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 senior Cameron Umphrey scored both touchdowns for Cedar Springs in their loss to Forest Hills Eastern last Friday.

By Lauren VanDenHout

The Cedar Springs Red Hawks lost to the Forest Hills Eastern Hawks 49-12 last week Friday, October 16. Cedar Springs fought hard, but ultimately, they were no match for Forest Hills Eastern’s offensive and defensive line.

The Red Hawks’ first touchdown of the game was scored by senior Cameron Umphrey in the second quarter. It was an aggressive one-yard run in the middle that broke Forest Hills Eastern’s defensive line. The two-point conversion was no good. This made the score 7-6 in the middle of the second quarter. At halftime, the Red Hawks walked off the field trailing by a score of 21-6.

The Red Hawks came out aggressive in the third quarter. Umphrey scored another touchdown, and the two point conversion was incomplete. This touchdown made the score 28-12, and the Red Hawks held them at that score until the end of the quarter. However, FHE came back in the fourth quarter and scored three more touchdowns.

Cedar Springs is now in second place in the OK-Bronze, with a record of 3-1 in conference, and 5-3 overall.

Their next game is away at Grand Rapids Northview on Friday, October 23. Kickoff starts at 7:00 p.m. This game is sure to be intense, as it is the final chance for the Cedar Springs Red Hawks to make it into the playoffs.

Senior Blake Fisher snagging an interception in the second quarter against Greenville. He ran it back 85-yards for a touchdown.

Face off against FH Eastern Friday for a share of OK Bronze title

By Laura VanDenHout

The Cedar Springs Varsity football team brought home another win last Friday, October 9, against the Greenville Yellow Jackets. Both the Red Hawks’ defensive and offensive lines proved to be a vigorous force that Greenville couldn’t compete with. Cedar Springs aggressively claimed victory over Greenville, with a final score of 51-22.

The first touchdown of the game was scored by Senior Lane Gott in the first quarter. Unfortunately, the two-point conversion was no good. The scoreboard remained at 6-0 until the second quarter.

In the following quarter, the Red Hawks made offensive leaps and bounds. Senior Anthony Topolski  earned a touchdown for Cedar Springs early in the second quarter. The two-point was made by senior Cameron Umphrey. After this offensive gain, junior Dustin Shaw pinned the Yellow Jackets on the 13-yard line on his kickoff, after a violation was committed against Umphrey. This aggressive stoppage by defensive players junior Jacob Hooker and senior Kyle Sphar later allowed senior Blake Fisher to make a run for a pick six for another touchdown. Umphrey successfully made the two-point. Senior Taylor VanDyke also earned a touchdown, making the score 28-0 in the first half.

Senior Taylor VanDyke making a great catch.

Topolski scored another touchdown for the Red Hawks in the third quarter. Senior Isaiah MacDonald made the two-point conversion. After this play, the Yellow Jackets managed to break through the defensive line for a touchdown to make the score 36-6. However, Hooker made another touchdown, and this time, the Red Hawks decided to let Shaw kick the extra point.

In the final quarter, junior Collin Alvesteffer scored a touchdown, and VanDyke converted the two-point. Ending the quarter, Fisher intercepted another Yellow Jacket pass, stopping their offensive line.

The Red Hawks are now 3-0 in conference and 5-2 overall. They are tied with Forest Hills Eastern (3-0 conference, 7-0 overall) for first place in the OK-Bronze, and they take them on this Friday at Forest Hills Eastern High School, for a share of the title. Kick off is at 7 p.m. You don’t want to miss it! Come on out and show your support for your Red Hawks!

Cedar Springs Varsity Volleyball went 1-5 this past week playing in two OK Bronze Conference matches and the Morley Stanwood Invite.

On Tuesday, October 6, the Lady Red Hawks traveled to Forest Hills Northern where they lost in three sets (14-25; 15-25 and 13-25).  Leading on the night was sophomore outside hitter Sydney Plummer, who had 6 kills, 1 block and 6 digs, while middle hitter Brooke Morris had three kills and two blocks. Libero Kaitlyn Coons put up 20 serve receives and 7 digs on defense.

The Varsity team then hosted Forest Hills Eastern on Thursday, October 8, and lost the match 0-3 to a tough Eastern squad (10-25; 10-25 and 21-25).  Sydney Plummer was solid on offense with 7 kills, 2 blocks and 8 digs, followed by senior co-captain Lauren VanDenHout with 6 kills, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Sara Kriekaard rallied for 5 kills and three blocks while Kaitlyn Coons had 18 digs.

