Cedar Springs senior Austin Wamser finished his high school wrestling career by placing 8th in the state last week, at 152 pounds, in the MHSAA Division 2 Individual State Wrestling Tournament.

Wamser has wrestled as a Varsity Wrestler since his freshman year. He was named the Conference Champ in his weight class 2 years in a row, 2011 and 2012. He also claimed a district champion title this year (2012) and two all state titles in his career, 2011 and 2012. He had an overall record this year of 39-11.

Junior Cody Oehme and Sophomore Jared Vodry also attended the state tournament, wrestling hard for their first time there, but did not place.

“State is a very tough competition, one mistake and it can cost you the match,” Said Head Coach Scott Troost. “These boys wrestled hard and I am proud of them.”

Oehme finished this year with an overall record of 30-11, and Vodry had a 29-16 record.

The Red Hawk wrestling team will be losing three seniors this year, Austin Wamser, Matt Patin and Cory Wozniack. Good luck to all of you!

Pictured is sophomore Jared Vodry, senior Austin Wamser, Coach Scott Troost, and junior Cody Oehme.

Will move on to state competition

The Cedar Springs Red Hawk Varsity Wrestlers endured a hard weekend wrestling last weekend at the regional competition. Cedar Springs had three boys qualify for the regional competition that was held in Mount Pleasant on Saturday Feb. 18, and all three were able to advance to the state competition that will be held at the Palace of Auburn Hills on March 3 and 4.

Senior Austin Wamser, ranked 5th in the state, claimed a second place finish in the 152 pound weight class, losing to Travis Curley from St. Johns, who is currently ranked Number 2 in the state. Wamser went head to head with Curley, without getting pinned but lost by points in the end.

Junior Cody Oehme grabbed a 4th place finish in the 125 pound weight class, losing only to the #6 division 2 state ranked wrestler Alec Ward, from Greenville, and honorable mention wrestler Luke Klein, from Sparta.

Sophomore Jared Vodry wrestled his way back to grab a 4th place finish in the 135 pound weight class, after losing to the #1 state ranked wrestler Brant Schafer, from St. Johns. Vodry then won his next match and moved on to take on state honorable mention wrestler Cameron Bender, also of St. Johns.

“The boys did a heck of a job,” Said Coach Scott Troost. “I knew Austin and Cody were going to make it through, but Jared was more of a long shot considering he had to wrestle a wrestler that had beat him twice the week before, but he pulled it off and beat that same wrestler, and that’s when I knew all 3 were going to advance to the state finals.” Troost continued, “I am very proud of them, just going to state is a huge accomplishment, all having very tough kids to beat to get there.  But the hard work isn’t finished yet. We have a week and a half to have them ready for state.”

Good luck to our regional finishers and we wish them well as they travel to Auburn Hills for the state competition on March 3 and 4. We are very proud of our wrestler Hawks.

Red Hawk wrestlers place at regionals. (L to R) Sophomore Jared Vodry 4th, senior Austin Wamser 1st, and junior Cody Oehme 3rd.

The Cedar Springs Varsity Wrestling Team traveled to Coopersville on Saturday February 4th to compete in the OK Blue Conference Tournament.

The Young team with its few seasoned wrestlers put up a good fight with many placing. Senior Wrestler Austin Wamser led the Red Hawks by taking 1st and claiming the Conference Champ Title in the 152 pound weight class. Cody Oeheme took 3rd in the 125 pound weight class, as well as Nate Dorr claiming a 3rd place finish in the 135 pound weight class. The following Red Hawk wrestlers were able to fight and win their 4th place finishes:  Brett Bouwens in 119 pound class, Sean Thompson in the 140 pound class, Logan McGahnin the 160 pound class and Dominick Chong in the 171 pound weight class. Congratulations to all out conference placers.

The Red Hawks then traveled to Greenville on Wed. Feb 8 to compete in the Team Districts where Cedar Springs ended up being named the winner at the end due to Sparta, the #8 ranked team in the state, sending in an illegal wrestler in the 2nd to last match, forcing Sparta to forfeit the dual to Cedar Springs.  The Red Hawks then had only a mere 10 minutes to get ready to take on Greenville’s #5 state ranked team. The Red Hawks did what they could but fell to Greenville, giving them the Distict Champ Title.

On Saturday Feb. 11, the Red Hawk wrestlers then headed to Gaylord, where they competed in the Individual District Competition.  The Red Hawks came against many wrestlers that they had not wrestled throughout the season. Three Red Hawks were able to take places and move on to the Regional Individual Competition in Mt. Pleasant to be held on Feb. 18. Clinching the title of District Champion was senior Austin Wamser, taking 1st, in the 152 pound weight class.  Junior Cody Oehme placed  3rd in the 125 pound weight class and sophomore Jared Vodry placed 4th in the 145 pound weight class. When these Red Hawk wrestlers head to Mount Pleasant next week, senior Austin Wamser will also continue to strive toward his goal of 150 career wins, of which he is only 4 away.

“The kids did a great job wrestling all season for being such a young team,” said head coach Scott Troost.

Good luck to the three wrestlers headed to regional to continue shooting for their chance at a state title.

Austin Wamser placed 8th in the state in his weight class.

Two Cedar Springs Red Hawk wrestlers, Junior Austin Wamser (160) and Senior Nic Baird (119) headed to the 2011 Individual State Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills, March 3-5.

