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6 going to state, 6 hoping to medal

BY NATE THOMPSON
nthompson@grandhaventribune.com

John Houseman will have plenty of company for his third trip to the Division 1 state wrestling finals, which are set to begin Thursday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Houseman was the lone Buc fortunate enough to battle in the spectacular atmosphere of the Palace a year ago, but has the luxury of having five teammates joining him this season, a fact that he says should make the trip more enjoyable.

"I'm a lot more excited this time around," Houseman said, a junior who placed third in the state at 119 pounds in 2006. "I think it will be better that I get to share it with more people on this team."

One of those people will be his brother Derek, a senior who has qualified for the first time.

"I love that," John said.

Each of Grand Haven's qualifiers should be well prepared for anything they encounter at state. They battled in one of the toughest wrestling conferences in the state in the O-K Red, which features Div. 1 team state champion Rockford. The individual regional was just as difficult, prompting Grand Haven coach James Richardson to claim it was the toughest one he's been around in 16 years of coaching.

"It was such a long tournament," said Grand Haven senior Seth Holt, who won his regional at 189 pounds. "It seemed like every match went a full six minutes."

"For us to get six in this year is great," Richardson added, noting that in John Houseman's 130-pound weight class alone, there were seven returning state qualifiers. "It would equal out to about nine any other year."

John Houseman finished runner-up at regionals to Rockford's Jeff Shutich, a senior with a 49-0 record. Houseman said he's gunning for an upset against his Rockford rival, but first must focus his attention on Lake Orion's A.J Pratt, a junior with a 36-9 record.

"The boys need to focus on their first opponent. You can't afford to look ahead," Richardson said. "All of the 16 kids (in each weight class at state) are there for a reason and they're all good wrestlers."

One good wrestler who finally overcame some tough regional luck is 140-pounder Derek Houseman. He was a mere one point and two points away from qualifying during his sophomore and junior years, but finally broke through this season with a runner-up showing to another Rockford standout, J.J. Johnson.

Although this will be his first time competing at the Palace, he's been a spectator quite a few times, including being his brother's biggest supporter.

"I've been going to state since I've been in eighth grade," he said. "I've always stayed with my brother, so I know what to expect."

Being Grand Haven's lone regional champ, the expectations are high for Holt, who opens with Detroit Catholic's Matt Aubrey in the opening round. Richardson said he's seen an amazing amount of progression in Holt, making his rise to regional champion truly special.

"He's a kid who completely changed his style," Richardson said of Holt, who lost at individual districts a year ago. "He's worked all spring and summer on his take downs and becoming better on his feet. He's completely changed compared to a year ago."

Grand Haven's big man, Dann O'Neill, probably had the most exciting berth to the state finals, upsetting Kalamazoo Central's Terrell Travier in the do-or-die consolation semis, a opponent who had defeated O'Neill at individual districts and team regionals. If O'Neil suffered a third loss to Travier, he wouldn't be preparing for state right now.

O'Neill fell behind by a double digit margin but stunned his opponent in the final round.

"I punished him for about a full minute and then I finally was able to turn him, put him on his back and then pinned him," O'Neill said. "It was a big win."

The junior enters the 275-pound weight class with a 44-8 record and will match up with Sean Lathrup of Lincoln Park, a senior who sports a 37-7 record.

John Houseman isn't the only Buc returning to the Palace. But at this time a year ago, D.J. Brandon was wearing the black and white of West Ottawa. The senior transferred to Grand Haven for this school year and has continued to dominate on the Lakeshore. Brandon said his first experience at state was truly nerve-racking.

"You walk into that place with people all around you, and you don't know what to think," said Brandon, who has compiled an impressive 46-6 record. "I think the biggest obstacle your first time is all mental. You're too busy thinking about the people and the crowd."

"D.J. has really been a pleasant surprise," Richardson said. "He's done everything you ask of him and more. He's put in countless hours of work this past summer and last spring. I believe he's as good as any kid in the state."

Richardson's confidence has rubbed off on Brandon, who is setting his sites on a state title, despite having Rockford's standout junior Ben Bennet in his weight class.

"That's my ultimate goal — to become a state champion," Brandon said. "I know I can do it. I've just got to take it match by match."

Richardson said he's probably been the most proud of 145-pound senior Zac Savage, who continues to impress despite battling heavier opponents.

"Zac started out at 135 this season, but he hit a growth spurt and went up to 140," Richardson said. "But he decided right before districts that he's move up to 145, mostly because him and John (Houseman) are such good friends."

Savage had to battle another teammate in Kyle O'Bradovic at regionals and prevailed, eventually finishing fourth. At state, Savage will battle Traverse City West's Seth Chargo in the opening round, a junior with a 41-6 record.

Richardson said the team's ultimate goal would be six state medalists. Grand Haven hasn't had that many since 1999, when the magic number was also six.

Rockford wrestlers take control of O-K Red

Friday, February 02, 2007

By Jeff Chaney

The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND HAVEN -- Rockford wrestling coach Don Rinehart missed the first dual match in his 33 years of coaching the Rams to take part in his daughter's wedding in Mexico on Thursday.

Rinehart missed a good one, as his Rams, the top-ranked team in Division 1, traveled to Grand Haven to take on the Buccaneers, the ninth-ranked team in Division 1.

Rockford dismantled the host Buccaneers by winning 11 of the 14 matches wrestled and cruised to a 49-10 victory.

The win puts Rockford in the driver's seat in the O-K Red Conference. The Rams improved to 6-0 in the league, and now have a one-match lead over Grand Haven and Jenison with one week to go before the conference tournament.

"It will be a very favorable call to coach Rinehart," said acting coach Greg Hobart, Rinehart's lead assistant coach. "This is a different situation with me coaching, but the guys did a great job. It was very impressive that we won 11 matches."

Senior Alex Murray set the tone for the Rams right away, winning the first match of the evening by technical fall over Tyler Wiebenga in their 152-pound match.

Grand Haven kept it close in the upper weights, trailing just 15-10 after junior heavyweight Dan O'Neill beat Rockford's Jesse Somsel 8-0.

But the Rams went on to win the next eight matches, including two highly anticipated matches at 130 and 140 pounds.

At 130, Rockford's Jeff Shutich beat John Houseman, both all-state wrestlers a year ago, 11-5. Then at 140, J.J. Johnson beat Houseman's older brother Derek Houseman 6-4.

"The kids did what we asked them to do all week, including practice," Hobart said. "The response was great."

Grand Haven coach James Richardson said his team came out a little flat Thursday night, and it can't do that wrestling a team the caliber of Rockford.