Competing in the Morley Stanwood Invite on Saturday, October 10, the team played solid despite their 1-3 record on the day. In pool play, the Lady Red Hawks were defeated by Western Michigan Christian 19-25 and 17-25; fell to McBain 15-25 and 22-25; and put up an aggressive victory over White Cloud 25-23 and 25-23. The team landed a third place berth for bracket play, where they fell in a close match to Pine River 23-25, 25-18 and 11-15. Leading on offense was Sydney Plummer, with a strong day, having 26 kills, 13 blocks and 36 digs. Lauren VanDenHout recorded 12 kills and 5 blocks, while Julia Jackson put down 10 kills and 10 blocks. Senior co-captain Brooke Bennett had an impressive 9 kills and 3 blocks, while libero Kaitlyn Coons owned the defense, with 52 digs and 68 serve receives. On the service line, Ashley Vanderhoef put up 2 aces and 22 service points, while also recording 3 kills and 2 blocks on the day.  Cassie Rivard had 40 serve receives, 5 aces and 28 service points. Setter Sienna Wight had 47 assists on the day.

The Lady Red Hawks continued conference competition on Tuesday, October 13, when they traveled to Wyoming, and will host Greenville on Thursday, October 15.  JV and Freshman begin play at 5pm with Varsity starting at 6pm. The Varsity team dropped to 0-6 in the OK Bronze Conference, while their overall record is now 3-22-2.

Red Hawks at Hamilton Invitational. Pictured Left to Right: Drew French, Alex Robinson, Jared Liggett, Austin Nielsen, Dylan Kolasa, Blake Fisk, Ethan Brown, Karsen Dingman, Nick Hibbs, Jon Baculy, Dane Conely, Tim Shovan.

Cedar Springs #2 doubles Ethan Brown and Nick Hibbs.

The Cedar Springs boys varsity tennis team reached the halfway mark to their season last week with a match against Forest Hills Eastern and an invitational at Hamilton High School.

On Wednesday September 9, the Red Hawks competed against Forest Hills Eastern on home courts, which resulted in an 0-8 loss for the Red Hawks.

On Saturday September 12, the Red Hawks traveled to Hamilton High School for an invitational. Several of the Cedar Springs players had very close sets with their opponents. Red Hawk players finishing in second place were #2 singles Karsen Dingman, #3 singles Drew French, #4 singles Austin Nielsen and #2 doubles Ethan Brown and Nick Hibbs. Overall the Cedar Springs Red Hawks came in third place competing against Coopersville, Hamilton and Coloma schools.

“Boys tennis faced some tough competition with a loss to Forest Hills Eastern this week,” noted Coach Katie Unsworth. “At the Hamilton Invitational #2, #3, #4 singles and #2 doubles all took second place and individual medals. #4 singles Austin Nielsen was well on his way to taking first place overall in his flight when unfortunately during his third match suffered a severe sprained ankle. This injury takes him out for the next two weeks. The boys played well. I would like to compliment Jon Baculy who had some incredible winning shots in his match Saturday! I’d also like to compliment Timothy Shovan and Alex Robinson on their tenacity at the net! Way to play guys. We have a talented team and its really quite fun watching all the guys play!”

The stingy Red Hawk defense kept the Greenville offense at bay last Friday night. Photo by K. Alvesteffer.

The varsity football team wins 48-16

On Friday, October 17, the rain began as the national anthem was sung and just after the Cedar Springs Red Hawks honored so many brave people that have been affected by cancer in the third annual Hawks against Cancer pink game.

Greenville kicked off in the steady rain to start the first quarter, which ended with the Red Hawks leading 14 to 0. Collin Alvesteffer ran the ball for one touchdown and passed 34 yards to Kaden Myers for the second score. Zach Wamser added the two-point conversion on the second touchdown.

Red Hawks celebrate in the endzone after a touchdown by MavRick Cotten.

In the second quarter, the Red Hawks continued to pound on the Yellow Jacket defense by adding another touchdown to the first half tally, when Red Hawk fullback MavRick Cotton busted through the middle of the Greenville defense and scored on an 18-yard run. The Red Hawks did not capitalize on the two-point conversion, which left the score at 20 to 0, going into a rainy and windy half time.

