Out of 14 grapplers from Hart, Hesperia and Shelby, seven earned All-State honors at the individual wrestling state finals Saturday, March 1 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Of those 14 wrestlers, nine donned the red and black of Hart. With the most athletes in attendance out of the three local schools, it was no surprise to see the Pirates reel in the most All-State honors as well.
Four Hart wrestlers placed in the top eight as Kole Thomas took fifth, Ty Thomas seventh, Adrian Lara sixth and Alex Hicks second.
Kole Thomas (113-pounds) won his first match on Friday, Feb. 28, earning a pin over Ovid-Elsie’s Anthony Silva. Kole was knocked out of the champions bracket in the very next round, falling to Mackey McClelland of Yale.
Bouncing to the consolation bracket, Kole hoped to make a move for third place overall. Two consecutive wins by decision made that a very real possibility, but Thomas ultimately fell short, losing a close match by sudden victory in overtime.
That sent Kole to the fifth place match where he defeated Jacob Byrd of Frankenmuth by 11-4 decision, earning an All-State title.
Kole’s older brother Ty (138-lbs.) started his matches off the very same way, earning a first round win by pin. That win over Lincoln’s Bernard Allen came after just 55 seconds, quickly advancing Ty to the champions bracket. Once there, Ty dropped a match by 12-4 major decision, moving him over to the consolation bouts.
Ty won his first match on that side, defeating Whitehall’s Caden Varela by pin in a blood round. In his very next match, Ty fell by a narrow 8-6 decision, slotting him in the seventh place match where he defeated Kaelen Harrington of Birch Run by 14-7 decision.
Lara (285-lbs.) also won his initial match, defeating Logan Russel of Adrian Madison by technical fall. Lara then fell by pin, sending him to the consolation bracket where he started things off with a 4-2 decision win over Joseph Abramovitch of Armada in a blood round.
An 11-3 major decision victory over Anthony Heinritz of Williamston lifted Lara just one win shy of the third place match. That’s where Lara met his postseason nemesis, Wyatt Spalo of Reed City. Lara and Spalo had met three times prior to their state finals bout, once in team districts, once in individual districts and once at individual regionals with Spalo owning a 3-0 record.
Spalo continued his streak against Lara, defeating him by pin and sending Lara to the fifth place match. Lara ended his day in sixth, falling by 10-1 major decision, but earning All-State honors.
Alex Hicks (175-lbs.) had the most successful day out of anyone, riding three consecutive wins into the finals, with a chance for an individual state title. Hicks won his first two matches by pin, defeating Linkin Glavan of Belding and Andrew Beadenkopf of Michigan Center. A 10-5 decision over Bradley Meyers of Portland in the semifinals left Hicks with just one bout left.
Unfortunately, Kole Katschor of D3 powerhouse Dundee was there waiting for Hicks. Katschor won by a 10-2 decision, leaving Hicks in second place and giving the Vikings one of their eight first place finishes on the day.
The other five grapplers for Hart included Jordan Thies (106-lbs.), Michael Chavira (113-lbs.), Halen Boos (132-lbs.), Logan Jorissen (144-lbs.) and Haegan Hansen (165-lbs.).
Thies started his weekend off with a hard-earned pin over Greysin Hopp of Constantine to put him into the champions bracket. A loss in his next bout had him in a blood round on the consolation side, where he fell by technical fall.
Hansen also went 1-2 on the day, falling in his first match but rebounding with a pin over Landon Bearden of Quincy in the consolation bracket. Hansen went on to lose his next match by 7-2 decision in a blood round.
Jorissen, Boos and Chavira all dropped two straight matches to end their weekends early.
Shelby had two wrestlers in contention, both fighting for placement in the 157-lb. class. Jaylin Henderson was the only Tiger to be named All-State, finishing in seventh place.
Henderson entered the champions bracket with an 8-0 major decision victory over Aiden Bergeon of Richmond, but fell by 7-5 decision in his next match. Henderson redeemed that loss with a blood round victory by technical fall over Kent City’s Derek Rodenburg.
Losing by technical fall to Whitehall’s Liam Leeke sent Henderson to the seventh place match where he would defeat Ethan White of Birch Run by 10-5 decision.
Brody Fessenden couldn’t match Henderson’s success, dropping two straight matches to end his run.
On the D4 side, Hesperia had two of their three competitors earn All-State as Skyler Stalbaum took fourth and Noah Walker snagged fifth.
Stalbaum (144-lbs.) defeated Aiden Turner of Perry by pin, but fell by 8-6 decision directly after. Three straight wins on the consolation side over opponents from Lakeview, Otis Lake and Decatur landed Stalbaum in the third place match. Unfortunately, Stalbaum fell to Aidan Taylor of Union City, who coincidentally was the one to eliminate him from the champions bracket as well.
Walker (285-lbs.) lost his first match of the day by pin, but mirrored Stalbaum with three consecutive wins in the consolation bracket. Those wins – a pin over Charles Walker of Bark River, an 8-1 decision over Cooper Stevens of Jonesville and a pin over Brock Woodhouse of Marcelus – positioned Walker with the chance to make the third place match.
Mitchell Swift of Delton Kellogg defeated Walker by 7-1 decision there, sending him to the fifth place match. Walker was able to grab a win over Doug Hoyt of Otis Lake, earning All-State.
Dominick Smith (138-lbs.) was the only other Panther who made the trip to Detroit. Smith dropped both of his matches, ending his weekend without a placement.
