The Rockford Rams topped Cedar Springs 0-3 in second round Districts action at Northview High School on Tuesday, November 4, bringing the Red Hawks season to a close. Rockford, ranked 10th in Division 1, claimed a 8-25, 12-25, 12-25 victory before going on to win Districts on Saturday.  Red Hawk Varsity volleyball ends the season 4-20 overall and 1-8 in conference.

 “It was a year of growth and development for our team and program in the midst of the pandemic,” said Varsity Coach Ashley Lowing. “Our girls handled themselves so well given the situation, worked hard, improved each match, and we are very proud of them for that. We look forward to getting to work in the off season and coming back strong next season.”

Senior Arianna Rau led the Red Hawks with 5 kills, 3 service points and 9 digs. Setter Makenna Outwin recorded 9 assists, 2 kills and an ace. Alyssa Detweiller added 4 kills and a block. Kennedi Jager tallied 2 kills and 4 digs. Brandy Singleton had 3 digs and a team high 15 serve receptions. Sophomore Courtney Page stepped up to add 4 digs, 7 serve receptions and an assist. 

The Cedar Springs Varsity Competitive Cheer team advanced to regionals by earning third place at district 11 finals at St. John’s High School on Friday, February 21.

Coach Anne Olszewski is proud of her team. “I just want to take the time and thank all of the parents and people in the stands that supported the team on our travel to St. John’s High School for districts,” she said. “We knew it would be a tough competition; only the top four teams advance to regionals. We were sitting very well after round 1 (score: 234.1) and 2 (score: 226.42). Honestly, at that point it was anyone’s win between the top three teams.”

Then something happened that could have meant the end of their season. 

“In round three, we threw one of our most exciting rounds,” continued Olszewski. “However, we had a fall. Typically, a fall in round 3 in post season, takes you right out of tournament play. I can tell you that there were 19 girls and coaches that were sick to our stomachs because there was a real fear we would not advance to regionals. However, we had a big enough lead that we finished 3^rd (combined round three score of 761.32) and get the opportunity to redeem ourselves this Saturday, February 29 at Portage Northern in regional play. These girls can do anything they put their minds to, honestly. And if we were going to have a fall, it’s better at districts than regionals. We earned another week of competition and for that I am super grateful. We just need to dial it in this week and then just show everyone what Red Hawk stunting is all about!”

The Lady Red Hawks will compete in regional finals on Saturday, February 29 at Portage Northern High School, where the top four teams advance to State Finals on March 7 at the Delta Plex. Good luck Lady Red Hawks! 

The Varsity Cheer team after winning the OK White conference title last week.

The Cedar Springs Varsity Competitive Cheer team has been District Champs. They have even been Regional Champs. But the closest they have ever been to Conference champs is second place—until last week. The Lady Red Hawks left it all on the mat last Wednesday, February 8, at Northview High School and walked away as OK White conference champs—their first conference title in school history. Way to go! They head to Districts this weekend at Kenowa Hills High School. For more on their win, click here.

Head Coach Nick Emery (far left) with the six Cedar Springs wrestlers that will be moving on to Regionals.

Two others placed second, and two more finished third

On Wednesday, February 8, Cedar Springs High School Wrestling hosted team Districts. Unfortunately, the Red Hawks fell short to Sparta with a final score, 33-38. Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza, 125 Aaron Smith, 135 lb Jordan Andrus, 140 lb Jordan Ringler, 171 lb Xavier Anderson and 189 lb Ryan Ringler won their matches.

On Saturday, February 11, the Red Hawks traveled to Lowell for Individual Districts. District Champions are Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza (41-0) and 171 lb Ryan Ringler (42-1). 135 lb Jordan Ringler (36-7) and 145 lb Lucus Pienton (31-7) finished in 2^nd Place. 125 lb Aaron Smith (35-11) and 160 lb Nate Patin (25-13) finished in 3^rd Place. Congratulations to these six individuals who will continue on to Regionals and the chance to compete at the State Finals.