"We were flat," Richardson said. "I think the kids felt we couldn't win because we didn't have our full lineup."

The Buccaneers were a bit short-handed, as Cameron Krizan at 171 and Jeremy Wiebenga at 215 are still sidelined because of injury.

"But you can't make excuses, and I don't want to take anything away from Rockford, they are a very good team," Richardson said. "For a number of reasons, our weaknesses were exposed tonight. But we have time to get better, because our whole goal is to get better every time we wrestle."

Grand Haven wrestling fights injuries
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
By Jeff ChaneyThe Grand Rapids Press

The Grand Haven wrestling team hasn't let a few injuries slow down a great season. The Buccaneers have dealt with injuries recently, but have wrestled through it, posting a 4-0 record in the O-K Red Conference, 15-1 overall.

Saturday, Grand Haven won the Sparta Invitational with 195 points, 21 points ahead of runner-up Sparta. "The guys are wrestling pretty well right now," Grand Haven coach James Richardson said. "We have been dinged up. We haven't wrestled with a full lineup all year. We have been close, but not a full lineup. One wrester has a separated shoulder, one has a broken hand and one a broken foot.

"We get one back this week and the other in a couple of weeks. So we have been moving our lineup, but the guys have responded."

They did Saturday as Tyler Leppanen, John Houseman, D.J. Brandon, Seth Holt and Dan O'Neill won individual championships at Sparta.

The Buccaneers got runner-up finishes from Zac Savage, Derek Houseman, Kyle O'Bradovic and Tyler Wiebenga. The Derek Houseman match in the finals with Sparta state champion Matt Armock was won by Armock, 5-4. The team will need more wrestling like Saturday's, as well as better health as the regular season winds down. Bucs face West Ottawa The Buccaneers are at West Ottawa tonight, at the Portage Central Invitational Saturday, host Rockford on Feb. 1 and then are at Jenison Feb. 8.

Grand Haven, West Ottawa, Rockford and Jenison all have 4-0 league records with two weeks to go before the conference tournament.

Rockford is the defending league champion and ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 1. "Even though we are missing two of our weight classes, I think we have been competitive," Derek Houseman said. "I think we match well with everybody on our schedule. Rockford will be really tough, but we match up well with everybody."

Said John Houseman: "I think we are good enough to beat Rockford. Our team wants it this year, and we are working hard for it.

We haven't been healthy this season, but it is good to get that done with early. We are getting them back now, and as long as we stay healthy from here on out, I'm confident."

Cameron Krizam at 171 and Jeremy Wiebenga at 215 are expected back from their respective injuries within the next couple of weeks.

No matter what happens, Richardson has a lot of confidence in this team. "I feel like this team, maybe more than any group I have coached, has gotten better every time we get on the mat," Richardson said. "In 16 years of coaching, I have not had better practices.

"Many kids are gearing for the postseason. The next couple of weeks you want great competition, and you won't get any better competition than in our conference. I believe that the competition in our conference gets kids ready for state tournament."

It's an exciting time of the year for Buccaneer fans. "We are getting healthy," Derek Houseman said. "But even without the guys we are missing, we should do well as a team. We have guys that can fill in fine."

Crunch time continues for Bucs wrestlers

Tuesday, February 07, 2006
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND HAVEN -- Crunch time has arrived for the Grand Haven wrestling team, considering what's ahead for the Buccaneers this week.

But when one takes a look at what the Bucs already have faced in the past three months, the whole season pretty much has been crunch time.

Grand Haven will visit O-K Red Conference-leading Rockford for a dual meet Thursday night.

The Bucs are tied for second place with Jenison at 6-1, one match behind the undefeated Rams. Grand Haven then will return to Rockford for the Red Championship meet Saturday.

Bucs coach James Richardson said his team should be battle-tested for the stretch.

"We have lost five duals, and the ones we have lost have been to solid opponents," Richardson said. "We lost to the No. 1 team in Division 4, Hesperia, 36-35; and we lost a close one to the top team in Division 3 in Corunna. We wrestled Mason, and they are No. 1 in Division 2, 30-28.

"We also lost to Jenison, which is seventh in the state, and Greenville, which is sixth. We have been in every single dual meet this year. If you have a difficult schedule, it helps you at this time of year, and we've had a difficult schedule. We do that on purpose. We want to see teams on the other side of the state."

Grand Haven's only conference loss was to Jenison. The Wildcats then lost to Rockford on Thursday, giving the Rams sole possession of first place in the conference.

The Bucs are coming off a 46-12 victory Thursday over West Ottawa, keeping Grand Haven in the hunt for a piece of the Red championship.

"The key for us has been the same all year, and it's our ability to work together," Richardson said. "I'm a strong believer that the team makes the individual, not the individual that makes the team.

"Our team is a very good example of that. Our group depends on one another for its success. Everybody is as valuable as the other, and we have had a fair amount of success."

Holland and West Ottawa will join the Bucs at Rockford on Saturday for the Red finals.

Also Saturday, Hamilton is headed to Byron Center for the O-K Gold Championships, while Zeeland East and Zeeland West will wrestle in the O-K Green finals at Mona Shores. Fennville is hosting the SAC meet, and Spring Lake will be at Big Rapids for the WWAC finals.

Anderson twins two of four girls in Grand Haven wrestling program

Sunday, February 05, 2006
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press

Alyssa Anderson admitted her parents weren't all that excited to hear last year that she wanted to join the Grand Haven wrestling team.

Her twin sister, Sarah, sure thought it was a great idea, though.

The Buccaneers wrestling program features four female wrestlers this season, including the Anderson sisters, who are sophomores, and sophomore Cindy Kaffenberger and freshman Molly Boersma. The four are quickly changing the perceptions of female wrestlers in Grand Haven, from parents to competitors to coaches.

"It caught me by surprise," said Dan Anderson, the father of Alyssa and Sarah. "I was never a wrestler. I remember wrestling in seventh and eighth grade in (physical education class), but that was about it. It really came out of the blue when she said she wanted to wrestle.

"Both have been involved in athletics, playing soccer and softball. I went with her and observed a practice, and I saw the coaches work with them and I was very impressed. I was very impressed with the Grand Haven coaches."

Alyssa is dividing her time between wrestling the 103 and 112 weight classes. She has competed in approximately 10 varsity matches as well as junior varsity. Sarah Anderson, Kaffenberger and Boersma are wrestling on junior varsity.