After an excellent performance by the Red Hawk Marching Band, the third quarter began the way the second quarter ended, with MavRick Cotten breaking through the heart of the Yellow Jacket defense to score a 34-yard touchdown. The beginning of the end came when the Greenville offense fumbled the ball at midfield and Red Hawk Kaden Myers recovered the ball and ran it 52 yards for the score!

The Yellow Jackets continued to challenge the stingy, run-stopping and quarterback-sacking Red Hawk defense, with a score in the third quarter and one in the fourth, but the Red Hawks answered both times. Zach Wamser scored on a 41-yard dash with 48 seconds left in the third quarter, and Collin Alvesteffer answered again in the middle of the fourth.

In the end, it was second year head Coach Gus Kapolka’s Red Hawks that prevailed, 48-16.

This Friday, October 25, the Red Hawks will finish the regular season with a homecoming match up against conference foe Forest Hills Eastern, at 7 p.m. in Red Hawk Stadium. Get your Red Flannel on, load up the car and come out to support your 7 and 1 Red Hawks! Don’t forget the cowbell.

The Cedar Springs wrestling team moved into sole possession of second place in the OK Bronze with a victory over homestanding Northview. Cedar took a big early lead in the upper weights beginning with a void at 171, followed by pins at 189 and 215 by juniors Austin Wamser and Teddy Edwards who both recorded their 20th victories. Northview voided to Partick DePiazza at heavyweight. When the match shifted back to the lightweights, freshman Jordan Ringler pinned in 36 seconds to run the lead to 30-0, but Northview stormed back with five straight wins of their own including a 6-5 win at 135 to make the score 30-25.

In a wild back and forth match at 140, sophomore Anthony Topolski pulled out a 26-15 win to earn four team points to push the lead to 34-25. At 145 Mike Smith quickly recorded a first period pin to make the lead an insurmountable 40-25. Cedar Springs voided at 152 but moved senior Jarrod Vodry up to 160 where he recorded the 100th win of his career with a pin. Final score 46-31 in favor of the Red Hawks.

An interesting twist to the match was provided by the rival coaches being former teammates, which increased the intensity of the match. Cedar coach Nick Emery and Northview coach Eric Fransen both were Red Hawk wrestlers from 1998-2001, and Fransen formerly was an assistant coach in the CS program.

With the win the Red Hawks secured second place in the OK Bronze needing wins against Forest Hills Eastern and Northern to earn the number two seed in the conference tournament.

Overall, the team dual record is 13-10 including a second place finish last weekend at the Pine River Invitational. Saturday 4 wrestlers placed at the Lakeview Individual Tournament. Pat DePiazza placed fourth at heavyweight while both Jordan Ringler at 103 and senior Baron Lenardson at 125 placed third. Junior Teddy Edwards pulled out heartpounding overtime win to be tournament champion at 215 pounds.

Ringler is off to a fast start to his high school career with a team leading 23 wins followed by Edwards with 22 wins including 15 pins. State ranked Zack Wamser has piled up 19 wins while Lenardson has 18 including his 100th career victory.

By Kendra Coons

Cedar Springs took a loss against Forest Hills Eastern last Friday night. Here Red Hawk Austin Hilyer is tackled by a FHE Hawk. Photo by Rob LaLone.

On Friday, September 27, the Cedar Springs Red Hawks Varsity football team took on Forest Hills Eastern at their stadium. It was a tough match for the Red Hawks and the final score of the game was 45-22 in favor of Forest Hills Eastern. After Friday’s loss, their record is 2-3 and they are 0-1 in conference play.

In the first quarter of the game Forest Hills Eastern’s quarterback, Luke Wilkerson, passed to Ryan Knight for a 30-yard touchdown and also passed to Gabe Vansolkema for a 24-yard touchdown. Both kicks by Patrick Gregory were good. The Red Hawks came back with junior Kaden Myers running for a 56-yard touchdown, but the kick was no good. After the first quarter the score was 14-6 Forest Hills Eastern.

In the second quarter, Luke Wilkerson passed to Ryan Knight for a 68-yard touchdown and the kick by Patrick Gregory was good. Cedar Springs received the ball back and Forest Hills Eastern’s Devon Reininger intercepted the ball at the Cedar Springs 43-yard line and returned it for a touchdown. The kick by Patrick Gregory was good. They scored again once Eastern received the ball back and they went for a 26-yard field goal by Patrick Gregory, which was good. At the end of the second quarter, Eastern was still in the lead with the score being 31-6.