The following individuals ended their season with Varsity wins as listed: 112 lb Nate Male, 18 wins; 119 lb Logan Hull, 26 wins; 125 lb Patrick Fliearman, 21 wins; 130 Jordan Andrus, 27 wins; 140 Anthony Brew, 14 wins; 140 Jacob Galinis, 24 wins; 152 lb Zak Schmid, 10 wins and 189 lb Chris Shaffer, 13 wins. Regionals will be held at Byron Center, Saturday, Feb. 18 if you would like to continue supporting your Red Hawks.

“The boys put together a memorable season,” said Head Coach Nick Emery.

“We came up just a hair short of our team goals but the heart and effort was there. We graduate two fantastic seniors, Patrick Fliearman and Jordan Andrus, who I will miss in the room everyday. But we will have six regional qualifiers returning. Now it’s time for the remaining wrestlers to focus on the Individual State Championship and bring home some medals.”

Varsity wrestling team comes up short at Districts

Heavyweight Patrick DePiazza, showing his infividual district bracket, and other teams members.

By Barbra Chong

Cedar Springs High School wrestling hosted the 2016 Team Districts last Wednesday, February 10. The Red Hawks came out strong and defeated Forest Hills Eastern, 48-16. They then took on the Yellow Jackets of Greenville for the District Finals. There were unanticipated losses for both teams. The Red Hawks proved to be a strong competitor with a young team, but fell short with a loss, 35-34.

Logan Hull 112 lb, Jacob Galinis 135 lb, Lucus Pienton 145 lb, Anthony Topolski 152 lb, Gage Gardner 160 lb, Ryan Ringler 171 lb, and heavyweight Patrick DePiazza, all went undefeated. Jordan Ringler 125 lb, Jordan Andrus 130 lb, and Jesse Empie 140 lb, each secured a victory.

Saturday, February 13, the team traveled to Lowell for Individual Districts. Heavyweight Patrick Depiazza remains undefeated and secured the 2016 District Championship title. Ryan Ringler 171 lb, finished the day in 2nd Place; 119 lb Jordan Ringler and 145 lb Lucus Pienton finished in 3rd Place and 112 lb Logan Hull and 135 lb Jacob Galinis finished in 4th Place. Congratulations to these six individuals!

If you enjoy wrestling and would like to support our Red Hawks, Regionals is next Saturday, March 19 at Byron Center high school.

“The boys put together a memorable season. We came up just a hair short of our team goals but the heart and effort was there. We graduate two fantastic seniors, Anthony Topolski and Jesse Empie, that I will miss in the room everyday, but will have six regional qualifiers returning. Now it’s time for the remaining wrestlers to focus on the Individual State Championship and bring home some medals,” said Head Coach Nick Emery.

The Cedar Springs Varsity Cheer team took fifth out of 14 teams at Districts.

Cedar Springs Varsity Cheer traveled to Mona Shores this past weekend for the 2015 District Finals, with 14 schools competing for the Championship Title. Changes were made this week and three Junior Varsity teammates were brought up to compete in the Varsity Rounds. The Varsity line up has one senior, three juniors, six sophomores and six freshmen.

Cedar Springs took to the mat and earned a score of 208.10 after Round 1, placing them in 7^th place. Round 2 gained an additional 199.02 points, bringing their sub total to 407.12, keeping them in 7^th place. With the completion of Round 3, Cedar Springs earned an additional score of 300.70, taking 5^th place overall, with a score of 707.82.

Mona Shores won the Championship with a score of 758.14, Kenowa Hills took second with a score of 745.28, Grand Rapids Christian took third with a score of 738.66, and Reeths-Puffer took fourth with a score of 736.72.

“We had an exciting season for such a young team,” said Head Coach Anne Olszewski. “We gained a lot of experience on and off the mat. Execution bonus points were earned for Round 3 at Districts. That’s the first time all season! Advancing to Regionals was lost to us by one placement. We need to gain some maturity and experience and that was starting to happen by the end of the season. The sky is the limit in the upcoming years,” she added.

Alec Hanmer scores against Muskegon. Hanmer was voted to the OK Blue All Conference team.

