A solid effort at Saturday’s Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference wrestling tournament resulted in a fourth-place finish for Sturgis. The Trojans scooped up 113.5 points.
Niles took the conference title with 221.5 points, followed by Battle Creek Lakeview 166.6 and Stevensville Lakeshore 147.5.
The Trojans boasted three runner-up wrestlers. Noah Gleason lost by pin (43 seconds) to Lakeshore’s Patrick Blommel in the 125-pound finals. Blommel is currently ranked No. 8 in Division 2 by MichiganGrappler.com.
Autsin Smith dropped a 6-1 decision to Niles’ Darek Mills in the championship match at 130, and Cole D’Haese, who reached the finals by winning a semifinal match in overtime, was edged 4-0 by Niles’ Wyatt Thornton at heavyweight.
“It was 1-0 going into the third and he rode legs and got near the near fall,” D’Haese said.
“I am very pleased with the performance of our wrestlers [Saturday],” Sturgis coach Bryan Boughton said. “Most met or exceeded expectations. Noah Gleason and Austin Smith both upset opponents to get to second place. Cole D’Haese wrestled great today. Unfortunately, it came down to a very close match in the finals with Thornton of Niles coming out on top.”
Sturgis will be hosting Division 2 team districts Thursday. The Trojans take on rival Coldwater in the first round, with the winner to take on Edwardsburg.
Team Results
1 Niles 221.5
2 BC Lakeview 166.5
3. Stevensville Lakeshore 147.5
4 Sturgis 113.5
5. BC Central 111
6 K-Zoo Central 105
7. Portage Northern 101
8. Portage Central 91
9. Harper Creek 68
10. Mattawan 67.5
11. St. Joe 58.5
12 (tie). Coldwater 56
Gull Lake 56
13. Loy Norrix 51
14. Marshall 27
15. Benton Harbor 0
Sturgis Results
103: Jayce Mobley 0-2
112: Alejandro Soto 1-2
119: Dakota Smith 0-2
125: Noah Gleason 3-1 (2nd)
130: Austin Smith 2-1 (2nd)
135: Dale Harker 0-2
140: Zach Mathews 3-1 (5th)
145: Nolan Tom 1-2
152: Luke Carver 3-1 (5th)
160: Anthony Neal 2-2 (4th)
171: Cole Campbell 3-1 (3rd)
189: Juan Espinoza 0-2
215: Cole D’Haese 2-1 (2nd)
285: Jake Stevens 1-2