It was a good week both for the Goodrich wrestling team and for some individual Martian wrestlers.
The Martians captured the Division III team district championship Feb. 19 by defeating Bentley and Flint Beecher. Three days later, three Goodrich wrestlers captured individual district championships.
In the latter meet, Garrett Higdon (103 lbs.), Jeff O’Mara (171), and Barrett Johnson (189), won first place in their respective weight classes. In addition, Jason Fischer (112) and Erik Fernelius (152) took third place in their classes. All five advanced to individual regional competition Saturday, Feb. 28.
Higdon (39-7) defeated Caro’s Justin Robinson by a 15-0 technical fall in the finals of the 103-lb. class. He advanced to the finals by pinning Macomb Lutheran’s Craig Schreiber in 1:40 and then defeating John Michaels of Richmond by a 5-0 decision.
O’Mara (39-0) captured the 171-lb. crown with a 17-6 major decision against Capac’s Anthony Jackson. He started out by pinning LakeVille’s Chris Goodhue in 1:15, then pinned Kevin Macintosh of Flint Beecher in 3:32.
Johnson (45-5) then made it three district championships for the Martians, earning a 4-2 decision against Caro’s Pete Mooney in the division finals. On his way there, Johnson pinned Eric Hollis of Cass City in 1:26 and then Jon Vanderbossche of Yale in 3:23.
Fischer (46-12) earned third place in the 112-lb. class by capturing a 5-3 decision against Yale’s Mark Abate. In his first match, he pinned Capac’s James Hansen in 2:42, then was pinned by Croswell-Lexington’s Dustin Corby in 4:39. He rebounded to defeat Vassar’s Don Sebert by a 12-1 decision.
Fernelius (34-16) earned third place at 152 lbs. by winning a 12-4 decision against Bentley’s Tony Mochty. He started out by pinning Imlay City’s Jack Baker in 1:15, then was pinned by Yale’s Jay Biessel in 1:11. Fernelius then earned a 2-0 decision against Richmond’s Justin Jaynes.
The host Martians soundly defeated their two foes in team district competition Wednesday, Feb. 18, first defeating Bentley 63-6 and then Flint Beecher 48-12 to capture the district championship.
Against Bentley, the Martians won seven matches by forfeit, while the Bulldogs won one match by forfeit. Two of the matches (at 140 and 145) were double voids.
Higdon (103) pinned Ryan Coran in 34 seconds, then Josh Foerster (135) pinned Andy Anderson in 1:12. Fernelius (152) won a hard-fought 6-4 overtime decision against Tony Mochty, and Andy Bohlen (160) capped things off with a pin of Mike Gear in 2:54.
After a rest period, the Martians then defeated the Buccaneers for the district title. The Martians won six matches by forfeit, while the Buccaneers won two by forfeit. Three of the matches (at 119, 125, and 145) were double voids.
Higdon (103) pinned Keith Horton in 57 seconds; Fischer (112) pinned Reggie Alexander in 1:53; O’Mara (171) pinned Kevin McIntosh in 3:42; and Johnson (215) pinned Theo McGinnis in 2:42.