All-girl tournament

Not only do the girls participate for their high school team, they recently competed in the United States Girls Wrestling Association's all-girl tournament in Manistee. Sarah Anderson won the 90-97 weight class while Alyssa Anderson and Boersma were second and third, respectively, in the 102-116 class. Kaffenberger was second at 125. The girls also are eyeing the USGWA National Championships set for April 1-2 at Lake Orion.

"I had a friend who is wrestling with the team and he would show me a lot of moves, and I wanted to join but I first had to convince my parents," Alyssa said. "But there was another girl on the team, so they let me join, and after a couple of weeks, they got used to it and they enjoy watching it."

Like Dan Anderson, Grand Haven coach James Richardson said he has changed his perception about girls wrestling, too.

"This is my 14th year here, and last year was the first year that I had a girl on the team, we had a senior," Richardson said.

"My perspective on girls wrestling has changed, without question. The young ladies work just as hard as the guys, and they are just as dependable. Sometimes we forget that we have females. We have 41 wrestlers. If you ask me, I don't think of them as girls, they are wrestlers.

"I always thought it was difficult when one of our boys had to wrestle a girl. But the girls on our team are tough and they work hard. They know how hard our girls work and they have immediate respect for our opponent because our teammates."

Grand Haven wins Sparta Invitational

Sunday, January 22, 2006
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press

SPARTA -- John Houseman almost worked up the same amount of sweat on the side of the mat as he did wrestling on it Saturday.

The Grand Haven sophomore 125-pounder had already won his championship at the 30th Annual Sparta Invitational on Saturday, and was on the side of the mat later in the day rooting on his older brother Derek Houseman in the championship of the 145-pound weight class.

There, John Houseman cheered Derek Houseman, a junior, to a tough 3-2 win over Lakewood's Eric Kruger.

"I'm his biggest fan," John Houseman said of his older brother. "It's tough because I want to help him but I can't -- it's his battle.

Derek Houseman's match was a big one, because it helped Grand Haven hold off Lakewood for the team title.

The Buccaneers won the team championship with a score of 197.5 points, 1.5 points better than Lakewood.

The two Houseman championships, and Tyler Leppamen's win at 103 pounds were Grand Haven's winners Saturday.

The Buccaneers sent a total of eight wrestlers to the finals.

Grand Haven coach James Richardson was a bit relieved that his team was able to hold off a talented Lakewood squad.

"I'm very pleased with how we wrestled during the day, but we started that final round slowly," Richardson said. "We were up by 17 points heading into the final round, and then have to hold on. That leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

So a head-to-head win over a Lakewood wrestler was huge. And Derek Houseman got that win with his team and little brother, on the side of the mat.

"Our whole team is like a family out there," Derek Houseman said.

Lakewood had five champions crowned Saturday. Josh Clark won at 112, Cody Ozula won at 152, Josh Kettel won at 160, Eddie Phillips won at 189 and Cody Dupont won at heavyweight.

Other winners Saturday were Kent City's Dan Sabin at 119 and Chris Sandison (130), Sparta's Mark and Matt Armock at 135 and 140 respectively, Hudsonville's Matt VanDuinen (171) and Wyoming Park's Ted Lares (215).

Lares' win was a little sweeter, because it came against an O-K Blue Conference rival Jordan Morse of Sparta.

"The non-conference matches you care about, but not as much as when you wrestle against somebody in your conference," Lares said. "Everybody wants to be a conference champion, and this gives me a little more confidence to do that."

Pictured L-R are Cindy Kaffenberger, Alyssa Anderson, Sarah Anderson, and Molly Boersma

Buc girls place in USGWA Tournament

Four girls from Grand Haven and two from Muskegon competed in the First Annual USGWA (United States Girls Wrestling Association) Western Michigan Championships Girls Wrestling Tournament. The Tournament took place on Sunday, January 29, 2006 in Manistee, Michigan.

Rayne Rivas, Muskegon, took first place in the Elementary School age 67 lb. weight class.

Sarah Anderson, Grand Haven, took first place in the High School age 97 lb. weight class. Shelby Stevens, Muskegon, took third place in the same weight class.

Alyssa Anderson, Grand Haven, took second place in the High School age 102 to 116 lb. weight class. Molly Boersma, Grand Haven, took third place in the same weight class.

Cindy Kaffenberger, Grand Haven, took second place in the High School age 125 lb. weight class.

Girls competing were from as close as Manistee, and from as far away as the Flint, Saginaw, and Detroit areas. The event was successful, a learning experience, and a lot of fun for the girls.

Buccaneer wrestlers place 2nd at Portage

Grand Haven placed 2nd with 260 points. Coming in first in the tournament was Eaton Rapids with 271 points. Leading the Bucs with 1st place finishes were Matt LaFleur (160), Seth Holt (189), Jeremy Wiebenga (215) and Sean Sluis (275). Placing 2nd were Tyler Leppanen (103), John Houseman (125), Jeff Pipp (140) and Derek Houseman (145). 3rd place went to David Teunis (119)and Zac Savage (130). Finishing 4th was Jake Roetter (135),

Eaton Rapids 271, Grand Haven 260, Plainwell 215.5, Grandville 212.5, Grand Ledge 165.5, Lansing Sexton 98, Portage Central 91.5, Edwardsburg 84

103--1. Anthony Santilli (G), 2. Tyler Leppanen (GH), 3. Justin Garza (ER), 4. Dillon Roblyer (PL).

112--1. Shane Schnepp (ER), 2. Brett Johnson (LS), 3. Tim Streeter (GV), 4. Kurt Risner (PL).

119--1. Gil Dormer (ER), 2. Brennan Leeuwenberg (GV), 3. David Teunis (GH), 4. Gil Lopez (GL).

125--1. Dalton Smith (PL), 2. John Houseman (GH), 3. Justin Sklapsky (ER), 4. Ian Bucrek (GL).

130--1. Jeffery Steele (PL), 2. Ross Terbeek (GV), 3. Zac Savage (GH), 4. Brett Nichols (GL).

135--1. Devin Milheim (ER), 2. Jerry Cohoon (GL), 3. Jon Hendrickson (GV), 4. Jake Roetter (GH).

140--1. Martin Bell (ER), 2. Jeff Pipp (GH), 3. Erik Hileski (PL), 4. Alex Hall (E).

145--1. Zach Sharron (GV), 2. Derek Houseman (GH), 3. Mike Vogel (PC), 4. Jamie Lemberty (PL).

152--1. Dustin Meert (PL), 2. Matt Bell (ER), 3. Jason Bonham (GV), 4. Josh Harkins (GL).