Hanmer and Porter voted all conference

The Cedar Springs boys varsity basketball team was eliminated from state tournament play last Wednesday after being defeated by the Muskegon Big Reds. The Red Hawks kept the game within reach until late in the third quarter, but the relentless trapping and pressing by the Big Reds defense proved to be too much for Cedar Springs and Muskegon went on to win by a score of 64-42.

Muskegon got out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter. The Red Hawks traded punches with the Big Reds and tied the 2nd quarter, but Muskegon still led by 10 at the half. Midway through the 3rd quarter, Cedar cut the Big Red’s lead to 7 on a Ryan Dines 3-pointer. Muskegon responded with a 9-0 run to end the third quarter and held a commanding 49-33 lead going into the fourth.

Junior Hank Porter goes to the hoop against Muskegon. Porter was chosen All conference honorable mention.

With 4:30 to go in the game and Cedar trailing by 22, Coach Secor put the five healthy seniors in the game (Andrew Klompstra is injured and was unable to play). The five seniors—Tyler Baker, Kyle Chaney, Alec Hanmer, Jake Holtrop, and Tyler Hinton—finished the game, playing together for the last time for Cedar Springs. During that time, Alec Hanmer hit two free throws and a jump shot, and then Kyle Chaney drove the lane for a lay up. Then Alec Hanmer hit Tyler Baker on a long pass and Baker made the lay up for the final Red Hawk basket of the season.

Ryan Dines led the Red Hawks with 12 points in the game, and Hank Porter had 10. Alec Hanmer had 9 points and a team high 7 rebounds. Tyler Baker had 6 points. Kyle Chaney and Derek Ash had 2 points each, and Jason Gingrich had one. The Red Hawks finished the season with a 9-13 overall record. The Red Hawks finished 3rd in the OK Blue with a 6-6 conference record.

Head Coach Andy Secor reflected on this year’s Red Hawk team after the final game of the season. “Our entire coaching staff really enjoyed working with this group of student-athletes and parents. This group came to practice everyday, ready to work hard and improve. One of the things I am most proud when it comes to this group, is how they re-established the way we like Cedar basketball players to act as role models. It is a great group of young men who have the chance to be very successful in life.”

Senior Alec Hanmer earned a spot on the OK Blue All Conference team, which is chosen in a vote by the league coaches. He led the Red Hawks in scoring for the season with 170 points. He also led the team in defensive assists (20). Alec was second on the team in rebounds (78), blocked shots (14) and steals (21), and 3rd in assists (25).

Despite missing 5 games with a knee injury, Junior Hank Porter was second on the team with 143 points and voted OK Blue All Conference honorable mention.

Hank led the team in scoring average with 8.94 points per game. He was 2nd in “charges taken” (7), and 4th in assists (24).

See more player stats on our website at www.cedarspringspost.com.

The Cedar Springs Lady Red Hawks Varsity Basketball team faced a tough opponent in the Grand Haven Buccaneers (20-0) Monday evening, in the first round of Class A District 6 games. The OK-Red team is rated number 1 in Class A in the state, and they proved it Monday evening, limiting the Red Hawks to only 15 points the entire game, while they scored 40. However, the Red Hawks played tough defense in the second and third quarters, and held the Bucs to only 6 points in each of those time periods.

“They don’t like to play defense as much, and we saw them grow impatient having to do so for longer stretches,” said Asst. Coach Chad Wight. “They play a scrappy 2/3 zone, but we forced them to go man-to-man, and to press the ball on the inbounds. It’s rare that they do that, so we were being effective.”

Leading scorer for the Red Hawks was Tiffany Karger with 6, Molly Holtrop had 4, Hannah Wight had 2, and Rachael Ludtke, Nicole Shevock, and Chaya Coxon also contributed one.

“We dug ourselves a hole with our second half scoring (scoreless in the 3rd). When our leading scorer has 6 points, we obviously weren’t productive enough on both ends of the floor. We also could have used more points from the Free throw line,” noted Wight.
That loss means that the Lday Red Hawks are done for the season. Great job!