Many of the wrestling teams with legitimate state championship aspirations coasted through regionals on Wednesday, Feb. 18, but Brighton faced a worthy adversary it couldn’t afford to overlook.
The third-ranked Bulldogs pulled out a 38-26 victory over sixth-ranked Grand Ledge in a regional semifinal before blowing out Hastings 69-5 in the championship match at Portage Northern High School.
Grand Ledge has seven wrestlers ranked in the top nine in their weight class in Division 1, including three in the top two. Brighton has nine wrestlers in the top nine.
“They qualified nine to regionals and they’ve been a top-10 team all year,” Brighton coach Matt Wisniewski said. “If they’re in a different regional, they’re probably going to team states.”
Brighton’s ability to limit the damage against Grand Ledge’s top wrestlers contributed significantly to the victory.
Unranked Conrad Eberly lost by only a 10-6 decision to Eben Abdo, who is ranked No. 2 at 132 pounds, which gave the Comets only three points instead of a possible six for a pin. Abdo is 50-1 with 36 pins and eight technical falls. Only three of his victories have been by regular decisions.
Alex Salmon lost an 8-1 decision at 285 to top-ranked Logan Tollison, who is 49-0 with 43 pins. It was only the second time an opponent limited Tollison to a regular decision.
Mason Gardner lost a major decision, worth four points, to second-ranked 175-pounder Ashton Delaney. Delaney has 29 pins and 11 technical falls is a 50-1 record.
Also, unranked Liam Wood got things started with a technical fall at 106.
“Grand Ledge came to wrestle,” Wisniewski said. “That’s a tough team, but our team stepped up. It was for sure a team win tonight. Some of our guys who maybe aren’t necessarily the most highly touted really stepped up to save some team points and get us some team points where maybe they weren’t expected.”
Ethan Smith had Brighton’s only pin at 132. The Bulldogs had five technical falls worth five points each.
Brighton advances to the state quarterfinals against an opponent to be determined when the MHSAA reveals the team finals draws on Sunday, Feb. 22. The Bulldogs are heading to the team finals for the third year in a row and 10th time in the last 16 seasons.
“Most likely if we win a state title this year we’re going to have to go through Davison, Hartland and (Detroit Catholic Central), the perennials,” Wisniewski said.
Elsewhere, 14th-ranked Fowlerville’s quest for a third regional championship in four years ended with a 43-29 loss to seventh-ranked Eaton Rapids in the regional semifinals.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton wrestlers beat loaded Grand Ledge on way to regional title
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