160--1. Matt LaFleur (GH), 2. Mike Churchill (GL), 3. Reuben Morales (PC), 4. Louis Kelly (ER).

171--1. Jordan Richardson (GV), 2. Pat Wright (GL), 3. Larry Barlow (PL), 4. Andrew Lindsley (PC).

189--1. Seth Holt (GH), 2. Jim Fein (E), 3. Jared Grant (ER), 4. Bo Arbanas (PC).

215--1. Jeremy Wiebenga (GH), 2. Ethan Franks (ER), 3. Joe Riley (PL), 4. Chris Ake (E).

275--1. Sean Sluis (GH), 2. Josh Hendrickson (ER), 3. Zemire Muratabegovic (GV), 4. Fernando Castanada (PL).

Buccaneer wrestlers pin EK

Grand Haven's varsity wrestlers scored a 51-13 win over the East Kentwood Falcons Thursday.

The Buccaneers pinned their opponents in seven weight classes, starting with Jake Roetter's pin of Joe Herrera in 4 minutes, 25 seconds at 135 pounds. Matt LaFleur pinned Yongsem Kim in 5:29 at 171 pounds, then Jeremy Wiebenga put Eiseuk Kim on his back in 1:55 at 215 pounds.

Grand Haven heavyweight Sean Sluis pinned Colin Madden in 58 seconds, then David Teunis finished off Santiago Maamu in 3:29 at 119 pounds. John Houseman pinned Paul Vilker in 5:25 at 125 pounds.

Also winning for the Bucs were Jeff Pipp at 140 pounds, Derek Houseman at 145, and Tim VanWoerkom at 152.

The Buccaneers are now 3-1 in the O-K Red Conference. Grand Haven takes part in the Sparta Invitational Saturday.

Buc wrestlers take third at Grand Ledge

Grand Haven's varsity wrestlers placed third at Saturday's Grand Ledge Invitational, with a pair of wrestlers going unbeaten on the day.

Derek Houseman, who wrestled at 140 and 145 pounds, went 5-0 at the event, as did Seth Holt, wrestling at 189 pounds.

As a team, the Buccaneers went 3-2, falling to Greenville and Mason while beating Utica Ford, Grand Ledge and St. Johns.

Grand Haven's John Houseman, wrestling at 119 pounds, went 4-1 on the day. Also posting a 4-1 record was heavyweight Sean Sluis.

At 171 pounds, the Bucs' Matt LaFleur pinned a Mason wrestler who was one of the best in the state last year.

The Bucs travel to East Kentwood Thursday, then take part in the Sparta Invitational Saturday.

JUNIOR VARSITY: Grand Haven won the Kenowa Hills JV Invitational, beating out Rockford, Kenowa Hills, West Ottawa and Grand Rapids Christian. Jake Hess and Dan O'Neill were both undefeated while Alyssa Anderson moved up to 112 pounds and pinned her first opponent. Molly Boersma also got a win for the Bucs, as did Ian Botbyl. Nick O'Bradovic pinned both of his opponents while Mitch Streur and Taylor Collard also scored wins.

GH wrestlers dominant

Grand Haven wrestlers dominated Hudsonville Thursday, scoring a 48-6 victory that evens the Buccaneers' O-K Red Conference record at 1-1.

Grand Haven won the first four matches to take immediate control of the meet. Jeff Pipp scored a 5-2 win over Zack Jenkins at 140 pounds; Derek Houseman bumped up a weight class and pinned Brandon Tasker at 145; Mark Boersma moved up to 152 and beat Mike Bylsma, 8-2; and Tim VanWoerkom pinned Kory Bauswell at 160 pounds.

Hudsonville's Matt VanDuin scored a 12-11 overtime victory against the Bucs' Matt LaFleur at 171 pounds, then Grand Haven's Seth Holt won 4-0 over Jordan Henderson at 189.

Hudsonville's only other win came at 215, where Brett Burke scored a 7-1 victory over Jeremy Wiebenga.
Sean Sluis got the Bucs going again with a 5-1 win over Ryan Strowenjans at heavyweight, as Grand Haven finished off the Eagles with seven straight wins.

At 103 pounds, Tyler Leppanen defeated Justin Zimmerman, 9-6, while at 112, Will Montgomery scored a 9-0 major decision over Fred Holwerda. David Teunis pinned Hudsonville's Lucas Igo at 119 pounds, then John Houseman scored a 7-2 win over Josh Dean at 125. Zack Savage dominated Caleb Nyenhuis at 130, scoring a 17-1 tech fall. The match ended as Jake Roetter edged Josh Zimmerman at 135 pounds, 3-2.

The Buccaneers host the Adam H. Provencal Invitational Saturday.

Bucs flex muscle early

Thursday, December 08, 2005
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND HAVEN -- If the season's first week is a sign of things to come for the Grand Haven wrestling team, then the Buccaneers are in for some exciting times in the months ahead.

The season opened with the Bucs' sweep of a double dual at home last Thursday. Grand Haven then headed to the Lansing Eastern Invitational and cleaned up there, winning the rugged 14-team meet.

"I feel like Lansing Eastern is one of the tougher tournaments in the state of Michigan," said Grand Haven coach James Richardson, who is in his eighth season of coaching the Bucs. "To go there with eight new people in our lineup and have as much success as we did Saturday, I was real pleased with how well they wrestled."

The Bucs are gearing up for another big challenge Saturday when they head to the West Michigan Duals in Whitehall, where they will take on Hesperia, Traverse City Central, Reeths-Puffer, Mona Shores and the host Vikings. Hesperia was a state semifinalist last year in Division 4.

Grand Haven won O-K Red Lakeshore and district championships and finished 24-4 overall last year. But the Bucs have a different look this fall. They had eight new wrestlers in their 14-person lineup Saturday.

Still, inexperience wasn't a problem. Grand Haven rolled up 201.5 points to edge out runner-up Fowlerville (198).

"We started four sophomores on Saturday," Richardson said. "We had two seniors and a couple of more juniors who were in our lineup for the first time, and to go to Lansing Eastern and place 12 of our 14 wrestlers shows that the program has depth.

"We had four people make it to the finals, but the key to our success was that all 14 wrestlers scored. People say wrestling is an individual sport, and I don't believe that. The team makes the individuals and the individual effort makes us a team. We saw that Saturday. We had all 14 wrestlers score, and we needed everyone to score because we won by 3.5 points."

Grand Haven's returning starters are seniors Sean Sluis, Mark Boersma and David Teunis, junior Derek Houseman and sophomores Tyler Leppen and John Houseman. Sluis, a heavyweight, captured his class at Lansing Eastern, as did fellow team captain Boersma at 145 pounds.