At the end of the third quarter, senior Jeff Newland ran for a one-yard touchdown, and senior quarterback Austin Hilyer passed to Kaden Myers for a two-point conversion. At the end of the third quarter, Forest Hills Eastern was still leading, with the score being 31-14.

In the fourth quarter, Forest Hills Eastern’s John Mccready ran for a seven-yard touchdown and the kick by Patrick Gregory was good. With 3:03 left to go in the fourth quarter, Austin Hilyer passed to Kaden Myers for a 49-yard touchdown and Kaden Myers also received a pass for the 2-point conversion. Forest Hills Eastern came back with 1:11 left in the game and John Mccready ran for a 63-yard touchdown and once again the kick by Patrick Gregory was good. Forest Hills Eastern ended up winning the game 45-22.

“We will continue to concentrate on fundamentals, and work to get better this week,” says Coach Kapolka. “We are going to work on doing the little things correctly, and stay within our system.”

On Friday, October 5, the Red Hawks have their second conference game lined up. The Varsity team will be playing the Northview Wildcats at Wildcat stadium.

“Northview is a very good football team, with a lot of speed,” commented Kapolka. “We will have to play with discipline and poise to beat them Friday night.”

Kickoff is at 7p.m., so come and support your Red Hawks as they look for their first conference win of the season. Good luck Hawks!

Freshman Collin Alvesteffer carries the ball. Photo by Kelly Alvesteffer.

By Kendra Coons

After a tough loss against Zeeland West last week, the Cedar Springs JV football team came back ready to play against the Hawks of Forest Hills Eastern. On Thursday, September 25, the Red Hawks defeated Forest Hills Eastern 34-7 at Red Hawks stadium. This win now makes the team 4-1 overall, and 1-0 in conference play.

“After last week’s loss, we went back to the fundamentals in practice,” explained Coach Streeter.

Freshman quarterback Collin Alvesteffer scored two touchdowns and rushed for 58 yards. Anthony Topolski was the team leader in rushing yards, with a total of 137 for the game. Topolski also scored 2 touchdowns and made a 2-point conversion. Keenan Gosselin was the second team leader in rushing yards coming in with 109 for the game.

The defense for the Red Hawks was also on point, with Keenan Gosselin intercepting the ball for a 17-yard touchdown and leading the team in tackles. Bryan Cebrero also intercepted the ball and ran for a 90-yard touchdown! Damarcus Barnett led the team in TFL’s and finished off the game with 6 total tackles.

“We had some guys that were challenged earlier in the week to play better and they answered the challenge,” says Streeter.

On Thursday, October 3, the JV team takes on the Northview Wildcats for their second game of conference play at Red Hawk stadium. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m., so come out and support your JV team!

It was a hot night for football last Thursday, when the Red Hawks traveled to Forest Hills Eastern to take on the Eastern Hawks, clinching their 2nd win of the season, 28-14. Cedar Springs started a little slow, not scoring in the first quarter but were able to hold Forest Hills Eastern to only one touchdown by the end of one.  The Red Hawks came back strong in the 2nd quarter with two touchdowns of their own, one when Tyler Covell’s pass to Hank Porter was completed and then again when Austin Wamser caught a pass from Covell and ran it down the field for another Cedar Springs touchdown, The defense continued to hold the against Eastern’s offense, ending the half at 14-7 Cedar.  During the 3rd quarter, the Red Hawk defense stayed strong and didn’t allow any scoring. The Red Hawk offense showed no signs of stopping either when Hank Porter ran the ball down the field for another Cedar Springs touchdown.

During the fourth quarter, Cedar Springs scored another touchdown on a run by Hank Porter, and Eastern tossed in a final touchdown to end the game, 28-14.

“It was a great win for us Friday,” said Brian Busen, Head Coach for Cedar Springs.  “Our defense played great and our offense had some big plays. We made great improvement from week 1 as a team and look to continue that into week 3.”

The Cedar Springs Red Hawks will host Flint Northwestern this Friday in a JV-Varsity doubleheader night’s game, September 9th at Red Hawk Stadium starting at 4 p.m. with the JV game and the varsity following at 7 p.m.