Out of the four Hesperia wrestlers that made the trip to D4 individual regionals in St. Louis, Mich. Saturday, Jan. 15, three will be moving on to the state finals in Detroit.
Noah Walker, Aiden Smith, Dominick Smith and Skyler Stalbaum each qualified for the regional tournament, placing in the top four in last week’s districts.
Stalbaum (144-pounds) was the big winner for the Panthers, earning a regional title with a first place finish. Stalbaum went undefeated, winning his first two matches by technical fall and 8-0 major decision to advance to the finals. Stalbaum then took down his opponent in the first place match with a pin and now owns a 47-3 record in his senior season.
Walker (285-lbs.) followed up Stalbaum’s impressive day with a second place finish. Walker (37-11 record) won by 13-8 decision and 3-2 tiebreaker to advance to the finals. He ended up losing in the first place match, falling by a narrow 1-0 decision.
Dominick Smith (138-lbs.) was the last qualifier for Hesperia, winning his first match by technical fall, before being sent to the consolation bracket with a 9-2 loss by decision. Dominick won his blood round match by 14-8 decision, placing him in the third place match. Dominick (31-15 record) won that third place match in a close battle by 14-10 decision.
Aiden Smith (126-lbs.) was unable to qualify for the state finals, after going 1-2 overall on the day. Aiden won his first match by 15-2 major decision, but was sent to the consolation matches after losing by technical fall. Smith lost his blood round match, falling by 9-3 decision and finished his season with a 27-15 record.
Stalbaum, Walker and Dominick Smith will all wrestle at Ford Field in Detroit for the D4 individual state finals Friday, Feb. 28.
