Back-to-back champs just has that special sounding ring to it. That’s exactly what the Munising wrestling team gets to call themselves, after defeating Gwinn and Newberry at home on Thursday, allowing the Mustangs to win the Division 4 district championship for the second straight year.
Munising had a relatively easy time with Gwinn, topping them 5124, but they had to battle for every point against Newberry in the final, surviving 43-42.
“It feels great, especially after how close the duel ended up,” head coach Joe Dolaskie said. “We anticipated winning by a bit more, but coach Bob Bowler from Newberry has always been really good about matching up wrestlers to score as many team points as possible. I give him a lot of credit for how close he made the duel.”
Newberry took the first points in the match to take a 6-0 lead, but Henry Bosely got a first period pin to tie things at 6-6 and Logan Gould and Keelan Hase were each given six points thanks to wins on voids, making it 18-6.
A win in 132 brought Newberry within 18-12, but Nolan Dolaskie added six more points on a void in 138. Newberry won the next two bouts to make things 24-all.
In 157, Brody Johns got a pin in the final seconds of the first period, putting the Mustangs back in front at 30-24.
After Newberry made it 30-30, Joseph Kelley had a void victory in 175 to make it 36-30 and Munising kept ahead 42-36 with a first period pin by Robert Johns in 215. The Mustangs lost their match in 285, tying things back up at 42-42. This sent the match into tie-breaker criteria; which gave the edge to the team with the few voids.
“Brody Johns winning his match at 157 by pin was definitely the clincher,” Dolaskie said. “Without that, we would have lost. The match could have gone either way, and in fact Brody was on his back just a few seconds before flipping his opponent over and pinning him. Very exciting.”
Things against Gwinn were much easier. Munising took a 39-0 lead and had more than enough for the win from there.
“We beat them handily, but that’s only because they are a very young team,” Dolaskie said. “(Their coach) is doing a fantastic job growing the program, and they will be a force in the upcoming years.”
Munising was scheduled to compete in team regionals on Wednesday, in St. Ignace. They were to take on Iron Mountain in one semi-final, with St. Ignace and Charlevoix battling in the other. The regional winner moves on to the team finals in Kalamazoo at the Wings Event Center on Feb. 23 and Feb. 24. The Mustangs last won regionals in 2017.
On Saturday, Munising competed in individual districts at Manistique.
Drew VanLandSchoot is a district champion in the 132 weight class. He won all three of his matches via pinfall, including a second period pin over Aiden Osterhout of Manistique in the finals.
Taking second is Cody Lincoln in 138. He won his first two bouts, but came up short after getting pinned by Daniel Manier of Iron Mountain in the finals.
In 144, Korybn Smith will move on thanks to another second place finish. He went 2-1 on the day, with a loss to Hayden O’Neil of Newberry in the first place match.
Logan Gould will move on in the 120 weight class, thanks to his third place finish. He had three wins in the tournament, including a first period pin over Brandon Truong of Iron Mountain in the third place bout.
Andrew Cain also moves on in 126, with a third place finish. His third place win came over Di’Angelo Saldana, of Iron Mountain due to a medical forfeit.
Also coming in third was Joseph Kelley, in 165. He had to win four matches to get it done, including a 9-6 decision win over Andre Bradford in the third place match; Bradford had beaten him earlier in the day on pinfall.
Also competing but unable to place were Robert Johns (215), Avery Much (285), Keelan Hase (126), Conner Eisenhardt (165) and Chris Kulik (175).
The individual regionals on Saturday in Charlevoix. They’ll look to punch their tickets to the individual finals held at Ford Field on March 1 and March 2.
