Cutline: These four varsity wrestlers placed in the top four at regionals last weekend, which qualified them for the state finals. Photo by B. Chong.

By Barbra Chong

The Cedar Springs High School Wrestling team had their 2016 Individual Regionals last weekend, which were hosted by the Bull Dogs of Byron Center. The Red Hawks had six regional qualifiers that entered the competition and four are advancing to the State Finals.

Heavyweight Patrick Depiazza is a junior and has been wrestling since he was four years old. He also holds three All State Michigan Youth Wrestling Association (MYWA) titles and is the 2015 MYWA National runner up. His current record is 49-0 and he is the Heavyweight 2016 Conference, District and Regional Champion. Patrick is currently ranked #4 on Michigan Grappler.

Ryan Ringler is a 171 lb freshman, and has been wrestling since he was four years old. He also holds five MYWA State Championships and a National Championship title. His current record is 47-4. He is the 2016 189 lb Conference Champion, and the 171 lb District and Regional Runner Up. Ryan is currently ranked #7 on Michigan Grappler.

Jordan Ringler is a 119 lb junior and has been wrestling since he was five years old. He also holds seven All State MYWA titles. His current record is 42-9. He is the 2016 119 lb Conference Runner up, and he finished in fourth place at Regionals. Jordan is currently ranked #8 on Michigan Grappler.

Lucus Pienton is a 145 lb freshman, and has been wrestling three short years. His current record is 28-11. He is the 152 lb Conference Runner Up, and he finished in fourth place at Regionals.

Congratulations to these four individuals for qualifying for the State Finals. If you would like to support your local Red Hawks, they will be competing at the Palace of Auburn Hills, March 3-5.

“Do your best. Play hard. It’s more fun if you win,” said Head Coach Nick Emery.

By Barbra Chong

Cedar Springs High School Wrestling had a successful evening at Allendale’s Conference Tri Meet last Wednesday, January 27. The Red Hawks went undefeated, starting off against Forest Hills Eastern 57-9, and ending with West Catholic, 60-12.

The team is currently in first place with a 4-0 record in the OK Bronze Conference.

At our Junior Varsity level, 125 lb Aaron Smith and 130 lb Anthony Brew went undefeated. 140 lb Gonzalo Baladia and 171 lb Billy Hammer each scored a victory. On the Varsity level 112 lb Logan Hull, 125 lb Jordan Ringler, 130 lb Jordan Andrus, 135 lb Jesse Empie, 140 lb Jacob Galinis, 145 lb Anthony Topolski, 152/160 lb Nate Patin, 160/171 lb Gage Gardner, 171/189 lb Ryan Ringler and Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza all went undefeated. 119 lb Patrick Fliearman and 152 lb Xavier Anderson also claimed a victory for the evening.

Saturday, January 30, the Red Hawks traveled to Shelby for their Team Challenge. The Varsity team is still missing a 103 lb wt class, causing a void and 6 point deficit each dual. With an impressive start to the day, the Red Hawks defeated Holt with a victory, 78-0; Grand Rapids Catholic Central gave us more of a challenge but the Red Hawks were on their game and came away with their second victory, 42-34. Keeping the momentum going, Hart was our next opponent and Cedar Springs continued the winning streak, 48-22. Shelby proved to be our toughest competitor but again the Red Hawks had their game faces on and remain undefeated, 36-30. The Championship round concluded our day against Mason County Central and the Red Hawks proved to be the best team performing with a final score, 52-22. Fourteen teams were attracted to the competition and Cedar Springs brought home the coveted Championship Title.

Individual records are as follows: 119/125 lb Jordan Ringler, 171/189 lb Ryan Ringler and Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza went undefeated. 135/140 lb Jacob Galinis, 145 lb Anthony Topolski, 160 lb Gage Gardner and 171/189 lb Chris Shaffer claimed four wins each. 112 lb Logan Hull, 119/125 lb Patrick Fliearman, 130 lb Jordan Andrus and 135/140 Jesse Empie claimed three wins each.  152 lb Nate Patin  claimed two wins and 130 lb Anthony Brew, 215 lb TJ Brecken and 215 lb Cody McHenry claimed a victory as well. Freshmen, Anthony Brew made his Varsity debut and won his first match by fall. Freshmen, Ryan Ringler is still turning heads with his impressive performance over Senior Spencer Knizacky of Mason County Central, who is currently Division 4’s #1 Ranked Wrestler in the state of Michigan. Ringler won his match by regular decision 13-10.

“Senior Captain Ant Topolski stepped up his leadership game and told the boys, ‘if we can upset Catholic Central and get by these other teams we will be Champions and that would feel pretty good’ and so they did. Each dual twist and turned with unique matchups therefore each player was afforded an opportunity to test their skill. The boys proved they are a team and teamwork makes the dream work,” said Head Coach Nick Emery.

Red Hawk Jordan Andrus (130 lbs) was one of several Cedar Springs wrestlers that went undefeated last Wednesday. Photo by B. Chong.

By Barbra Chong

Cedar Springs High School Wrestling traveled to Comstock Park last Wednesday, January 6, for a Tri Conference Meet. The evening was a huge success for the Red Hawks. Cedar Springs took on Greenville with a long anticipated win 34-24.This is the first victory against the Jackets since 2003. Next they took on the Panthers of Comstock Park and took another win with a large point advantage of 39-18. This currently puts the Red Hawks 1-0 in the OK Bronze Conference.

Individual records are as follows: Heavy Weight, Patrick Depiazza, 189 lb Ryan Ringler, 160/171 lb Nate Patin, 145/152 lb Lucus Pienton, 140 lb Jacob Galinis, 130 lb Jordan Andrus and 125 Jordan Ringler all went undefeated.

