For the first time since 2016, the Munising Mustangs wrestling team has won its own Holiday Classic, defeating five other teams from the Eastern Upper Peninsula for the title.
“It’s special to win at home, especially with the younger guys,” Munising Assistant Coach David Bowerman II said. “We were able to have some wins and put forth the effort. It’s great.”
Twelve total teams competed for the title, divided into two six-team divisions. Due to MHSAA regulations limiting wrestlers to only five matches a day, not every team faced the other grouping. Munising finished ahead of Newberry, Manistique, Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace for the eastern title. The Blue Devils scored the most points on the day in the division, but only had a 3-2 record. Both Munising and Newberry went 4-1, but Munising had more points.
The Mustangs went 4-1 on the day, scoring 204 total points in their matches. Heads up, they went 4-1, defeating Menominee, Ishpeming, Gwinn and Westwood. They fell only to the Bark River Harris Broncos by a score of 6024. The Broncos won the overall title.
Four Mustangs went undefeated in their matches. Reagan Bowerman, Andrew Cain, Corbin Smith and Logan Gould. This is the second tournament this season where Bowerman and Cain were undefeated.
But the tournament also provided firsts for some of the newer wrestlers. Heavyweight Avery Murk and Connor Masters in the 190 division both had their first victories by pin.
“We got a couple big wins for our younger guys. To get those wins as newer kids is a big confidence booster,” Bowerman said.
Bowerman said the team did well bouncing back after the beginning of the holiday break.
“It’s dicult to come back from the holidays. You get that holiday hangover so the work you put in can be a little slow moving, but the team came back strong. Very impressed,” Bowerman said.
The tournament is the biggest indoor athletic event for Munising High School in terms of participation. With four mats, over 20 volunteers plus school sta trainers and boosters helped make the event a reality. Over 300 people in total watched or participated in the event.
“It always amazed me when I wrestled that people would come all day to see us compete at a tournament, but now you’re seeing some more people come out,” Bowerman said. “For a while there, you’re just trying to keep a team together and compete, but it looks like the sport is catching on a little more. You see Bark River Harris with 25 wrestlers and get excited about where the other programs are going.”
Munising has two meets next week, a quad-meet at Gwinn on Wednesday and the Escanaba Elks tournament on Saturday. It is the 50th anniversary of the Elks Tournament and 20 teams are expected to compete.
