Prep roundup: Wealth spread at Big North wrestling championships; Elk Rapids takes down Tawas at Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit

Brendan Quealy, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·6 min read

Feb. 5—TRAVERSE CITY — Saturday was a fine day on the mat for wrestlers across the Big North Conference.

The Big North Championships took place at Traverse City Central High School, and the host Trojans saw four of their wrestlers take home individual conference titles. Michael Risinger (113-pound), Grady Rousse (132-pound), Dutch Ballan (144-pound) and Remy Soper (215-pound) all won first place in their respective weight brackets.

Risinger defeated Gaylord's Sunni LaFond, 9-4. Rousse toppled Gaylord's Austin Morse by pinfall at 2:48. Ballan took down Petoskey's Jaden Vanderwall, also winning by pinfall at 2:00. Soper won by major decision, 12-3, over Traverse City West's Brady Vaughan.

Other champions included Gaylord's Brayden Gautreau defeating Petoskey's Connor Grebe by pinfall in 39 seconds at 175 pounds, Gaylord's Ty Bensinger defeating Cadillac's Justin Paszkowski by technical fall at 190 pounds, Gaylord's Caden Sides defeating Cadillac's Shawn Paszkowski by pinfall in 2:54 at 285 pounds, Gaylord's Jaron Bensinger defeating Cadillac's Matt Rienerston by pinfall in 2:00 at 106 pounds, Traverse City West's Alex Reynolds defeated Gaylord's Joseph Cummings by pinfall in 3:53 at 120 pounds, Cadillac's Maveric Hoffert defeating Petoskey's Ryan Cook by a 4-0 decision at 126 pounds, TC West's Jon Palmer defeating TC Central's Brady Slocum by a 2-0 decision at 138 pounds, Petoskey's Brendan Swiss defeating Gaylord's Gus James by a 3-1 decision at 150 pounds, Petoskey's Trevor Swiss defeating Gaylord's Zane Wollowbee by a 4-3 decision at 157 pounds, and Cadillac's Luke Phillips defeating Gaylord's Ethan Chandler by a 10-1 major decision at 165 pounds.

BOYS BASKETBALL

DETROIT — The Elk Rapids varsity boys basketball made the trek to Detroit and headed home with its 10th victory of the season.

The Elks (10-4, 5-3 Lake Michigan) knocked off Tawas in nonconference action Saturday, winning 52-46 on the home court of the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesar's Arena. Elk Rapids head coach Kevin Ball said it was a "really good game" that remained close throughout, including a 20-19 Elks' lead at halftime.

"It took the boys a while to adjust to the size of the floor, but it was very cool to see them out there," Ball said. "I'm proud of their efforts coming off a conference game last night."

The back-to-back wins came on back-to-back days after Elk Rapids topped Charlevoix, 51-28, on Friday. The Elks are on the road for their next three games as they visit Kalkaska on Tuesday, Traverse City St. Francis on Friday and Harbor Springs on Valentine's Day for a stretch of Lake Michigan Conference games.

Spencer Ball led with 13 points and five rebounds. Haven Somers had 10 points, four steals and four assists. Ryan McGuire collected a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.

ICE HOCKEY

De La Salle 3(SO)

TC Central 2

Traverse City Central: Koen Burkholder 1 goal; Hunter Folgmann 1 goal, 1 assist; Owen Dawson 2 assists, record 100th varsity point; Brady Faille 28 saves. Game was tied 2-2 at end of regulation; Trojans lost 1-0 in a three-player shootout.

Country Day 3(SO)

Bay Reps 2

Traverse City Bay Reps: Grant Lucas 1 goal; Ethan Coleman 1 power-play goal, 1 assist; Nick Dashner 1 assist; Larson Millar 1 assist; Garrett Hathway 26 saves.

UP NEXT: The Bay Reps (12-5-2) host Sault Ste. Marie on Friday.

WRESTLING

Stags win Northwest Conference championship

BENZONIA — The Kingsley varsity boys wrestling team won the team championship at Saturday's Northwest Conference finals at Benzie Central High School.

Kingsley results: 103 — Alex Drury 1-2, DNP; 113 — Ryan Roelofs 2-1, 3rd; 132 — Gavyn Merchant 2-0, Champion; 138 — Jon Pearson 2-0, Champion; 144 — Issac Grahn 1-2, 4th; 150 — Justin Grahn 2-0, Champion; 157 — Isaiah Cosgrove 1-1, 2nd; 165 — Kyan Fessenden 2-0, Champion; 175 — Caleb Bott 2-1, 3rd; 190 — Maximus Goethals 2-0, Champion; 215 — Samuel Goethals 3-0, Champion; 285 — Raymond VanDyke 2-0, Champion.

The Stags' girls team competed at the Midland Invitational where Moira Martz went 3-2 for fifth place at 115 pounds and Adalene Chambers went 3-0 to win the championship at 170 pounds.

BOWLING

Titans secure GNHSBC championship

TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City West varsity boys bowling team edged rival Traverse City Central by a 17-13 final in Saturday's Great Northwest High School Bowling Conference meet at Lucky Jack's to secure the Division 1-2 championship.

The Trojans won the first Baker game 199-154 before the Titans took game two by a 233-161 final and took the series at 387-360. The Titans took the first regular game 985-931, and the Trojans answered by taking the second game 899-828 and the regular game series by a tight score of 1,830-1,813. West won seven of 10 individual points. TC Central's JJ Hinsala shot a 193 in the first game and then fired 10 strikes in a row to finish with a 285.

The Traverse City Christian boys team is in position to win the Division 3-4 championship, just ahead of Benzie Central. Both the 1-2 and 3-4 division championships will be decided at the final conference meet Saturday.

Girls results: TC Christian def. Cadillac, 30-0; Glen Lake def. TC Central, 26-4; TC West def. the blind, 30-0.

Girls high scores: Taylor Phillips, TC West — 242; Jordan LaFleur, TC West — 234, 180; Alyssa Tanner, TC West — 213, 172; Chloe Crick, Glen Lake — 203, 182; Naomi Elenbaas, TC Christian — 185.

Boys results: Bellaire def. Elk Rapids, 23-7; TC Central def. the blind, 27-3; TC West def. TC Central 17-13; TC Christian def. Cadillac, 28-2; Benzie Central def. Glen Lake, 27-3; Elk Rapids HV def. TC West JV, 25-5; TC Christian JV def. Glen Lake JV, 27-3.

Boys high scores: JJ Hintsala, TC Central: 285, 193; Keagan Klinglesmith, TC West: 253, 210; Josh Millward, TC Christian: 236; Carter Banton, TC Central: 234, 187; Brady Hoogerhyde, Bellaire: 234; Tristan Lhamon, TC Christian: 232, 198;Connor Putman, Cadillac: 223, 204; Dannie Arnold, TC West: 220; Jonathan Gardner, Cadillac: 215; Seth Brown, Elk Rapids: 213; Cooper Phillips, TC West: 206; Alberto Lopez, Benzie: 203, 192; Reilly Kinnee, Glen Lake: 200; Noah Frank, TC Central: 197; Dominic Lopez, Benzie: 195; Tanner Crick, Glen Lake: 192; Luke Rasmussen, TC Christian: 190, 187.