Abby Buttermore with the ball.

Freshmen girls basketball team wins conference.

The Red Hawks freshmen girls had two goals in mind when the season started. They wanted to win the OK White freshmen conference title and have fun. They did that and then some. The season started rough with a loss to open the season, but the girls quickly got things together and finished the season 16-2 over 12-0 against conference teams, ending the season on a 13-game win streak.  

“We had a bit of an identity crisis with six girls being moved up to JV and Varsity, to start the season,” Coach Steven Washington said. “We figured out our identity pretty quick for losing so many players.”  

The teams focused on playing aggressive man to man defense the full length of the floor and it paid off for them. The girls are an experienced athletic team led by captains Abby Buttermore, Gloria Alvarez and Morgan Reyers, as the primary ball handlers.  Sydney Schafer and Baylee Mosher provided much needed inside scoring.  

“Hailey Begeman got pulled up to JV halfway through the season. We were happy for her opportunity, but knew others needed to step up in her absence,” said Washington. Rose Pigorsh helped ease Begeman’s loss by filling the inside with intense defense averaging 4 blocks per game. The team got key back-up support from Kaleigh Hull and Makayla Pierce.  This season the freshmen had three foreign exchange students, Amanda Verella (Brazil), Alice Gelli(Italy), and Klaudia Kulakowska(Poland).  

Washington added, “I am extremely proud of not only the record but the hard work and the growth these ladies made this year.”  

Gloria Alvarez summed up the season when she said, ‘This season was one where I worked my hardest to improve, made great progress and had so much fun.”

The Red Hawk wrestlers took third at the Allendale Falcon Invite. Photo by Jane Ringler.

By Barbra Chong

The Cedar Springs High School Wrestling team traveled to Grandville on Wednesday, December 30. They started the day with a loss against Grand Haven, 32-35. Northview was their next opponent with a victory, 40-31. They took a loss to Comstock Park but it was a close dual, 29-33; and the Red Hawks finished the day against Jenison with a win and big lead, 66-12. Out of the 13 teams competing, Cedar Springs finished the day in 7th place. Grandville took the Championship, Hesperia 2nd place, Tri County 3rd place, Grand Haven 4th place, Comstock Park 5th place and Byron Center 6th place.

The individual records are as follows: Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza, 171/189 lb Ryan Ringler and 125 lb Jordan Ringler all went undefeated with four wins each; 145 lb Lucus Pienton, 140 lb Jacob Galinis, 112 lb Logan Hull all with three wins each; 171 lb Gage Gardner, 160 lb Nate Patin, 152 Anthony Topolski , 145 lb Xavier Anderson , 135 Jesse Empie and 112 lb Austin Emmorey with two wins each; 215 lb Cody McHenry, 135 lb Gonzalo Baladia, 130 lbs Aaron Smith and Jordan Andrus and 119 Patrick Fliearman with one win each.

Spanish exchange student Gonzalo Baladia entered into his first wrestling tournament and won his first Varsity wrestling match against Jenison. “We are short handed at a few weights and lost two close battles today because of it,” said Head Coach Nick Emery. “Hopefully, the boys have learned that every second, every point of each match counts. Moving forward I hope this team can rally around each other and spark the greatness it has the potential to achieve.”

Saturday, January 2, Cedar Springs traveled to Allendale for the Falcon Invite. The tournament attracted 15 area teams and some tough competition. Final team standings were Lakeshore with the Championship and score of 270.5, Allendale took 2nd Place with a score of 180 points and Cedar Springs took 3rd Place with a score of 179.5.

The tournament was broke up into Varsity A and B teams. Cedar Springs entered eleven competitors into the Varsity A division. Final Placements are as follows:

Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza, who remains undefeated this season, took home a Championship Title; 171 lb Ryan Ringler also took home a Championship title; 145 Lucus Pienton and 125 lb Jordan Ringler with 2nd Place each; 140 lb Jacob Galinis with 3rd Place; 152 lb Anthony Topolski with 4th Place; 119 lb Patrick Fliearman with 5th Place and 160 lb Nate Patin and 112 lb Logan Hull with 6th Place each. The Varsity B Team entered six competitors. 145 lb Xavier Anderson took home a Championship Title; 171 lb Chris Shaffer with 3rd Place; 130 lb Aaron Smith with 5th Place and 135 lb Gonzalo Baladia and 112 lb Austin Emmorey with 6th Place each.

Congratulations to the 8th Grade football team, who have had two straight undefeated seasons. Way to go!

Back Row:  Coach Paul Ringler, Jason Magoon, Cody Gott, Wyatt Knauf, Colton Pope, James Myers, Coach John Gott, Coach Bob Wier

Middle Row:  Ryan Ringler, Jarrett Hoogerhyde, Kolby Swank, Ethan West, Bill Hammer, Kaleb Gordon, Xavier Anderson

Front Row:  Caleb Cook, Logan Hull, Austin Emmorey, Graham Bayink, Derek Egan

Missing from picture:  Lucus Pienton, Gage Gardner, Tucker MacDonald, James Powell

The Cedar Springs Middle School boys track team continued their strong tradition with a seventh consecutive undefeated season at 7 wins and 0 losses. In the past 18 years, the boys have posted 15 undefeated seasons.

