West Michigan Pursuit  wrestlers continue to surge forward, as evidenced by their performance at the Cedar Springs open tournament held this past Sunday. “We entered 15 wrestlers and 10 came home with medals. I am very excited at the progress our kids are making every week,” says Pursuit owner Dave Andrus. “This tournament was very tough with 539 wrestlers. Everyone battled and made me proud of what we do.”
While most wrestling clubs operate “on season” only, WMP is unique in that many of its wrestlers train twice weekly year round.  With a recent move to a larger facility just 5 miles south of their previous location, membership continues to grow, drawing young wrestlers from 7 area school districts, including Cedar Springs.  With the local tournament behind them, they are preparing to travel to Hart next weekend for their annual Hart Attackers Tournament.  At this point in the season, wrestlers will compete every Sunday until regional tournaments begin the weekend of March 10th.  MYWA Individual State Championships will be held at Kellogg Arena the weekend of March 23.

The 2012 Youth Wrestling season has officially begun and Cedar Springs wrestlers are tearing up the mat once again. One week before Christmas, Northview hosted their annual Novice and Open tournaments. Cedar Springs had numerous wrestlers in both divisions. In the Novice division, Tacho Gonzales took 1st and Ronnie Brown took 2nd in the 7/8 age group. Kaleigh Hull took 3rd in the 9/10 age group. Tylor Carter took 1st in the 13-15 age group.
In the Open Divison, placers in the 7/8 age group were Landon Demorest 1st, Trevor Marsman 3rd and Aiden Bouwens 3rd. In the 9/10 age group placers were Trenton Snoeyink 1st, Logan Hull 2nd and Ryan Ringler 1st.  In the 11/12 age group were Allexis Gonzales 2nd and George Gonzales Jr. 1st. Jordan Ringler took 1st in the 13-15 age group.
After a two-week break, wrestlers were at it again in Belding and Battle Creek.  January 8, 2012 Belding hosted a Novice only meet. In the 5/6 age group, Chase Sarniak took 3rd, Jonathan Lizardo took 1st and Gavyn Bxybe took 4th. In the 7/8 age group, Trevor Marsman took 1st and Ronnie Brown took 3rd. Samuel Couturier took 2nd in the 9/10 age group. In Battle Creek, wrestlers battled for the coveted title of Champion at the Annual Spartan Country Tournament. Ryan Ringler was the lone Champion this year, taking first in the 9/10 age group.  Coming up short of a championship by a narrow margin, Landon Demorest, George Gonzales Jr. and Jordan Ringler all took 2nd in their age groups. Cedar wrestler, Aiden Bouwens travelled alone to Grand Ledge and took 4th in his age group. It looks to be another good year of wrestling for the Cedar Springs youth.  Look in next week’s Post for the results of the Cedar Springs Tournament.Youth wrestlers place in tournaments
The 2012 Youth Wrestling season has officially begun and Cedar Springs wrestlers are tearing up the mat once again. One week before Christmas, Northview hosted their annual Novice and Open tournaments. Cedar Springs had numerous wrestlers in both divisions. In the Novice division, Tacho Gonzales took 1st and Ronnie Brown took 2nd in the 7/8 age group. Kaleigh Hull took 3rd in the 9/10 age group. Tylor Carter took 1st in the 13-15 age group.
In the Open Divison, placers in the 7/8 age group were Landon Demorest 1st, Trevor Marsman 3rd and Aiden Bouwens 3rd. In the 9/10 age group placers were Trenton Snoeyink 1st, Logan Hull 2nd and Ryan Ringler 1st.  In the 11/12 age group were Allexis Gonzales 2nd and George Gonzales Jr. 1st. Jordan Ringler took 1st in the 13-15 age group.
After a two-week break, wrestlers were at it again in Belding and Battle Creek.  January 8, 2012 Belding hosted a Novice only meet. In the 5/6 age group, Chase Sarniak took 3rd, Jonathan Lizardo took 1st and Gavyn Bxybe took 4th. In the 7/8 age group, Trevor Marsman took 1st and Ronnie Brown took 3rd. Samuel Couturier took 2nd in the 9/10 age group. In Battle Creek, wrestlers battled for the coveted title of Champion at the Annual Spartan Country Tournament. Ryan Ringler was the lone Champion this year, taking first in the 9/10 age group.  Coming up short of a championship by a narrow margin, Landon Demorest, George Gonzales Jr. and Jordan Ringler all took 2nd in their age groups. Cedar wrestler, Aiden Bouwens travelled alone to Grand Ledge and took 4th in his age group. It looks to be another good year of wrestling for the Cedar Springs youth.  Look in next week’s Post for the results of the Cedar Springs Tournament.

