News Page

SCOTTVILLE — For the first time since 1980, the Mason County Central Spartans are district wrestling champions. Central captured the Division III district trophy Thursday night by defeating the Reed City Coyotes 41-31 in the championship match.

It was the fourth district title in school history, with previous titles coming in 1980, 1979 and 1974.

The Spartans downed Manistee 56-18 in the semifinal to advance to the championship round.

“We’ve talked about this since the first week of practice,” said Spartan coach Jack Stibitz, who is in his ninth season with Central. “This is exciting. I’m very pleased and very happy.”

In the championship match, Central fell behind 14-3 after the first four matches. The next four bouts were all decided by pins, with Central winning three of them. Andy Sanford, Rex Lloyd and Jacob Alvesteffer turned the tide by getting the falls that shot the Spartans into a 21-20 lead.

“Those pins were big. We picked up some big points,” said Stibitz, whose team followed that run with three more wins.

Jeremy Terryn at 152 scored a win by decision, Jason Fairfield at 160 pinned his opponent and Andy Papes at 189 scored another decision that gave Central a 35-25 advantage with just two matches left.

“Jeremy, Jason and Andy wrestled super matches. I just can’t say enough,” said Stibitz.

Sophomore Nate Oliver finally slammed the door on the Coyotes by pinning his opponent with just 40 seconds gone in the first round.

“Nate was fabulous,” said Stibitz.

Central held an unsurmountable 41-25 lead with one match to go.

“Every one of our kids wrestled super,” added Stibitz. “We didn’t get pinned when we could have and we won when we should have. This was a big win for us. We beat them by just three points earlier in the season.”

In the opening-round win over Manistee, Stibitz was particularly pleased with the performance of Sandra Padron at the 103-weight classification.

“She got pinned by this guy from Manistee earlier in the season. He got her with a head lock,” said Stibitz. “I told her to stay away from the head lock. She pinned him tonight.”

Central now advances to the Division III regional tournament next Wednesday at Howard City Tri-County. Central will take on the winner of the Howard City Tri-County district in the opening round.

In the meantime, the Spartans will also compete in the Division III individual districts this Saturday at Grayling.

Central’s dual record is 22-8. Reed City ended its season at 11-4.

Meet summaries:

MC Central—Manistee

103: Sandra Padron, MCC, pinned Brandon Rozga, MHS, 1:45.

112: Ryan Landis, MHS, pinned Jamie Bidwell, MCC, 1:53.

119: Travis Borema, MCC, won by forfeit.

125: Eva Jurkoski, MCC, won by forfeit.

130: Jason Hutchinson, MCC, decisioned Aaron Forbes, MHS, 6-4.

135: Kris Maddox, MHS, decisioned Andy Sanford, MCC, 20-5.

140: Rex Lloyd, MCC, pinned Yancy Forbes, MHS, 1:55.

145: Jacob Alvesteffer, MCC, pinned Tony Gutowski, MHS, 0:45.

152: Jeremy Terryn, MCC, decisioned Pat Gillespie, MHS, 21-5.

160: Jeremy Maki, MHS, decisioned Jason Fairfield, MCC, 16-6.

171: Jason Terryn, MCC, pinned Kevin Watkins, MHS, 0:58.

189: Chris Longyear, MHS, decisioned Andy Papes, MCC, 5-3.

215: Nate Oliver, MCC, won by forfeit.

275: Jacob Huggard, MCC, pinned Dennis Zavada, MHS, 1:48.

MC Central—Reed City

103: Billy Terryn, RC, decisioned Sandra Padron, MCC, 15-0.

112: Eric Samuels, RC, pinned Jamie Bidwell, MCC, 1:32.

119: Travis Boerma, MCC, decisioned Patrick Murphy, RC, 9-2.

125: Willie Jacobs, RC, decisioned Jason Hutchinson, MCC, 4-2.

130: Andy Sanford, MCC, pinned John Lucha, RC, 1:21.

135: Chad Coon, RC, pinned Brian Jacobson, MCC, 0:23.

140: Rex Lloyd, MCC, pinned Andy Levsby, RC, 2:14.

145: Jacob Alvesteffer, MCC, pinned Justin Shaw, RC, 1:06.

152: Jeremy Terryn, MCC, decisioned Drew Graham, RC, 16-3.

