Austin Wamser placed 8th in the state in his weight class.

Two Cedar Springs Red Hawk wrestlers, Junior Austin Wamser (160) and Senior Nic Baird (119) headed to the 2011 Individual State Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills, March 3-5.

Baird had a tough chart at weight class 119. His opponents, Anthony Gonzales from Holly, and Tyler Daniels, Stevensville Lakeshore, were both returning state champions. He lost two tough matches, so didn’t place, although he did well against his opponents. Baird earned his 100th win during the regular season and is a returning state qualifier, earning a trip to the MHSAA wrestling finals in both 2010 and 2011. Job well done, Nic.
Wamser’s run for the podium started out with a bout against Alex Fluegel from Fowlerville, 11-4 placing him in the consolation rounds. Day two earned Wamser a spot in the second round consolations by earning a pin with five seconds left in the first period against Cas Guzdziol from Holly, and an intense match with opponent Peter McAlpine, Madison Heights that went into OT and earned Wamser a triumphant win by a 7-3 decision. The final day of wrestling found Wamser up against Mike Cross, of Hastings and he incurred a loss with a final score 2-13. The consolation finals put Wamser on the podium with a 4-13 major decision in favor of Nico Mitchell-Garcia, GR Creston, placing Wamser 8th overall in the 160 lb class of the MHSAA Division 2 finals.
Coach Dave Andrus said, “I am very proud of Austin.  He has great work ethic and is a quiet leader.  He accomplished a lot this year.  In his junior year he earned 100 wins and conference champion during the 2010-2011 season. He also earned all-state honors, which hasn’t been done (at Cedar Springs) since 2005.  His senior season has great promise and I see a possible state champion.”

“I am very proud of Austin & Nic with their accomplishments this season.”

Good job coach Dave Andrus for first year as varsity wrestling coach to have 2 state qualifiers and one state placer.  See you next wrestling season!

Congratulations to Red Hawk wrestlers Austin Wamser and Nic Baird, who will wrestle in the state finals next week.

Two Cedar Springs Red Hawk wrestlers, junior Austin Wamser and senior Nic Baird, are headed to the 2011 Individual State Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills March 3-5.

Both Wamser and Baird clinched fourth place wins at the Individual Regionals at Dewitt on February 19. Wamser lost his first match to Cody Kline from Clio 9-7, then came back to beat Sean Rusaw from Fenton 12-2 and Codie Naylor from Corunna 5-3 to take his place at state .

Baird had a battle of his own. Losing his first match to Nick Baker from DeWitt 10-4, Baird’s never give up attitude fueled his win against Austin Golden from Linden 9-5. With everything at stake, Baird’s next match was against Tyler Pastor from Fruitport. When Baird and Pastor last met, it didn’t go so well for Baird. Looking to be the victor, Baird took his attitude to the mat and proved to all that this was the match of the day! Baird, who was down in points and came close to getting pinned, returned and pinned Pastor with only 1.8 seconds left in the first period.

Congratulations to the entire Cedar Springs Red Hawks wrestling team for a great season and good luck to Baird and Wamser at the 2011 Individual State Wrestling Finals!