Tiffany Karger led scoring for the Red Hawks with 14 points.

Cedar Springs posted their third conference win last Friday night, January 6, with a hard fought victory over the Huskies of Forest Hills Northern High School, 45-41.  The win keeps them atop the OK Blue conference tied with West Catholic at 3-0.
The Huskies got out to an early lead in the first few minutes of the game, as both teams played hard aggressive defense. Cedar came back in the later minutes of the first quarter to trail by one point 11-10.
Cedar turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter holding FHN to only six points, while getting a big three-pointer from Molly Holtrop and an old fashion three from Tiffany Karger.  Cedar went into the halftime break leading 23-17.
The Lady Red Hawks continued the good defense that has been their hallmark so far this season. Coach Scott Taylor commented that the team’s main focus this year has been their defense and their defensive intensity. “We will continue to work hard on the defensive end in practice and bring that to game,” he said.
Cedar was able to stretch their lead to as many as 13 points at one point in the second half, but the Huskies were not finished. FHN turned up their defensive efforts, which led to some quick steals and lay-ups in the fourth quarter. Northern got to within three points in the waning minutes but clutch free-throw shooting forced FHN to foul and pulled out the victory for Cedar.
Karger led the way scoring 14 for the Red Hawks, followed by Chaya Coxon with 10. Rachael Ludtke scored 8 points with 13 rebounds, Holtrop had 5, Brittany Todd 4, Hannah Wight 2, and Allie Veltkamp got 2 on free throws at crunch time.
The varsity is off until Friday the 13th when they travel to Comstock Park to face the Panthers.

The Varsity boys basketball team dropped a home contest to Forest Hills Northern last Friday, January 6.
The Red Hawks were very slow to start, allowing the Huskies to start the game on a 12-0 run. Brandon Slater provided some great energy off the bench and the Red Hawks scratched their way back into the game at 16-12 halfway through the second quarter. However, the Huskies, behind star guard Michael McLaughlin’s 15 first half points, finished the half on an 8-0 run to lead 24-12 at the half. The Red Hawks could not cut the lead any closer than 12 in the 2nd half and the Huskies finished with a 54-32 win.
Brandon Slater led the Red Hawks with 10 points and Derek Ash added 5 rebounds.
Coach Secor noted, “It was a great atmosphere for the game. Our girls team had just gotten a big win, our students were rowdy, and our community really came out and supported us. I am disappointed in the way we coached and the way we played. From my end, I need to do a better job having us ready to start games and start halves. From a player end, 23 turnovers are going to be far too many to defeat a team as good as Northern. We got back to work Sunday at practice and look forward to our most challenging week of the season.”
Cedar Springs is on the road Tuesday to play defending state champs Tri Unity and then at defending OK Blue champs, Comstock Park, on Friday.

Molly Holtrop goes airborne while making this shot.

Rachael Ludtke goes for the ball.

In a low scoring contest Tuesday night, the Cedar Springs girl’s varsity basketball team came away with their sixth consecutive victory, when they beat the Knights of Kenowa Hills by a score of 40 to 20.
The Knights hit first with a two point to take a quick lead but it would be short lived.  Cedar turned up the defensive pressure and bottled up the Knights for the rest of the first quarter.  Kenowa employed a methodical cut, pick, and pass offense that the ladies from Cedar defended almost perfectly.
“The team’s defense was probably the best they played all season,” remarked Coach Scott Taylor. “We played solid defense in the first half and on several occasions had stands that lasted 35 to 40 seconds.”
In the second quarter the defensive minded Hawks continued their man to man defensive dominance not allowing Kenowa to score at all. The Red Hawks managed 11 points to take a 16 to 2 lead to the locker room.
Kenowa’s shooting did improve in the second half, when they hit 7 of 14 second-half shots but it was not enough. Cedar outscored them 24-18.
Cedar’s offensive production was spread out, with 9 different players scoring. Chaya Coxon and Tiffany Karger led the way with 10 points each. Brittany Todd scored 6, Hannah Wight and Rachael Ludtke each dropped in 4, and Molly Holtrop and Shaelyn Fasel added 2 apiece. Allie Veltkamp and  Abby VanDusen scored one point each.
The Lady Hawks return to action Friday night to meet conference foe Forest Hills Northern at 6:00 p.m.

Boys Varsity Basketball team: Row 1: Justin Hanes, Isaac Golczynski, Robert Klein, Jason Gingrich, Ryan Dines, Hank Porter, Trey Reed. Row 2: Assistant Coach Jimmy Booth, Kyle Longcore, Brandow Slater, Tyler Covell, Derek Ash, Marcus Walls, Mathias Mair, Cameron Link, Trevor Hill, Coach Andrew Secor.