What was most impressive about Boersma's victory was that he was seeded sixth. He defeated Howell's Chad Jones in the finals, 6-4. Sluis pinned Mitch Clover of Owosso in 5 minutes, 24 seconds, in the heavyweight finals.

John Houseman, 119, took sixth in the state a year ago, and Leppen, 103, was the conference runner-up in his class. Derek Houseman and Teunis were regional qualifiers.

"They are working hard in the weight room, and they have high expectations for themselves as well as our program," Richardson said.

GH wrestlers overpower SL, MCC

BY NATE THOMPSON
nthompson@grandhaventribune.com

The Grand Haven varsity wrestling team started its season with a pair of convincing wins Thursday evening at its home double dual, defeating two lower class schools in Class C Muskegon Catholic Central and Class B rival Spring Lake.

Both the Lakers and Bucs shut out the depleted Crusaders' squad, which featured only eight wrestlers, 66-0. In the night's final matchup, the Bucs again displayed their superior talent, easily topping the Lakers, 55-10.

Still, Grand Haven coach James Richardson thought his squad was a little rusty in its opening action of the season.

"Overall I thought the boys came out aggressive, but we have a long way to go," he said. "It's early in the season and a lot of guys still aren't in the best of shape."

Richardson was also impressed with the Lakers' development from last season.

"I really think the Spring Lake program is much improved from last year," he said. "Tom (Koops) is doing a real nice job turning that program around. Plus they have a lot of young kids on their roster, which bodes real well for them in the future."

As for the present, Grand Haven still had the superior class of wrestlers, as the Bucs recorded seven pins over the Lakers. Pins were recorded by Will Montgomery (112 pounds), John Houseman (119), Zack Savage (130), Jake Roetter (135), Mark Boersma (145), Tim VanWoerkom (152), and Cameron Krizan (160).

Not all of Grand Haven's pins came easily, however. VanWoerkom, for instance, was tied at 7 with the Lakers' Will Creeden after two periods, but then scored a 2-point reversal in the third and about 15 seconds later, recorded the pin.

Spring Lake scored only three victories against the Bucs, with two coming in dramatic fashion. At 215 pounds, the Lakers' Nick Modak trailed Jeremy Wiebenga 6-5 as time dwindled down in the final period. But with two seconds left in the match, Wiebenga managed a 2-point take down to score the exciting victory, which sent the Spring Lake sideline roaring.

The 275-pound contest between Spring Lake's Kurt Kruger and Sean Sluis was a chest-thumping 2-2 battle that went to double overtime, before Kruger finally gained victory on a 2-point reversal.

The Lakers' other win came at 171 pounds, and was won easily by Nick Miller, a regional qualifier last season. Miller topped Matt LaFleur, 13-3.

"Facing Grand Haven is always a tough match, but I was pleased with a few of us," Koops said. "For one, I thought Miller had an excellent match. He looked really good."

Spring Lake will have plenty of opportunities to improve from the loss. The Lakers travel to three separate tournaments between now and Dec. 10, before hosting the Spring Lake Tri on Dec. 13.

Grand Haven travels to the Lansing Eastern Invitational this Saturday, a meet which Richardson believes will give the Bucs a great challenge.

"It's one of the toughest invitationals in the state," he said. "It will be a good measuring stick for us."

'Rusty' Grand Haven cruises to wrestling title

Monday, January 10, 2005
By Cris Greer
The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND HAVEN -- The Grand Haven wrestling team wasn't a very gracious host.

The Bucs had 307.5 points Saturday to win the championship of the Adam H. Provencal Invitational at Grand Haven, outdistancing the second-place team by more than 90.

Fruitport took second with 216, followed by Shelby (205), Ludington (198), Traverse City West (149), Wyoming (125), Grand Haven B (124) and Montague (52).

"We've been off two and a half weeks without competition, so I think we wrestled kind of rusty today," said Bucs' coach James Richardson. "But I thought the kids wrestled real hard, and I'm pleased with their effort."

Grand Haven sent 10 wrestlers to the finals of the 14 weight classes, and even filled a championship match with two of its own. The Bucs' John Houseman, Josh Juarez, Josh Dahlman and Sean Sluis all won their classes.

At 112 pounds, Houseman defeated Chad Johnson of Fruitport, 14-6, in the finals and Juarez, 152, decisioned Bray McKerchie of Ludington, 12-4. At 275, Sluis defeated Derreck Kenny of Traverse City West, with a technical fall and Dahlman, 215, remained undefeated (21-0) this season with a 17-2 win over Nick Smith of Shelby.

"I hear quite often from different people that big guys can't wrestle," said Richardson, in his seventh year. "I disagree, he's (Dahlman) an example of someone that can weigh 215 pounds and wrestle like a 150 pounder. He's pretty athletic and aggressive."

"I thought all three of my captains (Dahlman, Juarez and Trevor Collard) wrestled extremely well today. It may be the best I've ever seen Josh Juarez wrestle."

Collard and teammate Matt LaFleur wrestled each other to a draw in the finals at 160 pounds. The match finished early due to butting heads. Collard received eight stitches above his eye, but Richardson said they'll both be OK.

"I'm also real pleased with our B team," Richardson said. "They wrestled today because Orchard View dropped out due to a scheduling conflict."

Juarez, who improved to 20-1 this season, was pleased with his performance.

"I wrestled one of my best matches today; hard work has been paying off," said Juarez, a senior. "We're pretty tough this year; tougher than we've been in a long time. I'm hoping we can make it pretty far."

Other Bucs that made the finals, but ended up in second were Tyler Leppanen, 103; Mark Boersma, 130; Derek Houseman, 135 and Seth Crace, 171.

"I overestimated my finals match with the guy from Shelby (Rob Near); I didn't perform the way I expected," said Crace, who lost 6-4 in overtime. "I feel I have a lot more to give and a lot more improvement to make."

Wrestler credits family, coaches for standout season

Friday, January 07, 2005
By Cris Greer
The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND HAVEN -- It wasn't always easy for undefeated Bucs' wrestler Josh Dahlman.

"When I was younger, I was really plump and unathletic and horrible at everything I did," said Dahlman, who's 17-0 with eight pins at the 215-pound weight class. "My freshman year everything just switched for me. I started working really hard."

Wrestling coach James Richardson, also Dahlman's freshmen football coach, talked him into wrestling.

"If he wasn't my coach, I don't think I'd be where I am now," Dahlman said.

