(Photo by Greg Hall) Cass City's T.J. Moore (left) and Mayville's Jackson Schenk lock up earlier this year in a battle of state-ranked wrestlers.
Cass City’s T.J. Moore (left) and Mayville’s Jackson Schenk lock up earlier this year in a battle of state-ranked wrestlers.
Mayville wins second consecutive district title, has date with rival Cass City
MAYVILLE — The Mayville wrestling team didn’t have much trouble in advancing to the regional portion of the state team tournament Wednesday.
The Wildcats won their second straight Division 4 district championship, defeating Sandusky 55-15 in the semifinal round and Marlette 60-24 in the finals.
Both wins came against Greater Thumb Conference opponents.
“There was a lot of voids, both of those teams were a lot stronger earlier in the year then they are right now,” said Mayville coach Mark Cooper. “And this is probably only the third week all season we’ve been at full strength. So those teams were down a little bit and we’re up a little bit.”
The district championship sets up a match against another GTC rival — Cass City — which defeated Ubly 75-6 and Bad Axe 63-12 at Cass City Wednesday.
The two programs are familiar, having faced off three times in the last month. Mayville downed the Red Hawks in the finals of the Mayville Wildcat Duals on Jan. 21, and again on Jan. 25 in the championship match of the GTC dual-meet season. Cass City got payback on Sat., Feb. 4 by winning the GTC Championship Meet.
Cass City and Mayville tied for the overall GTC championship.
“(Cass City) Coach (Don) Markel will have them ready,” Cooper said. “It’s kind of a chess game between both us, we’re both trying to figure out the best lineup to get the most points.”
The Division 4 regional is hosted Wednesday by New Lothrop — the winner of the last three Division 4 state titles. Host New Lothrop takes on Vassar in the second semifinal. The winner of that match will face the Cass City/Mayville winner. The Hornets defeated Mayville 42-27 in an early season match.
“We can’t look past Cass City, for sure,” Cooper said. “Like I told the kids, ‘it’s one match at a time and we’ll see what happens from there.'”
Vassar won the Saginaw Valley Lutheran district with a 43-42 win over Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary.
Billy Dow (119 pounds), Jerry Gilbert (125), Christian Lefler (130), Zach Lefler (140), Ben Hulley (145), Jake LaValley (189), Logan LaBean (189), Vinny Damiani (215) and Jackson Schenk (285) were all double winners for Mayville.
T.J. Moore went 2-0 for Cass City, and several other wrestlers went 2-0 with one or both wins coming by forfeit.
Caro wins 23rd consecutive district title
CARO — The Caro wrestling team will make an appearance in the regional tournament for the 23rd-consecutive year.
But getting there wasn’t easy.
The host Tigers downed Essexville Garber in the Division 3 district semifinals 41-24 Wednesday, then snuck by Freeland 36-33.
Caro advances to the Wednesday, Feb. 15 regional tournament hosted by Garber. The Tigers face Beaverton in the first regional semifinal while Sanford-Meridian and Ogemaw Heights face off in the other semifinal.
Ty Inches (119 pounds), John Botkins (125), Blain Wood (130), Patrick Ford (135/140), D.J. Daniels (152) and Tim Millerov (189) each won both of their matches for Caro.
