Brandon’s varsity wrestling team achieved a couple key milestones at the Oakland County Tournament Dec. 15-16 at Clarkston.
Two Blackhawks, Andrew Hyde and Zeke Grounds, placed individually in the tournament as the Blackhawks placed 19th out of 43 teams, earning 87 points. Coach Erik Donders said the team’s finish was their highest at the county tournament in 12 years.
Hyde’s second-place finish in the 152-pound weight class also represented a significant achievement for the Blackhawks.
‘That was the last time we had someone in the finals (in their respective weight class),? Donders said. ‘That was the highest place we’ve had since then.?
In 1994, Brandon’s Joe Constable finished in first place in the 112-lb. weight class at the county meet.
Clarkston won this year’s county tournament with 291 points, followed by Lake Orion (269.5) and Oxford (217).
In addition to Hyde’s finish, Grounds placed fourth at 275 pounds. The Blackhawks had five other grapplers make it to the second day of competition: Matt Sweetman, Jacob Beebe, Sam McGeachy, John Cariveau and Aaron Hyde.
In order to qualify for the second day of the tournament, individual wrestlers needed to win twice during the first day of competition.
Andrew Hyde started out the tournament by pinning Trent Pfeifle of Pontiac Northern in 28 seconds, then pinned Carl Soltisz of Waterford Kettering in 56 seconds.
On the second day, he defeated Birmingham Groves? Keyon Grayer by decision, then defeated Troy’s Nick Parrett by a 17-7 major decision. Hyde then defeated Ferndale’s Chris Johnson by a 3-1 decision before losing a 17-1 technical fall to Lake Orion’s Jake Verilke in the championship match.
Meanwhile, Grounds started the first day by pinning Pontiac Northern’s Damion Bester in 1:22, then earned an 11-6 decision against Rochester Adams? Zach Trumble.
The following day, Grounds defeated Troy’s Dennis Sekulic by decision and earned a 5-4 decision against Hazel Park’s Greg Burlager. Grounds then lost a 16-6 major decision to Royal Oak’s Paul Webb.
Grounds bounced back with a 3-1 win against Oxford’s Aaron Moore before being pinned by Rochester’s Dave Sexton in 3:46 in the third-place match.
Brandon’s five other second-day qualifiers all finished the tournament with 2-2 records during the competition. Sweetman competed in the 103-pound category, while Beebe competed at 112, McGeachy at 125, Cariveau at 130, and Aaron Hyde at 160.
Brandon’s next scheduled meet is at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, when the Blackhawks are scheduled to compete in the Mayville Invitational.