HARTLAND — The Vikings ran the gauntlet without a blemish.
Dundee’s wrestling team, ranked the state’s No. 1 team in Division 3, took on the No. 1 and No. 10 teams in Division 1 and the No. 1 and No. 4 teams in Division 2 over a four-day span and came away with four wins.
It started with a 49-13 romp over Davison (No. 10 in Division 1) on Wednesday.
The Vikings traveled to Grand Valley State to take on Detroit Catholic Central (No. 1 Division 1 and No. 39 in the country) Friday. That match was tied 29-29 heading into the final match. Blake Cosby gave Dundee the win with a 14-5 major decision at 157 pounds.
Saturday it was on to Hartland where the Vikings beat Lowell (No. 1 Division 2) 40-23 and Linden (No. 4 Division 2) 67-8.
Lowell has won the last 12 Division 2 state titles.
“It’s been a wild week,” Dundee coach Garrett Stevens said.
Stevens, who is in his fourth season as the head coach at his alma mater, says this might have been the toughest week in team history.
“We had three dates in four days,” he said. “That usually doesn’t happen. I was a little worried about the CC dual. We put a lot of emphasis on that because we didn’t get to wrestle them last year.
“Then we have to wrestle at Hartland at 10 a.m. the next day. We’ve been riding an emotional high. This is probably the first time we’ve beaten CC since 2009 or 2010.”
Cosby, Donny Beaufait (175), Avery Lane (165), Mason Haines (120), Bryan Sterling (126) and Austin Miller (285) all went 4-0 for the Vikings.
All of Beaufait’s wins came on technical falls, both Saturday came in the first period and the other two were early in the second.
Lane logged three pins and a major decision.
Haines recorded a pair of pins.
Sterling finished with two pins and a technical fall.
Miller, a sophomore who wrestles heavyweight despite weighing just 205, beat three state-ranked opponents.
“It was a full team effort,” Stevens said. “It takes a whole group. Every single person had a job to do.”
The coach pointed to Tommy Blanchett to emphasize that point.
The freshman normally wrestles at 138, but bumped up to 150 to fill a hole created by an injury.
“He wrestled a two-time state champ from CC and doesn’t get pinned,” Steven said. “He wrestled a guy from Lowell ranked No. 2 in the state and doesn’t get pinned. Those things matter.”
The schedule doesn’t let up this week for Dundee (12-3). The Vikings will face Hudson (No. 1 Division 4) and Clinton (No. 3 Division 4) in the Lenawee County Athletic Association dual-meet tournament Friday and Saturday.
SATURDAY’S EVENTS
PREP BASKETBALL
Whiteford boys hold on
ADRIAN – Whiteford’s boys basketball team built a 41-28 lead through three quarters, then survived a late flurry to beat Adrian Madison 61-58 Saturday.
“Madison really made life miserable,” Whiteford coach Jordan Bollin said of the fourth quarter. “They really ramped up their pressure and we missed a bunch of free throws.
“I thought the performance by our boys was really gritty and really was one of our best wins this year.”
Cole Griffith led the 12-3 Bobcats with 14 points while Luke Henegar and Caden Schroyer tossed in 13 each. Schroyer led with 9 rebounds.
PREP SWIMMING
Mills places sixth
GRAND RAPIDS – David Mills of Erie Mason-Ida held his own against the top swimmers in the state Saturday, placing sixth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:59.86.
He also was 24th in the 50 freestyle.
Brenner Nelson qualified for the state finals while taking 34th in the 50 freestyle and Jared Tunison was 21st in the individual medley. Mason Reynolds and Brendon Tross also competed in the meet.
Bedford’s Andy Nelson had a nice showing in the butterfly, placing 17th. Teammate Jackson Andrews was 18th in diving with Aaron Brewer of Dundee 29th.
Bedford also was represented by Ryan Sharkus, Parker Williams and Aaron Majewski. Tadas Zukovskis swam the backstroke and butterfly for Milan.
JR Hess of Dundee was 20th in the backstroke and 30th in the 50 freestyle.
Monroe’s Jayce Hay placed 27th in the individual medley and 70th in the butterfly. His teammates Alec Adams was 58th in the 100 freestyle.
THURSDAY’S EVENTS
PREP SWIMMING
Mason stays perfect
CHELSEA – Erie Mason-Ida ran its record to 8-0 by dispatching Chelsea 94-86 and Pinckney 110-66.
Jared Tunison (50, 500 freestyle) and David Mills (individual medley, backstroke) were double winners and both swam on two winning relays. Each hit a state-qualifying time.
Other wins came from Brandon Tross (200) and Mason Reynolds (100).
State-ranked foe tops Monroe
DEXTER – State-ranked Dexter was too much for Monroe, rolling to a 141-45 victory.
“Coming off the big win at the county meet we had a lot of enthusiasm and excitement heading to Dexter in the cold,” Monroe coach Erin Dowen said. “Facing a state-ranked team changes the energy levels a bit. I’m very proud of how our athletes handled themselves.”
Noah Carveth, Clinton House, Leandro Alcantara, Gabriel Alcantara and Maxx Wright had the top performances for Monroe.
Carlson’s Keith excels
GIBRALTAR – Owen Keith won the 50-yard freestyle and butterfly and swam a leg on the winning medley relay for Gibraltar Carlson in a 109-77 loss to Trenton.
Jace Starll (diving) and Donovan Randazzo (breaststroke) also won for the Marauders. Dylan Cain and Conor Raftery each took a pair of seconds.
PREP WRESTLING
Bedford overpowers Huron
TEMPERANCE — Bedford got pins from Tristan King (120), Nolan King (138) and Duce Johnston (160) in a 53-27 victory over Ann Arbor Huron.
Caden Merritt (152) added a technical fall and Huron voided five weights.
PREP BOWLING
Airport boys, Flat Rock girls roll
MONROE – Airport’s boys and Flat Rock’s girls remained undefeated during a Huron League stop at Monroe Sport Center.
Airport’s boys handed New Boston Huron its worst loss in school history 22-8 as Wess Barton shot 204 and Tyler Fawcett 201.
The Flat Rock girls handled Milan 23-7 behind a 188 by Camryn Clish and a 187 by Grace Taylor.
In other boys action, Sam Jenness led Milan past Flat Rock 17-13 and Jefferson fell 25-5 to Riverview.
Huron’s girls got a 211 from Vanessa Devita in a 17-13 win over Airport and Riverview nipped Jefferson 16-14.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County Region high school sports roundup for Jan. 31
Reporting by Niles Kruger, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