Our 215 lb Chris Shaffer, 171 lb Gage Gardner, 152 lb Anthony Topolski and 112 lb Logan Hull all had one win each, which contributed to the overall team scores.

Some highlights for the Red Hawks: three grapplers are currently ranked on Michigan Grappler, where the best of the best are featured. Featured is our 119 lb Jordan Ringler (Junior) currently ranked #5; 171 lb Ryan Ringler (Freshmen) currently ranked #7; and Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza (Junior) currently ranked #4 in the State of Michigan.  Depiazza also remains undefeated this season.

“The Cedar boys have become fierce and relentless in their pursuit of the Conference Championship. Their skill, commitment, and team cohesion bloom as a garden in the month of June,” said Head Coach Nick Emery.

From left to right: Nate Patin, 6th Place; Jordan Andrus, 5th Place; Logan Hull, 6th Place; Jordan Ringler, 2nd Place; Lucus Pienton, 3rd Place; Ryan Ringler, 3rd Place; Patrick Depiazza, Champion and Coach Nick Emery.

by Barbra Chong

Wednesday, December 16, Cedar Springs High School Wrestling hosted a North Kent Quad where Cedar Springs, Sparta, Rockford and Kent City were all looking for the Championship Title. In the first dual of the night, Cedar Springs defeated Kent City with a final score, 42-27. The Red Hawks then went up against Sparta and lost by a difficult, 9-49. Out of the four teams competing, Cedar Springs took 2^nd Place after Sparta.

The two highlights of the evening were wins by junior Jordan Ringler at 119 lbs and junior Patrick Depiazza at Heavyweight.  Jordan Ringler took to the mat against Sparta senior Dylan Wilkins, who is currently ranked #1 in the state of Michigan. Ringler and Wilkins went head to head but Ringler successfully defended Wilkins’ signature low single as time expired, final score 5-3. Patrick Depiazza had the anticipated last match of the evening against Sparta senior Tom Rock, who is currently ranked #2 in the state of Michigan. Depiazza and Rock battled into overtime, with Depiazza defeating his opponent with the first take down and final score of 5-3.

Saturday, December 19, Cedar Springs traveled to Davenport University for the Kent County Championship. The tournament attracted 17 area teams and some of the best wrestlers in the area. The best fan base award was claimed by our very own Cedar Springs crowd. Final team standings were Lowell, 1^st Place; Forest Hills Central, 2^nd Place; Rockford, 3^rd Place and Cedar Springs, 4^th Place.

The individual records were: heavyweight, Patrick Depiazza, who went undefeated with 3 wins and took home the Championship title; 119 lb Jordan Ringler, with two wins and 2^nd place; 145 lb Lucus Pienton and 171 lb Ryan Ringler with three wins and 3^rd place each; 130 lb Jordan Andrus with 4 wins and 5^th place; 112 lb Logan Hull and 160 lb Nate Patin with two wins each and 6^th Place. 152 lb Anthony Topolski, 160 lb Gage Gardner and 189 lb Chris Shaffer won two matches each and 125 lb Patrick Fliearman and 135 lb Jesse Empie with 1 win each.

“Facing adversity, the boys decided to double down this weekend,” said Head Coach Nick Emery. “There were unexpected and eye opening performances throughout the day. In the words of the great Vince Lombardi, ‘It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, as long as you keep getting back up.’ Our fans were spectacular and I love our grassroots mentality. Freshmen Ryan Ringler and Lucus Pienton both proved they are legit contenders with tough battles against all-state seniors.”

If you are able to come support the Red Hawks, the next tournament will be held at Grandville High School, next Wednesday, December 30. Competition will start at 9 a.m.

Cedar Springs junior heavyweight Patrick Depiazza went undefeated with five wins at Tri County.

By Barbra Chong

The Cedar Springs High School Wrestling team traveled to Tri County on December 12, for the first invite of the 2015-2016 season. The Varsity team is almost at full strength, missing a 103 lb weight class that caused a void this weekend. With the void at 103, this created a 6-point deficit each dual. They defeated Kenowa Hills with a score of 65-9, then defeated Lakeview with a score of 53-22, and continued the winning streak against Pine River with a score of 35-25.

The next dual was a loss against Comstock Park, with a score of 23-43, and finished the day against Tri County with another loss of 18-38. Out of the eight teams competing, Cedar Springs finished the tournament in third place. Comstock Park took second place, and Tri County took first.

The boys wrestle for their individual score but each individual contributes to the overall team score. The individual records are:

Heavyweight Patrick Depiazza who went undefeated with 5 wins; 125 lb Jordan Ringler, 140 lb Jacob Galinis, 145 lb Lucus Pienton, 152 lb Anthony Topolski and 171/189 lb Ryan Ringler, with 4 wins each; 112 lb Logan Hull and 171/189 lb Chris Shaffer with 3 wins each; 130 lb Jordan Andrus and 135 lb Jesse Empie with 2 wins each; and 119 lb Patrick Fliearman, 160 lb Gage Gardner and TJ Brecken with 1 win each.

The upset of the day was caused by freshman Ryan Ringler, when he wrestled up a weight class and beat Tri County’s Senior state qualifier, Jarrod Tague, by regular decision 11-9.

“The boys strolled into the tournament with their typical Red Hawk swagger. They were tenacious on their feet and ferocious on the mat,” said Varsity Head Coach Nick Emery.

“We have a young team overloaded with potential and starving for glory. If you enjoy wrestling and are looking for entertainment, make the trip to Forest Hills Central to watch the Kent County Championships starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 19, to support the team and be a part of something special.”

The Junior Varsity took five wrestlers to compete against Tri County on Friday, December 11. The top placers were two freshmen—Aaron Smith who went undefeated with a record of 4-0 and Cody McHenry with a record of 3-1.