on February 9, the Hawks were all in. Twenty of Cedar’s talented wrestlers attended the tournament, where almost 500 of Michigan’s toughest wrestlers went to win the coveted “Monster Trophies.” Each wrestler battled through some of the toughest charts of the year, with up to 13 wrestlers on a single chart. Although they all fought tough, only seven of them were able to bring back trophies and three were champions!

Two of the champions were in the 5/6 year division. They were Veronica Tapia at 37lbs and Pistachio Gonzales at 58lbs. The only other champion was Trevor Marsman in the 9/10 year division at 63lbs.

Second place finishers were 7/8 year Keaton Klaasen at 49lbs and Tommy

Stevens at 58lbs. Rounding off the results with fourth place finishes were Cora Gonzales in the 7/8 division at 52lbs and Logan Hull in the 11/12 division at 90lbs.

Even though the other Cedar wrestlers went home empty handed, they did it with heads held high. Most of the wrestlers who went home from Alma with trophies were those who are expected to dominate MYWAY State Finals coming up at the end of March.

“Winning isn’t always everything. It is the lessons we learn in losing that make us better wrestlers and coaches,” said Coach George Gonzales. “You need to learn how to be a good loser, to be a good winner.”