The Brandon wrestling squad didn’t find home cooking to be to their liking.
The host Blackhawks lost all five of their matchups at the Brandon Invitational Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Brandon High School gym. Fraser won the invite, going 5-0 on the day. North Branch was second at 3-2, while Linden took third, also finishing at 3-2.
The other two teams competing in the tourney were Imlay City and Wyandotte Roosevelt.
Despite the team’s loss, two Blackhawk wrestlers excelled on the day, as Justin Eimers and Justin Tripp won all five of their matches.
The Blackhawks started out with a 41-27 loss to Fraser, which won the first three matches between the two teams before Brandon’s Abe Beebe (125) pinned Jeff Miles in 47 seconds. Fraser won five of the next six matches to take the win, with Brandon’s David Geeham (135) the only triumphant Blackhawk wrestler, winning by forfeit.
Brandon wrapped up the bout on a good note, taking the last four matches. Eimers (171) defeated Dave Teipel by a 13-8 decision; Tripp (189) defeated Dean Myers by a 10-5 decision; Joe Tolan (215) defeated Marquez Brown by a 4-2 decision; and Austin Hickman (275) pinned Rob Sammons in 25 seconds.
Wyandotte Roosevelt then defeated Brandon 47-30. Roosevelt took the first three matches before Geeham (135) broke through for the Blackhawks by pinning Jeff Boggess in 4:09. Roosevelt then won the next four matches to take control of the bout.
The Blackhawks won four matchups against Roosevelt: Eimers (171) won by default; Tripp (189) pinned James Wade in 40 seconds; Tolan pinned Shane Skryzki in 1:41; and Hickman pinned John Biser in 41 seconds.
Brandon lost their closest matchup of the day against North Branch, dropping a close 39-36 contest. After North Branch won the first match, Geeham (135) pinned Drew Dixon in 1:09 and Andrew Hyde (140) pinned Joel Gyomory in 3:27 to give the Blackhawks the lead.
North Branch then won the next three matches to take the advantage, but the Blackhawks rallied back in the larger weight classes to regain the lead. Eimers (171) pinned Mike Marshall in 2:29; Cody Sisk (189) pinned Billy Hutchinson in 45 seconds; Tripp (215) pinned Andy Ondrajka in 15 seconds; and Hickman (275) pinned Ray Cline in 1:29.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, North Branch mounted a comeback, winning the last four matches against the Blackhawks to take the win.
A slow start once again hampered the Blackhawks against Imlay City, as Brandon dropped their matchup 54-24. Imlay City won the first five matches between the two teams before Brandon’s Eimers (171) pinned Stan Francis in 5:30. Tripp (189) followed up by pinning Cory Malhado in 1:56, then Tolan (215) pinned Damian Salmond in 13 seconds.
Brandon’s other win came at 119 lbs., as Jimmy Millar pinned Justin Hummel in 5:16.
The Blackhawks wrapped up the competition with a 58-14 loss to Linden. Brandon only won three matchups between the two teams, as Eimers (171) pinned Ben Needham in 46 seconds, Tripp (189) pinned Adam Walker in 29 seconds and Millar (119) won a 6-4 overtime decision against Robert Carsey.
Brandon will attempt to reverse their fortunes Wednesday, Jan. 28 when they host a quad meet at 5 p.m.