Blue Devil Wrestling Starts Out Strong

The Sault High Varsity Blue Devils wrestling team opened their season with a pair of Straits Area Conference duals in Cheboygan on Wednesday night. The Blue Devils took on the Cheboygan Chiefs first, with Caleb Klier (144) starting the dual off right by pinning Jason Peacock (1:36), followed by a Brett Siesel (150) pin over DJ Wichlacz (3:34), Brady Rondeau (157) pinning Trevor Waller (4:38), and Jonah Rishmawi (165) with a pin over Aydin Vizina (2:33). Marc DeWildt (175) and Cody Russo (190) both beat their opponents Evan Blaskowski and Hayden Lapointe by points, (8-1 and 6-0), bringing the score up to 30-0. Chris Kiekhaefer (215) pinned Michael Beck in the first period (0:52), and Sawyer Kuenzer (275) added six more points to the score with a second period pin over Ted Rose (2:31). River Amend (106) earned six for his team with a void, bringing the score up to 48-0. Cheboygan got on the board when Evan Fradette (113) pinned Chase Tracey (1:32), and then added another six points with the Sault’s only hole in the lineup (120). Max VanDoren (126) won by void and Wyatt Peabody (132) beat Jeremiah Huntley by points (7-6). Will Ohman (138) finished off the dual with a first period pin (0:54) making the final score 63-12. Head Coach Jacinto Arreola commented on meeting Cheboygan on the mat again. “Our guys wrestled tough. With a hard two weeks of preseason, working to get our new wrestlers prepared and shake off the rust with the seasoned guys. We fired out strong in the first match against Cheboygan. Knowing last season they were the team to beat in order to clinch the SAC championship, we knew they were itching to try and dethrone the reigning champs at their home.”

In the second matchup of the night, the Blue Devils wrestled the St Ignace Saints. The Saints came out strong, with first period pins in the first four weight classes. Gabe Werkheiser (150) pinned Siesel (1:35), Kollin Bird (157) pinned Rondeau (1:56), Jax Lipnitz (165) pinned Rishmawi (0:36), and Austin Roughton (175) pinned DeWildt (1:06). Russo (190) earned the first points for the Blue Devils with a void. Kiekhaefer (215) continued the Blue Devils momentum pinning Jayce Causley (1:41) followed by a Kuenzer (275) pin over Mason Bird (0:28). Amend (106) had another void, tying it up 24-24. St Ignace fought back with Jed Brady (113) pinning Tracey (0:54), six points for the Blue Devils void (120) and Dalton Champion (126) pinned VanDoren (3:38). With three matches left, the score was St Ignace 42, Blue Devils 24. Peabody (132) pinned Bodie Lipnitz (3:15), Klier (138) pinned Brodie Leopold (5:48) and Ohman (144) tied it up with a pin over Blake Martin (0:38). The final score was 42-42. “We knew St. Ignace was going to be a tough team. Focused on working through our moves no matter the score. Full line up is important, in this case it showed. After pinning out on our last 3 matches to tie the score. We won by criteria on having less matches voided.”

The Blue Devils (2-0) hit the mats again on Saturday at the St Ignace Lions Club Invitational.