160: Jason Fairfield, MCC, pinned Tim Wade, RC, 1:59.

171: Joey Crane, RC, decisioned Jason Terryn, MCC, 19-4.

189: Andy Papes, MCC, decisioned Eric Estrada, RC, 14-2.

215: Nate Oliver, MCC, pinned Isaac Herrick, RC, 0:40.

275: John Spears, RC, pinned Jacob Huggard, MCC, 0:53.

-------------------

HART — Mason County Central qualified 10 wrestlers for this week’s Division IV individual regional wrestling tournament to be held at Allendale High School on Saturday.

In a tournament that included teams from 13 high schools, the Spartans won two weight-class championships, took four seconds, three thirds and a fourth in Saturday’s Division IV individual district tournament at Hart High. The host Pirates qualified three for regionals, taking a third and two fourths.

“I’m very happy with 10,” said MCC coach Jack Stibitz, who is in his 11th season as Central’s coach. “This is the best turnout ever for a team coming out of districts since I’ve been here.”

State-ranked Hesperia, which captured the Division IV team district championship earlier in the week with victories over Mason County Central and Hart, dominated the meet. The Panthers won eight championships and also had two seconds, a third and two fourths.

Central’s champions were Jacob Alvesteffer at 152 pounds and Nate Oliver at 215. Alvesteffer decisioned Tom Dempsey of Hesperia, 7-0, and Oliver won by default over Mike Bullock of Rogers City.

Finishing second for the Spartans were Sandra Padron at 103, Travis Boerema at 125, Jason Terryn at 171 and Andy Papes at 189. Third-place finishers were Jeremy Larson at 103, Nick Balzeski at 112 and Jacob Huggard at 275. Jason Fairfield took a fourth at 160.

Boerema notched his 100th career victory during the day and Balzeski set a new school record for victories by a freshman. He has 34.

Central’s individual season records are as follows: Huggard 31-14, Padron 19-15, Larson 23-15, Balzeski 34-12, Boerema 37-10, Alvesteffer 40-5, Fairfield 33-15, Terryn 36-12, Papes 34-9, and Oliver 39-6.

Ephraim Rosalez finished third at 160 and Josh Davidson and Caleb Davidson placed fourth at 135 and 145, respectively.

A summary of all matches involving Mason County Central and Hart placers in Saturday’s Division IV individual district wrestling tourney:

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

103: Kelly Sibley, Hesperia, decisioned Sandra Padron, MCC, 6-0.

125: Dewayne Woloskyk, Rogers City, won by default over Travis Boerema, MCC.

152: Jacob Alvesteffer, MCC, decisioned Tom Dempsey, Hesperia, 7-0.

171: Eric Wanstaedt, LeRoy-Pine River, decisioned Jason Terryn, MCC, 14-9.

189: Joe Galer, Onaway, decisioned Andy Papes, MCC, 4-2.

215: Nate Oliver, MCC, won by default over Mike Bullock, Rogers City.

CONSOLATION ROUND

103: Jeremy Larson, MCC, pinned Justin Karsten, Rogers City, 1:33.

112: Nick Balzeski, MCC, decisioned Jeremy Went, Onaway, 11-5.

135: Corey Viegelahn, Rogers City, decisioned Josh Davidson, Hart, 10-3.

145: Chad Burrell, Hesperia, pinned Caleb Davidson, Hart, 2:26.

160: Ephraim Rosalez, Hart, decisioned Jason Fairfield, MCC, 4-1.

275: Jake Huggard, MCC, decisioned Corey Maynard, Rogers City, 2-0.

Division II District

(at Gaylord)

GAYLORD — Four members of Ludington High’s wrestling team made it through Saturday’s Division II Individual District Wrestling Tournament and into this week’s regional round.

“Overall, I would say we had a phenomenal day,” said LHS coach Dave Reed, whose flu-ridden team had nine wrestlers still in the running after the second round. “We did better than I expected.”

Regional qualifiers are Ged Strzynski, who placed third at 130 pounds and won his 100th career match in the process; Caleb Anthony, who was third at 189 pounds; and Kevin James and Andy Hein, who finished fourth at 103 and 140 pounds, respectively.

The four will compete in the individual regional tournament on Saturday at Alma High School.