MUSKEGON — It was a little closer than it usually is at the GMAA tournament Saturday at Orchard View, but in the end the result is what it almost always is - Whitehall bringing home a trophy.
The Vikings outscored runner-up Reeths-Puffer 209-184.5 to win another GMAA title, their 18th in the past 19 years. Only the 2020 Rockets have interrupted Whitehall's hegemony over the event. (Montague placed sixth, with 93.5 points.)
Half of the 14 weight classes saw local wrestlers ascend to the top, including two Vikings. Gavin Craner and Wyatt Jenkins, unsurprisingly, continued their dominant seasons with easy titles. Jenkins only had to wrestle twice at 285 pounds, pinning both his foes, while Craner took the 215-pound title with two pins and a technical fall win over the Rockets' Sage Secrest in the finals.
"Gavin and Wyatt (each) bumped up a
weight and were super dominant," Whitehall coach Justin Zeerip said.
The individual highlight, though, belonged to R-P senior Ian Cook, who joined a very exclusive club by winning his fourth GMAA championship, at 144 pounds. Cook pinned all three of his opponents and flashed four fingers on both hands as he was declared the winner. He's not the first Rocket to achieve that milestone - Tyler Stenberg did it in 2013 - but very few have achieved his rare air.
Reeths-Puffer's Ian Cook flashes four fingers on both hands after being declared winner of the 144-pound GMAA title Saturday. Cook joined an exclusive club as a four-time GMAA champion.
"Finally accomplishing this is like a weight lifted off my
shoulders," Cook said, noting his mind was on this moment as soon as he won his first title as a freshman. "There was always that shadow in my head that
was thinking a little bit of negative thoughts. There was
also that positive bright side of me that was just pushing
that out of the way saying I could do it. After actually
accomplishing that, they're both gone, and it's a good feeling."
Two of Cook's freshman teammates may someday join him as four-timers after earning championships Saturday. Travis Henderson took the title at 113 pounds, and Tanner Cowles did it at 132. Henderson beat Kassie Sapp, who became the first girl to ever make the finals in the GMAA boys bracket, in his final, while Cowles scored a pair of major decisions and a pin on the day.
R-P coach Brad Cowles, Tanner's dad, said both freshman wrestlers, particularly his son, have benefited from seeing Cook put in the work he does.
"(Cook) pulls him in the practice room and he's constantly
working with him," coach Cowles said. "He's not a kid that's stingy with who he wrestles with
because he knows he's going to improve on his own. He's constantly
improving others at the same time."
In the preseason, Cowles said Cook, who placed third at state a year ago and has been all-state all three years so far, should be a state championship contender. With the postseason approaching, the coach said he can't really see any particular weaknesses in Cook, though for his part, Cook said improving on his feet will bolster his chances at making a run.
"I've got to move my feet a little more," Cook said. "I know I can ride anybody out and that I can get away from anybody, I've just
got to get better at taking people down."
Cowles added that his son's fitness enthusiasm makes him a better wrestler, and Henderson's athletic gifts make him a budding star as well.
"Tanner is big into CrossFit, so he gets up at 6 in the morning every
day," coach Cowles said. "Travis is the same. He's a natural athlete. I haven't seen a
natural athlete like him in a long time. He's got what it takes to be a
state champ."
Two Montague Wildcats - Fletcher Thommen and Isaac French - earned championships, Thommen at 150 and French at 190. Thommen edged R-P's Hunter Eek 14-10 for his championship after scoring a technical fall and a pin in early rounds, and French rallied from a big late deficit to pin Whitehall's Parker Mott in the semifinals, then dominated the finals by technical fall. Maverick Osborne added a second-place finish at 285.
"All three of these kids wrestled with a lot of passion and desire today," Montague coach Kris Maddox said.
"Issac has been really stepping into his own lately and we look forward
to watching him continue to lead. The GMAA is a very tough tournament
which pushes our team. When you look at school sizes, we did fairly well, but still have improvements to make heading towards the final stretch of
the season."
Whitehall's depth was strong, as usual; in addition to Craner's and Jenkins' titles and Sapp's history-making run to the finals, the Vikings put Tommy Leeke, Cody Manzo, Max Krukowski and Liam Leeke in the finals at 106, 120, 126 and 157 respectively, each taking second. Mott and Blake English (150) finished third, and Kolten Weiler (132) and Hunter Peterson (144) took fourth.
Zeerip was particularly impressed with Peterson, who wrestled up from his normal spot in the lineup to maximize team points.
"Hunter stepped up
to the plate and wrestled at 144 for the team," Zeerip said. "He showed such a great
effort. It takes a lot to bump up weight classes
like that. He weighed in at 138 and bumped up to 144. I couldn't be
prouder of him.
"When you get to this point in the season, the Greater Muskegon
tournament, you know the postseason is near, so that's good to start
clicking and firing off on all
cylinders."
Eek and Secrest were R-P finalists to take second place, as was Andrew Corradin at 175. Max Knowlton (106) and Aiden Neal (165) placed third, and Arin Maynard (120) and Cory Judd (126) were fourth.
The injury bug bit both teams during the meet; senior Caden Varela had to drop out of a consolation match with an injury, and Jake Rozycki was unavailable for the Rockets.
Coach Cowles said he was very pleased with his team's performance Saturday and all season so far.
"The improvement from last
year to this year is amazing," Cowles said. "The kids are willing to put in
the work on the mat in the summertime. It's good to have a team that's as motivated as the coaches are."
Cook added that the bright young freshmen on the team make him confident in the future, even as he celebrated the present.
"They have a lot of athleticism and a lot of talent," Cook said of his teammates. "I think (when) I'm
gone and as years go
on, we're going to become a really strong team. I think we could be a
state-contending team. We've got a lot of freshmen and a couple
sophomores, and we're not losing many seniors. That's why I'm so
confident in the team."