The team ended their season by splitting into separate grade level teams to compete in two conference championship invitationals. The 7th grade team placed first at their conference meet, earning championship honors with 177 points. The teams’ nearest competitor was Sparta, who finished second with 108 points.

The 8th grade team avenged a second place conference finish from last year by outscoring the defending champion Kenowa Hills Knights 149 to 124. The team also combined with the seventh graders to defeat the previously undefeated Knights in dual meet competition by a score of 76 to 60.

One school record was broken this year. Cameron Umphrey eclipsed Austin Sargent’s record in the 3200-meter run by running a time of 10:37.3.

The track team enjoyed a great season due to their hard work, dedication and commitment to individually do what was necessary to make the team a success. Coach Martens and Coach Banagis would like to congratulate all team members on a fantastic season. A special thank you to all parents, staff members, high school coaches and athletes for always cheering our team on and for running great home meets.

Jeanette Sukstas in shotput

Taylor Vanlangen in long jump

Tuesday May 1 the Girls track team traveled to Comstock Park and defeated the Sparta 83 to 54 and Comstock Park 111.5 to 20.5. The team finishes in first place in the OK Blue with a 6 and 0 record is 9 and 1 overall. This is the first time in school history the Girls track team has finished the conference dual season in first place.  Katie Weiler set a new OK Blue record in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:06.6.

The team competes for the outright conference championship on Thursday May 10 and Friday May 11 at Belding.

Placing and scoring points for the Red Hawks in the meet was:

First place: Kenzie Weiler 400, 3200 meter runs; Rieley Hondalus in the high jump; Katie Weiler 800 and 1600 meter runs; Aly Hamilton 100 and 200 meter dashes; Marissa Oakes 100 and 300 hurdles; Abby VanDusen long jump and pole vault; Jeanette Sukstas shot put and discus;3200-meter relay team of Sommer VanDyke, Maddie Pekrul, Katie Weiler, and Kenzie Weiler; 1600 meter relay team of Rieley Hondalus, Aly Hamilton, Katie Weiler, and Sommer VanDyke;

400-meter relay team of Rieley Hondalus, Marissa Oakes, Abby VanDusen, and Aly Hamilton.

Second place: Marissa Oakes long jump; Maddie Pekrul 1600 and 3200-meter runs; Emily Shaft 400-meter dash; Briana Person high jump and pole vault; Kayla Bohy discus; Fenessa Cotton 300-meter hurdles; Sommer VanDyke 800-meter run.

Third place: Sommer VanDyke 1600-meter run; Abby VanDusen 300-meter hurdles; Sayge Wight 200-meter dash; Rieley Hondalus long jump; Shaelyn Fasel shot put.

Girls track team takes fourth in home invitational

Saturday, May 5, the Cedar Springs girls track team hosted the Red Hawk Team invitational and scored 650.5 points to place fourth behind three division 1 teams. Rockford was first with 778 points, followed by Jenison 747.5 and Greenville 723.

Kenzie Weiler took first in the 3200-meter run with a new meet and Red Hawk Stadium record with a time of 10:58.70.

Also placing first was the 3200-meter relay team of Sommer VanDyke, Maddie Pekrul, Katie Weiler and Kenzie Weiler.

The team is leading the OK Blue conference and are preparing for the conference finals on Thursday May 10 and Friday May 11 at Belding. Thursday events start at 4:00 and Friday starts at 6:00.

Placing in the top 6 was:

Second Place: Rieley Hondalus long jump; Kenzie Weiler 1600 meter run; the 400-meter relay team of Marissa Oakes, Sayge Wight, Abby VanDusen, and Aly Hamilton.

Third Place: Abby VanDusen long jump; Aly Hamilton 100 and 400 meter dash; Katie Weiler 800 and 1600-meter run; 1600-meter relay team of Emily Shaft, Sommer VanDyke, Rieley Hondalus, and Katie Weiler.

Sixth Place: Maddie Pekrul 3200-meter run

Girls take fifth at JV invitational in Lakeview

On Monday, May 7, a small number of Girls track team members traveled to Lakeview for a JV Invite. The team scored 43 points and placed 5th in the meet.

Placing in the top 6 was:

First Place: Emily Shaft 400-meter dash;

Third Place: Shanye Mann 3200-meter run; 800-meter relay team of Kellie Spahr, Sayge Wight, Mara Ellison, and Olivia Finch.

Fourth Place: Taylor Vanlangen long jump; Emily Shaft 200-meter dash.

Fifth Place: Emily Shaft 100-meter dash; Shanye Mann 1600-meter run; Charlene King 3200-meter run.

Sixth Place: Kayla Bohy Shot put; Caitlin McCurken 800 and 1600-meter runs.

Dawson Wood, of Cedar Springs, Trenton Cooper, of Cedar Springs, Scott “Gus Macker” McNeil, Chase Kinzinger, of Cedar Springs, and Jalen Broussard, of Grand Rapids pose with their first place trophies after finishing the Gus Macker tournament in Greenville with a record of 5-0.

Thirteen teams vied for the championship July 16 and 17. A combination of balanced scoring and tenacious defense helped the Cedar team achieve an undefeated record in the 10 and under division. In the semi-final game, they beat a team by a score of 15-1 to advance to finals. There was no let up in the finals. They posed a 15-8 victory to win the tournament.

The team is going to play in Belding on August 6-7 to see if they can keep their winning streak alive.