One of three senior captains, Dahlman hasn't lost a match since the state individual finals last year. He finished with an impressive 43-11 record.

Last year, Grand Haven (17-5) won the O-K Red Lakeshore conference and lost in the regional finals to Hudsonville. This year, they have jumped out to a 12-1 start.

"All three captains are the last ones to leave the wrestling mat every night," said Richardson, in his seventh season. "They're all good examples and work very hard.

"I think he's one of the better kids in the state. I have high expectations for him."

Josh Juarez, 152, and Trevor Collard, 160, are the other senior captains. Both are 16-1. All three were conference champions and Juarez also was in the individual state finals.

"We have a lot of camaraderie," said Dahlman, who also played defensive tackle for the Bucs football team. "A lot of the wrestlers usually go out to dinner a couple times a week and hang out on the weekends."

He says wrestling his favorite sport because of the individual competition.

"You're out there by yourself; you don't have the rest of your team to fall back on," Dahlman said. "When you win it's all you, and when you lose, it's all you. You take your shame and use it to get yourself better."

Though he is confident, he speaks with quite a bit of modesty.

"Without my team, my family, friends and coaches that have supported me, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish my goals."

Middleville wins wrestling tourney

Friday, December 24, 2004
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press

MIDDLEVILLE -- Every individual win counted at the Middleville Team Wrestling Tournament Thursday.

That is because after the six-team round-robin tournament was completed, three teams stood tied at the top. Rockford, Grand Haven and the host Trojans all finished the day with 4-1 records. Rockford's loss was to Grand Haven 33-30, Middleville lost to Rockford 33-29 and Grand Haven fell to Middleville 35-20.

The tie was broken and the championship was awarded to Middleville because it registered more individual wins against Rockford and Grand Haven.

Middleville had 16 wins, Rockford 14 and Grand Haven 12.

"We knew Grand Haven would be tough, and the Rockford match would be another war," said Middleville coach Scott Marvin, whose team beat Rockford 33-26 in a dual earlier this season. "It turned out that way."

The Rockford and Middleville meet was not decided until the final match. But there were several key matches during the dual, including Rockford's J.J. Johnson pinning Middleville's Justin Lewis at 125 pounds.

In the first dual, Lewis pinned Johnson.

Rockford coach Don Rinehart, whose team also picked up wins over Northview, Romeo and St. Johns, just like Grand Haven and Middleville did, said this holiday tournament is always very tough.

"This is why we are here, to grow and get better," Rinehart said. "Grand Haven and Middleville are two very tough teams.

"They were all good duals against those two teams, and any one of the teams could have gone 2-0, or 0-2."

Grand Haven coach James Richardson agreed.

His team built a 24-3 lead and held on to beat Rockford, and lost nine of 14 matches in its loss to Middleville.

"It was a good day for us. The boys wrestled well and I was pleased with that," Richardson said. "I think it is good to have a tough day like this. We always preach how important family is, and this is the holidays, but I would be doing an injustice to the guys if I didn't get them some good competition."

Standings
a-Middleville 4-1, Rockford 4-1, Grand Haven 4-1, Romeo 1-3, Northview 1-4, St. Johns 0-4
a-won championship based on tiebreaker

Match scores
Middleville 35, Grand Haven 20
Grand Haven 33, Rockford 30
Grand Haven 57, St. Johns 16
Grand Haven 48, Northview 18
Grand Haven 48, Romeo 23

GH's Schmidt only local wrestler left

Tribune photo/John Siemion Grand Haven junior Josh Dahlman, top, puts the squeeze on Jeff Mann of Waterford Kettering during state finals action at The Palace of Auburn Hills Friday afternoon. Dahlman scored a 12-1 decision over Mann. (03/12/04)

The competition has ended for all but one of the area's prep wrestlers at the state finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Grand Haven's Kevin Schmidt, a 103-pound senior, is the only local competitor left. He faces Phil Noriega of Roseville with an opportunity at the Division 1 consolation finals on the line. Schmidt is guaranteed of at least finishing in the top eight in his weight class, meaning he has earned All-State honors.

Schmidt's five teammates at the state tournament all fell short of All-State honors. Zach Strunk won his first match at 152 pounds Thursday, 17-8 over Justin Breedlove of Flushing. Strunk then dropped a 15-2 decision Friday to Chippewa Valley's Eddie Skowneski, then lost 11-5 to Brad Bartram of Detroit Catholic Central.

Kurtis Abraham also won one match for the Bucs. He opened with a 13-6 loss Thursday to Trevor Perry of Davison, but the pinned Jake Fairchild of Westland John Glenn 21 seconds into the second period in his first match Friday. Abraham then lost a 10-6 decision to John McClure of West Ottawa.

Josh Dahlman also sandwiched a win in between two losses. After being pinned by Hafeez Queshi of Livonia Churchill 43 seconds into the third period Thursday, Dahlman scored a 12-1 win by decision over Jeff Mann of Waterford Kettering Friday. Dahlman then was eliminated by a 13-9 loss to Hartland's Nick Anurak.

Justin Perry dropped a pair of decisions at 171 pounds: 8-3 to Jeff McCumber of Belleville on Thursday and 8-0 to Fred Miller of Port Huron Northern Friday. At 145 pounds, Josh Juarez fell by decision in two straight matches: 5-2 to Joe Caudill of Belleville Thursday, and 9-4 to David Brown to Port Huron Northern on Friday.

Spring Lake's two wrestlers at the Division 3 finals were also eliminated Friday. After dropping a 7-4 decision Thursday to Otsego's Kyle Grinage, D.J. Kanatzar dropped a close 7-6 decision to Zach Perrin of Corunna Friday.

Spring Lake's Scott Koops opened with a 7-3 win by decision Thursday over Essexville Garber's Steve Frye. Koops lost Friday to Adam MacIver of Dundee by an 8-4 decision, then dropped a 7-2 decision to Nathan Browning of Durand.

The state wrestling finals wrap up today with the championship matches and final consolation matches in each weight class of each division.

Wrestling finals kick off

Tribune photo/John Siemion Grand Haven senior Kevin Schmidt, top, goes for a pin against Paul Zito of Macomb L'Anse Creuse North during the opening round of the Division 1 state finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills Thursday. (03/11/04)

Area wrestlers were greeted with mixed results in the opening round of the individual state finals Thursday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Two of Grand Haven's six participants in the Division 1 finals, Kevin Schmidt and Zach Strunk, won their opening matches while Spring Lake's Scott Koops won his first match of the finals in the Division 3 event.