The Cedar Springs basketball team participated in their annual Holiday Tournament last week.  Due to a power outage in the high school, the freshmen and JV played their games at the middle school and the varsity played at Kent City. The freshmen team advanced to the championship game by defeating Newaygo, but lost in overtime to Hastings in the final.  They JV team lost to Newaygo in their opener, but bounced back to defeat Hastings in the consolation game.
The varsity team lost their opening game to Newaygo by a score of 70-62. The Red Hawks held a 7-point lead at half, but great three-point shooting by the Lions led them to a 40-point second half.
In the consolation game, Cedar Springs jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead and led 34-26 at the half.  A 15-9 edge in the fourth quarter allowed to Red Hawks to finish with a 58-52 victory. The Red Hawks were paced by Ryan Dines and his 20 points, along with Jason Gingrich who added 14.
Coach Secor noted, “We were very disappointed with the way we defended against Newaygo. I was proud of the way we responded to adversity and were able to defeat a solid Kent City team on their home floor. However, if we are going to have any shot to compete in the OK Blue, we have numerous things to improve on and need to do so in a very quick manner.”
The Red Hawks now stand at 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference. Their next game is home, on Friday, January 6th, against Forest Hills Northern.

#22 Allie Veltkamp driving hard to the basket

#33 Tiffany Karger driving hard in for a layup

Cedar Springs girls’ varsity traveled to Coopersville Tuesday night to play the Broncos. Cedar pulled out the victory win 35 to 33.

The Red Hawks got off to a quick start taking an early lead 13 to 7 at the end of the first quarter. The Broncos stepped up their defensive pressure in the second quarter holding Cedar to only eight points and hitting a buzzer beater at the end of the half to trail 21 to 13.

The third quarter saw some outstanding shooting for the Broncos as they connected on two three pointers and went on a 7 to 1 point run to put themselves right back into the game. Coopersville out scored the Red Hawks 13 to 6 in the period leaving Cedar with only a one point advantage to begin the final stanza.

#34 Rachael Ludtke laying up between two opponents

The contest remained close for the entire fourth quarter, with Cedar Springs maintaining a slim 3 to 5 point margin for most of time. Coopersville continued their hot outside shooting finishing the game at 55 percent from three but Cedar managed some timely defensive stops to hold off the Broncos.

Coach Scott Taylor was pleased with the win, and noted that he knew that Coopersville was a good shooting team from scouting them earlier  this month. “We did contest their shots well but we need to work on the rebounding. At the end of the game we knew that they had fouls to give and would be coming after the ball hard and we take better care of the ball,” he said.

Tiffany Karger led the Red Hawks with 16 points and 8 rebounds. She got help from Rachael Ludtke, who finished with 11 points, Brittany Todd with five, Hannah Wight with two and Allie Veltkamp with one.

Cedar Springs improved their record to 5-­1 and Coopersville slipped to 3-­4.

The team is off until January 3, when they take on Kenowa Hills at home.

Tuesday’s win over West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science (WMAES) evened the Chargers record on the season to 2-2.
The boy’s varsity team from Creative Technologies Academy executed a near-perfect defensive game as they held a competitive WMEAS team scoreless in the first, third, and fourth quarters. After jumping out to a 16-0 lead after the first quarter, the Chargers were challenged by WMAES as they played even with the Chargers, matching score for score to end the first half with a 27-10 Charger lead. Unfortunately for WMEAS, their scoring run would end there, as CTA charged on to a 52-10 victory.
A big reason for the successful night was the 33 combined offensive and defensive rebounds, as well as getting a team total of 18 steals.  Junior, Austin Armstrong lead statistically for the Chargers with 6 steals, 6 rebounds, and 13 points.  It was a great performance from the junior, but the Chargers victory was a team effort. Twelve of the fourteen Chargers scored at least two points to lead to balanced scoring.
The CTA boys hope to improve their record as they head to Fremont to face the Fremont Home School Mustangs for one last game before taking a break for the holidays. For a complete CTA Charger’s schedule, please visit the athletics page at www.ctaschool.com.

Sophomore captain Alicia Beck scores two on a layup following a steal.

Junior captain Grace VanEnk shows perfect form in boxing out a WMAES player.

The Lady Chargers’ season is off to a great 3-0 start this year following their most recent win over West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science on Tuesday by a score of 27-18.  Coach Mae Hill writes, “The team appreciates the support of our teammates, coaches, parents, teachers and fellow students.  Team captains, Grace VanEnk and Alicia Beck, have elevated their level of play this year and have done a great job of instilling team values within the organization.  We look forward to making the most of our time together, on and off the court.”

Click here to download the Cedar Springs Public Schools 2011-2012 Winter Sports Schedules