By Jacquie Troupe

Despite the bad weather on Sunday, December 11, 16 wrestlers competed in the second MYWAY West tournament at Lakewood High School. Of the 16, 13 brought home medals.

Placing 1st were Landon Totten in the 03-02 195lb Open division, Logan Troupe in the 05-04 100lb Open division, Wyatt Cooper in the 07-06 150lb Open division & Luke Ball in the 12-10 HWT Open division.

Placing 2nd were Trevor Marsman in the 03-02 85lb Open Division, Andrew VanGessel in the 03-02 95lb Open division, Hudson Crystal in the 07-06 85lb Open division, Caleigh Wood in the 09-08 49lb Open division, Deegan Pike in the 09-08 55lb Novice division and Tucker Crystal in the 12-10 52lb Open division.

Placing 3rd was Gavyn Byxbe in the 07-06 75lb Open division.

Placing 4th were Annabelle Wood in the 05-04 95lb Novice division, Thomas Prins in the 07-06 90lb Novice division and Caden Troupe in the 09-08 52lb Novice division.

A special mention needs to be made to Jayce Karafa. He took 3rd place in the 58lb Novice division at Kentwood on 12/4/16. It was his first tournament.

Most developmental youth wrestling tournaments host an average of 400-500 wrestlers, ages 4 to 15, competing for custom medals awarded to the top four finishers in each class. On Sunday, January 18, a record setting number of wrestlers, over 730, participated in the Byron Center tournament hosted at Byron Center high school.

Competition was fierce as Cedar Springs youth wrestlers secured a total of 14 placers, some of whom had up to 15 wrestlers in their weight class.

Placers in the 4-6 year age division were Eli Gunderson 3rd at 37lb, Bryson Streeter 4th at 37lb, Veronica Tapia 1st at 40lb, Tucker Crystal 4th at 40lb, and Tyler Parmeter 2nd at 55lb.

Placers in the 7/8 year age division were Cora Gonzales 1st at 55lb, Keaton Klaasen 4th at 55lb and Pistachio Gonzales 3rd at 61lb.

Placers in the 9/10 year age division were Tacho Gonzales 4th at 71lb and Carter Falan 3rd at 85lb.

Placers in the 11/12 year age division were Trevor Marsman 3rd at 71lb and Kamden Klaasen 3rd at 90lb.

Rounding out the results were Austin Emmorey 1st at 100 lb and Reese Gonzales 2nd at 107lb in the 13-15 year age division.

Coaches Bryan Goike, George Gonzales Sr. and Jake Marsman are all very impressed with the hard work and progress the kids have been making.

Coach George said, “The kids’ dedication to working hard, even at this young age, shows when the kids show up to a tournament of this size and still place top four. Even the kids who did not medal wrestled with all their hearts. That’s what makes them winners.”

On February 20, as the second snow storm of the season was beginning, Cedar Springs youth wrestlers were creating a storm of their own over in Sparta. While visiting their friendly rivals over in Sparta, the youth wrestlers picked up a total of 17 medals.

Placers in the 5/6 division were Landon Demorest 37lbs/1st, Cody Averill  37lbs/1st, Tacho Gonzales 49lbs/1st, Wyatt Teesdale 55lbs/4th, Maston Wood 58/3rd, and Ronnie Brown 58lbs/4th.

In the 7/8 division placers were Trenton Roelofs 55lbs/2nd, Mitchell Otteson 55lbs/4th, Trenton Snoeyink 61lbs/3rd, and Jayden Herroon 64lbs/4th.

In the 9/10 division placers were Logan Hull 63lbs/4th, Aaron Smith 71lbs/4th, Ryan Ringler 85lbs/1st, and Allexis Gonzales 90lbs/2nd.

In the 11/12 division placers were Jordan Ringler 70lbs/1st, Tylor Carter 112lbs/3rd and George Gonzales Jr 126lbs/1st.

This was one of the last few Western Region regular season tournaments to be held for the 2011 year. Allendale hosted a tournament February 27 and Greenville is set to host the last tournament March 6.  MYWAY Regional wrestling finals are set to be held on March 12 and 13 at Muskegon Orchardview High School.  The top four placers will then move on to MYWAY State Finals to be held at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek on March 25, 26 and 27.  Be sure to make it to one of these tournaments to cheer on your favorite local wrestlers.
The North Eastern Michigan Wrestling Association Regional held its Regional meet on February 19.  Representing Cedar Springs, Logan Hull took third in the 9/10 63lb division and Connor Goike took 2nd in the 11/12 Heavy Weight A division.  By placing in the top four, Logan and Connor moved onto the State Finals which were held February 26 in Bay City, Michigan. Logan took third at state and Connor took second.

The JV Red Hawks wrestling team took to the mats during the Christmas break when they traveled to Grand Rapids Christian on December 28, where 12 teams competed. There were seven weight classes, and out of the seven, five Red Hawk wrestlers brought home medals.
Brett Bouwens, wrestling at 112 pounds, brought home first place, and Aaron Brook at 119 pounds took third place. Three wrestlers also took second places: Danny Wier at 125 pounds; Josh Champion at 152 pounds; and Michael Armock at 171 pounds.
The Varsity and JV teams take to the mats later this week at Comstock Park.