For the Buccaneers, Schmidt, a 103-pounder, overpowered Macomb L'Anse Creuse North sophomore Paul Zito, 13-8. Schmidt, now 40-5 on the year, moves on to face Jesse Bain of Hartland, who boassts a 54-2 record.

Strunk, Grand Haven' senior 152-pounder, had no trouble with Flushing junior Justin Breedlove in the opening round, winning 17-8. Strunk improves to 41-9 on the year and faces Chippewa Valley's Eddie Skowneski, who is 48-1 after pinning his opening-round opponent.

Grand Haven junior Josh Juarez fell to 37-15 on the year after dropping a 5-2 decision to Bellville's Joe Caudill, who is now 37-3.

Grand Haven senior Justin Perry dropped an 8-3 decision to Bellville's Jeff McCumber, who is now 39-2. Juarez's record now stands at 37-16.

At 189 pounds, Grand Haven senior Kurtis Abraham, nursing a sore shoulder, lost to Davidson's Trevor Perry. The score of that match was 13-6.

Buccaneer junior Josh Dahlman also lost in the opening round as he was pinned by Livonia Churchill junior Rafeez Queshi in 4 minutes, 43 seconds.

Koops, a senior, had his way with Essexville Garber's Steve Fry, a sophomore who entered the finals with a 37-8 record. Koops, now 48-3 on the year, scored a 7-3 win, setting up a meeting with Dundee junior Adam MacIver, who is 52-6. He pinned Coloma's Jesse Martin in 1:20.

Fellow Laker D.J. Kanatzar wasn't so fortunate in his opening bout as he dropped a 7-4 decision to Otsego's Kyle Grinage at 119 pounds. Kanatzar, a senior, is now 43-18 while Grinage improves to 25-3.

Veteran Bucs ready for state

BY MATT DEYOUNG
mdeyoung@grandhaventribune.com

Tribune photo/Matt DeYoung
Grand Haven wrestlers heading to the Division 1 state finals this weekend include (fromt row, L-R) Zack Strunk, Kevin Schmidt, Josh Juarez, Justin Perry, and (back row, L-R) Josh Dahlman and Kurtis Abraham. (03-10-04)

Words can't describe the intensity and the emotion that surround the state wrestling finals. That's why the six Grand Haven wrestlers who qualified for this weekend's individual finals feel they're ready: They've been there before.

Seniors Zack Strunk and Kurtis Abraham have first-hand experience, having qualified for the finals as juniors last winter. Three other Bucs, Justin Perry, Josh Dahlman and Josh Juarez were all at the finals as spectators last year. Only senior 103-pounder Kevin Schmidt will head to the Palace of Auburn Hills for the wrestling finals for the first time Thursday.

"It's mind-blowing, all the people," said Strunk, who wrestles at 152 pounds. "It's really intense. In the drilling rooms, it's dim lighting and just packed full of people."

"I've seen that amount of people before, but you feel a lot more energy," added Abraham, a 189-pounder. "I never imagined that much energy in the building."

Wrestlers qualify for the individual finals by placing in the top four at the individual regional meet. Strunk took third at regionals and hopes to put forth a better showing than he did at last year's finals. Both he and Abraham lost their first matches, won their second, then lost their third. They hope to earn all-state honors this season by placing in the top eight in their weight classes.

"I want to stand up there on the podium in front of all those people," Strunk said. "Last year, I lost, won, then lost. I'm a lot better wrestler than I was then. I make a lot less dumb mistakes."

While Dahlman hasn't wrestled at the finals before, he knew he had to get there after watching last year's Grand March, where all those who qualify for state parade into the arena to kick off the finals.

"I've been looking forward to the Grand March," he said. "When I watched it last year and I wasn't wrestling, to see that, I wanted to be out there."

Grand Haven's wrestlers, along with coach James Richardson and his staff, leave for Auburn Hills after practice today. They'll stay at a hotel tonight, then Thursday will go to the arena for weigh-in. The Grand March takes place later Thursday, followed by the first round of wrestling. Wrestling action continues through Friday and into Saturday, when all the state champions are crowned.

"It's a lot of fun when we leave after practice because there's so much excitement, then you go to the hotel room to hang out for the night," Abraham said.

Abraham is coming back from a separated shoulder, which kept him out of the team district and regional meets and nearly kept him from advancing out of the individual district meet.

"My shoulder's alright now," he said. "It bothers me a little bit. It really bothered me in districts, but it definitely came along that next week. As soon as I had a chance to rest it over the weekend, it felt a lot better."

Schmidt doesn't have any state finals experience to fall back on, but he does boast more experience than most wrestlers in his 103-pound weight class. Most 103-pounders are underclassmen as seniors often outgrow that weight class.

"There are two other seniors besides me at 103, and both of them are on my side of the bracket," Schmidt said.

The Buccaneer wrestling program has come a long way under Richardson's watch. Grand Haven has won six consecutive district championships and hopes to continue its streak of having individuals place in the state tournament.

"We're representing Grand Haven," Strunk said. "We earn it. It's a relief after working so hard all season."

GH claims O-K Red title
Sunday, February 15, 2004

By Scott Brandenburg
CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

In the past few years, the O-K Red wrestling tournament hasn't been kind to Grand Haven.

But in the inaugural season of the O-K Red Lakeshore Conference, the Buccaneers turned their fortunes around.

Grand Haven amassed 210.5 points Saturday at Reeths-Puffer to easily outdistance runner-up Zeeland at the inaugural O-K Red Lakeshore Conference wrestling tournament.

Mona Shores captured third followed by West Ottawa, Reeths-Puffer, Holland and Muskegon.

"We've been here before but haven't wrestled our best in the tournament since 1999," said Bucs coach James Richardson. "We had one bad round (Saturday) but the kids wrestled really well overall."

For the fourth time in six years, Grand Haven was tied for first after the regular season. For the first time since 1999, the Bucs won the overall conference championship.

"I'm really proud of the guys because 12 of our 14 wrestlers placed," said Richardson. "We got six individual titles, which is almost half our lineup, and it's a school record."

Terrance Taylor of Muskegon was perhaps the most dominant local wrestler in the tournament.

The Big Red heavyweight recorded pins in 13 seconds and 23 seconds to get to the finals, then ran over No. 1 seed Andrew Cribbs of Mona Shores, 14-6, for the league title. It was Muskegon's only individual title.

The bulk of the 14 individual league titles were won by Buccaneers and Rockets.

One standout was Haven junior Josh Dahlman. The 215-pounder was feeling good after breezing through his two matches for a conference title.

