Whitehall settled for second place Saturday at the West Michigan Conference tournament in Fremont, though a slew of individual wrestlers had dynamic performances.
The Vikings scored 277 points, 17.5 fewer than first-place Hart. Montague had a solid overall performance of its own, placing third with 158 points.
Six Whitehall wrestlers scored individual WMC titles: Kolten Weiler (132 pounds), Blake English (157), Liam Leeke (165), Gavin Craner (190), Wyatt Jenkins (215) and Cody Manzo (120). Each posted multiple bonus-point wins in their bracket.
Craner pinned all three of his opponents, and Jenkins scored two pins before defeating Hart's Abdel Lopez by technical fall in the finals, 15-0. Leeke had a pin and two technical-fall wins, including a 19-3 win over Haegan Hansen of Hart in the finals. English scored two technical falls, then beat Kai Miller of Hart, 10-2, in his finals match.
Manzo earned technical falls in both his matches, and he too beat a Pirate in the finals - Michael Chavira, by a 15-0 score. Weiler posted a pair of pins, then edged Halen Boos of Hart in a close final, 17-12.
Also for Whitehall, Max Krukowski (126), Wyatt McFarren (144), Isaac O'Boyle (106) and Tommy Leeke (113) were runners-up. Each had at least one bonus-point win on the day. Colton Kyser took third place at 150 and he too had a bonus-point win, by technical fall. Kassie Sapp dominated the 115/120 girls weight class, scoring pins in all three of her matches.
The Wildcats had three wrestlers finish in second place: Fletcher Thommen (150), Isaac French (175) and Maverick Osborne (285). Thommen scored a pair of technical falls, and French and Osborne each had a win by pin.
"I’m really proud of our team this year," Montague coach Kris Maddox said. "To finish third out of 14 teams
behind state-ranked (teams) Whitehall and Hart is an accomplishment this team
should be proud of. We lost a few matches today I think we could have
won, but that’s how this sport works."
