KALAMAZOO — Whitehall hasn’t beaten Dundee yet, but the Vikings’ decisive 44-24 win over Clinton in Saturday’s state semifinals was the clearest sign yet that no Division 3 program is closer to the seven-time state champs than Whitehall.
The Vikes, who also handily dispatched Gladstone 52-18 in Friday’s quarterfinals, fell to Dundee 49-20 in the championship match to finish as state runner-up for the third time in four seasons, a run interrupted only by being in Division 2 in 2022.
Whitehall beat Clinton by just a point in their previous meeting in December, but among other improvements the Vikings made in the interim two months was getting Wyatt Jenkins back.
The junior, who broke his neck last July at a football camp, incredibly took the mat for the first time this season and didn’t appear rusty at all, defeating all three of his opponents by pin. Jenkins was cleared just five days before Friday. While Jenkins has been with the team all season, he hadn’t expected to be cleared for contact sports until May, so it was a wild development to suddenly be thrust into state finals preparation.
“When I heard that, I was like, ‘Holy crap. It’s time to go,’” Jenkins laughed. “I was so excited. When I watched my team, sometimes if we lost a dual or lost a match, it’s hard not to think, ‘Man, I could’ve contributed there.’ But now I’m actually able to do it, it feels so much better.”
It took him just a minute to pin his Gladstone opponent in his first match of the season, and he took out Clinton and Dundee opponents as well. However, he felt the rust, even if he didn’t show it.
“I was actually pretty bad,” Jenkins said. “If I’d had the whole year to get better, it would have been a lot smoother and probably a lot faster, but it was the best I could do right now.”
While Jenkins shook off the rust, his teammates delivered one of their best collective performances of the year against Clinton. A turning point came at 106 pounds. Holding a 16-12 lead, Whitehall sent Cody Manzo out against regional champion Nate Arntz, who pinned Manzo in December. This time, it was an all-out battle between the two that went into overtime, and Manzo not only won it, but scored a pin in the extra period, firing up the sizable Viking crowd.
“I didn’t wrestle well the first time (against Arntz), so going out there being able to wrestle free knowing that I’ve got my team behind me, it’s great,” Manzo said.
From there, Kolten Weiler also scored a big win at 113, edging Zach Taylor 2-1 to avenge a pin loss in December, and Max Krukowski picked up a major decision at 120. Clinton made a late push to get the score to 29-24 in Whitehall’s favor, but the Vikings polished off the dual with a decision win by Ryne Christensen and pins by both Darnell Mack and Ryan Goodrich.
Coach Justin Zeerip said early wins by Trenton TenBrock, by major decision, and the usual pin by top-ranked Gavin Craner also set a tone in the win.
“Every single guy contributed, so that was awesome,” Zeerip said, adding of unexpected wins like Manzo’s, “It just provides a huge boost of energy and some momentum. The kids start to believe in themselves even more.”
Dundee was a different animal, of course; the superpower program boasted regional champions at nine weight classes, and the starting weight of 126 pounds put Whitehall right in the middle of a run of stars. Dundee ripped off six wins in a row to score 23 straight points to open the match.
The Vikes did their best to battle back later in the dual - Dundee’s weak spots at the higher weight classes resulted in wins for Craner, Jenkins and Jason Smith to go with an injury default win by Goodrich - but Dundee was too much, as it has been for everyone in D-3.
“They’re a special program,” Zeerip said of Dundee. “We knew they were going to be a really tough opponent. We just told the guys to go out and wrestle and fight with their best effort, and I thought they did that. I know it was 49-20, but the kids fought, and Dundee, they’re a top-30 or top-40 program in the country. They’re really good.”
Jenkins and Manzo both noted Whitehall was a young team again this year and should be one again next season. The two teams may well continue being a regular sight in the finals match. The Vikings were significantly closer this time than the 60-18 defeat a year ago, so progress is being made.
“The eighth-grade class through 11th-grade class just has to put some time in the off-season and keep working at things,” Zeerip said. “We’re going to keep focusing on ourselves.”