Baird had a tough chart at weight class 119. His opponents, Anthony Gonzales from Holly, and Tyler Daniels, Stevensville Lakeshore, were both returning state champions. He lost two tough matches, so didn’t place, although he did well against his opponents. Baird earned his 100th win during the regular season and is a returning state qualifier, earning a trip to the MHSAA wrestling finals in both 2010 and 2011. Job well done, Nic.
Wamser’s run for the podium started out with a bout against Alex Fluegel from Fowlerville, 11-4 placing him in the consolation rounds. Day two earned Wamser a spot in the second round consolations by earning a pin with five seconds left in the first period against Cas Guzdziol from Holly, and an intense match with opponent Peter McAlpine, Madison Heights that went into OT and earned Wamser a triumphant win by a 7-3 decision. The final day of wrestling found Wamser up against Mike Cross, of Hastings and he incurred a loss with a final score 2-13. The consolation finals put Wamser on the podium with a 4-13 major decision in favor of Nico Mitchell-Garcia, GR Creston, placing Wamser 8th overall in the 160 lb class of the MHSAA Division 2 finals.
Coach Dave Andrus said, “I am very proud of Austin.  He has great work ethic and is a quiet leader.  He accomplished a lot this year.  In his junior year he earned 100 wins and conference champion during the 2010-2011 season. He also earned all-state honors, which hasn’t been done (at Cedar Springs) since 2005.  His senior season has great promise and I see a possible state champion.”

“I am very proud of Austin & Nic with their accomplishments this season.”

Good job coach Dave Andrus for first year as varsity wrestling coach to have 2 state qualifiers and one state placer.  See you next wrestling season!

Congratulations to Red Hawk wrestlers Austin Wamser and Nic Baird, who will wrestle in the state finals next week.

Two Cedar Springs Red Hawk wrestlers, junior Austin Wamser and senior Nic Baird, are headed to the 2011 Individual State Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills March 3-5.

Both Wamser and Baird clinched fourth place wins at the Individual Regionals at Dewitt on February 19. Wamser lost his first match to Cody Kline from Clio 9-7, then came back to beat Sean Rusaw from Fenton 12-2 and Codie Naylor from Corunna 5-3 to take his place at state .

Baird had a battle of his own. Losing his first match to Nick Baker from DeWitt 10-4, Baird’s never give up attitude fueled his win against Austin Golden from Linden 9-5. With everything at stake, Baird’s next match was against Tyler Pastor from Fruitport. When Baird and Pastor last met, it didn’t go so well for Baird. Looking to be the victor, Baird took his attitude to the mat and proved to all that this was the match of the day! Baird, who was down in points and came close to getting pinned, returned and pinned Pastor with only 1.8 seconds left in the first period.

Congratulations to the entire Cedar Springs Red Hawks wrestling team for a great season and good luck to Baird and Wamser at the 2011 Individual State Wrestling Finals!

The 2010-2011 season brought notable milestones for two Cedar Spring’s varsity wrestlers when senior Nic Baird and junior Austin Wamser celebrated their 100th wins.
Baird (119 lb), reached his 100th win in December and has continued to build a winning record into the new year.  Wins over Hastings, Coldwater and Flushing on Saturday added to his impressive season record.
Wamser (160 lb), achieved his 100th win on Saturday at the 8th Annual Carlos Martinez Classic held in St. Johns.  A low scoring first period found Hastings putting the first points on the board with a two-point takedown. The second period started with Wamser down but a reversal tied the score 2-2. Hastings countered with an escape but a takedown put Wamser in the lead 4-3 at the end of the period. Hastings executed a quick escape and takedown in the third round, which was soon countered by Wamser’s escape to tie the score 6-6.  Fierce battle by both wrestlers, down to the last second of the third period, found the final score 12-11 in favor of Wamser.   The team placed third overall in the day’s event.
On Saturday, February 5, the Red Hawks head into the OK Blue conference finals at Forest Hills Northern taking on Fruitport, Sparta and Reeths-Puffer. Team districts will take place on February 9 at Sparta and individual districts will be held on February 12 in Gaylord.

Red Hawk Joe Simon (285 lb), senior, takes down his opponent.

On Wednesday, January 12, the Cedar Springs Varsity wrestling team beat Belding 53-13 at the first home match of the season. Beginning with the 171 lb class, Levi Whipple earned the first points of the night with an overtime win 5-4. A fall executed by Corey Wozniak (189 lb) midway through the second period brought the score to 9-0 in favor of the Red Hawks.
Belding countered in the 215 lb and 285 lb weight classes to tie the score 9-9.
Baron Lenardson (103 lb) rallied with a quick pin just 27 seconds into his first round to continue the momentum for the Hawks.  A major win by Jared Vodry (125 lb), a void at 130 lb for Danny Wier, and a 15-0 technical fall in the second period by Cody Oehme (135 lb) tallied the score at 40-9. With no hope for Belding to make a comeback, the Hawks earned wins by Matt Patin (140 lb) with a fall in the first period, a major win by Jake Marsman (152 lb), who kept his opponents score at zero for three periods, and a solid match by Austin Wamser (160 lb) brought the final score to 53-13 and a conference win for the Hawks.
The Hawks take to the mat at home this week:
Conference match vs West Catholic Wednesday, January 19 (last night)
JV Invitational Friday, January 21, at 4:00 p.m.
Red Hawk Varsity Invitational Saturday, January 22,  at 9:00 a.m.
Come cheer them on!