The Sault High Varsity Blue Devils wrestling team was looking to extend its regular season Wednesday night during the Division 2 District 133 match up in Escanaba. The hosts had the bye, pairing the Sault against Marquette first.
Calvin Aldrich (215) took to the mat first against Curtis Houghton, and Houghton won by points (8-5) putting Marquette up on the board first. Sawyer Kuenzer (285) took on Talon Smith and won by points (3-0) tying up the match. The Sault had a void at 106, Chase Tracey (113) won by void, and the Sault had a void at 120, making the score 12-15. Max VanDoren (126) beat Beepsee Teeple by points (9-5) tying up the match again. The Sault had one last void void at 132, and that would be the last time the Sault gave up points for the duration of the match. Will Ohman (138) had a quick pin (0:45) over Tobias Simmons and Caleb Klier (144) followed with another first period pin over Harland Dombrowski (1:23). Sam Kiekhaefer (150) had a void and the Sault finished out the match with four more pins. Brett Siesel (157) pinned Pearce Ross (3:29), Marc DeWildt (165) pinned Brody Caster (5:30), Cody Russo (175) pinned Daniel Hewitt (2:25) and Chris Kiekhaefer finished the match with a pin over Trent Sadler (1:27). The final score was Sault 54; Marquette 21.
In the final round, the Sault had to wrestle Escanaba. Kuenzer started the match out right with a pin over Thomas Benoit (2:55). Neither Escanaba nor the Sault had wrestlers in the 106 lb weight class, causing a double void. Tracey was pinned by Chase Royer, tying up the score. The Sault had a void in the 120 lb weight class, but Max VanDoren closed the gap with a win by decision over Linnea Britton (7-1), making the score Sault 9, and Escanaba 12. Escanaba took the next six weight classes, putting an unfortunate gap in the score. The Sault had a void in the 132 lb weight class, Ohman lost by decision to Eli Gardner (3-2), and Klier lost by decision to Nick Chou (12-7). Sam Kiekhaefer was pinned by Cannon Arnt, Siesel lost by decision to Dustin Skerbeck (5-0) and DeWildt was pinned by Kaleb Gagne. The Blue Devils rallied with wins by pin in the next three weight classes, but it wasn’t enough to take back control of the match. Russo pinned Evart Olson (1:03), Chris Kiekhaefer pinned Hunter Portillo (2:53), and Aldrich pinned Aubree Croasdell (0:19). The final score was Sault 27; Escanaba 39.
The Blue Devils will now focus their efforts on Individual Districts, which will take place in Gaylord this weekend. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to Individual Regional competition, with the end goal of qualifying for the State Championships at Ford Field in March.
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