"How else would I feel?," smiled Dahlman, who a year ago was on the junior varsity. "I worked hard over the summer because I really wanted to do well at state, and it was a big goal to be conference champ, too."

Kevin Schmidt (103), Matt Dempsey (119), Josh Juarez (145), Zack Strunk (152) and Trevor Collard (160) also captured their respective weight classes for Grand Haven.

Collard won the most exciting finals match, upsetting top seed Zane Kingsbury of West Ottawa, 7-6.

Dempsey had extra desire to win since finishing second in the conference last year.

"It feels pretty good," said Dempsey, a junior. "It's cool to start something (with the newly aligned conference) and to try to keep it in Grand Haven."

The host Rockets captured four individual titles. No other school had more than one.

Pat Greeley led the way for Reeths-Puffer, capturing the 171-pound division with a comfortable 11-2 win over Holland's Ben Kruid.

"It's pretty cool since this is our first year in a conference," said Greeley, who still feels he has yet to peak this season. "Ever since the beginning of the year Coach (Mike) Glane said how cool it would be to win a conference title and it is."

Fellow Rocket senior Dennis Vanderwall (135) gets the revenge award. Vanderwall lost to West Ottawa's Kareem Naguib earlier this season, but Vanderwall got the best of him 15-10 in the finals on Saturday.

"He gave me one of my two losses," said Vanderwall, who is 35-2. "I got really worked up for this one, especially since it was for a conference title and we haven't been in a conference in a long time.

"I wasn't going to let him leg ride me this time. Kind of an eye for an eye, if he got two points then I was going to get two points. I wasn't going to let him get the upper hand."

Nicholas Hagstrom (125) and Brad Cowles (140) were the other winners for Reeths-Puffer.

Mona Shores finished third despite no individual titles.

Five Sailors finished runner-up, three took third and two took fourth.

Buccaneers snap Chix streak

Friday, February 06, 2004

By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press

ZEELAND -- Thursday's wrestling match at Zeeland was a dual meet that Grand Haven needed to stay in the league race, and the Buccaneers got it in a big way.

Grand Haven steamrolled its way to a 52-14 victory over the Chix, handing Zeeland its first loss in the O-K Red Lakeshore Conference. It also snapped Zeeland's 17 dual meet winning streak, and enabled the Bucs to keep pace with Zeeland and West Ottawa in the fight for first. All three teams are atop the league with one conference loss.

"We do have to remind our kids that we have two (conference) meets left: We have Muskegon on Tuesday and Reeths-Puffer on Thursday," Grand Haven coach James Richardson said. "But at this present time we are tied, so it was a big match.

"We came here tonight feeling like we were the underdogs. They were leading the league and they have a real solid team, but we wrestled pretty well tonight."

Zeeland coach Wade Heckel, whose team dropped to 5-1 and 18-2, admitted he felt like his team was the underdog heading into Thursday's action. He said he was well aware of how strong the Bucs are.

Grand Haven, 3-1 in the conference, jumped out to a 16-3 lead before the Chix received consecutive wins from Thomas Bratton (125), Jordan Bratton (130) and Nick Sojourner (135) to pull within 16-15. But the Bucs won the seven final classes -- four by pins.

The Chix were later deducted a point for an unsportsman-like conduct infraction charged to their bench.

"You have to hand it to Grand Haven because they muscled it. They have big, strong kids," Heckel said. "They were relentless, and they are a well-coached team. I can't say anything bad about my team, we just got out-wrestled.

"We won 17 dual meets straight, but we were due for a down match, and honestly, we haven't wrestled a dual meet team as good as Grand Haven. I'm disappointed in the spread. I didn't know what it would be, but I thought we were underdogs on paper."

The Bucs, 3-1 and 11-6, got off to a quick start when heavyweight Sean Sluis pinned Ross Raterink in the first match of the meet in three minutes, 14 seconds. Kevin Schmidt then beat John Lash 13-1 at 103 to put the Bucs up 10-0.

Grand Haven won 10 of the 14 weight classes. Matt Dempsey gave Grand Haven a win at 119 when he won by injury default, and Corey Blanding and Josh Juarez took top honors at 140 and 145, respectively. Grand Haven followed with wins from Zack Strunk (152), Trevor Collard (160), Justin Perry (171), Kurtis Abraham (189) and Josh Dahlman (215).

"I thought there were probably six matches that could go either way," Richardson said. "I'm not sure how many we got of those, but I'm real pleased with our kids' efforts. I was as pleased with some of our losses as I was with our wins considering how our boys wrestled. We had a couple of young guys wrestle really hard and aggressive.

"The 145-pound match was important. Josh (Juarez) wrestled (Kyle) Broekhuis last year at districts and lost a real close match, and I thought that was going to be a key matchup for us. I don't know if it was a turning point, but Josh wrestled really well."

Zeeland also received a win from Phil Choulramountry at 112, edging Jeff Pipp 13-11.

Haven wrestlers get past Sailors

Grand Haven Tribune
Friday, January 9, 2004

In a match decided by just six points, every point at every weight class counts.

That's what made Grand Haven 145-pounder Josh Juarez's win over Mona Shores' Lenny Stewart so exciting Thursday.

Juarez came from eight points down to pin Stewart in the third period, helping the Buccaneers score a 38-32 win over the Sailors at the Grand Haven Field House.

The win evens the Bucs' O-K Red Lakeshore Division record at 1-1.

Grand Haven also got pins from Matt Dempsey at 119 pounds and Justin Perry at 171 pounds.

Other winners for the Bucs included Jeff Pipp, a 4-2 winner at 112 pounds; Zack Strunk, a 15-5 winner at 152 pounds; Trevor Collard, who won 12-3 at 160 pounds; Kurtis Abraham, a 4-2 winner at 189 pounds; and Josh Dahlman, who won by forfeit at 215.

The meet started at 112 pounds, and Grand Haven trailed 20-9 going into Juarez's bout at 145 pounds. With the outcome of the match on the line, Juarez battled back from eight points down, closing to within a point, 10-9, before getting the pin with 49 seconds left in the third period.

It was all Bucs from there, and by the time Dahlman scored six points in his default win at 215, the Grand Haven led 38-20 and had the match wrapped up. Mona Shores won the final two weight classes as Andrew Cribbs pinned Sean Sluis at heavyweight, then Tucker Stewart won by forfeit at 103.

JUNIOR VARSITY: Grand Haven won 13 of 15 matches Thursday to beat Mona Shores 60-12. Tyler Wiebenga (130), Cameron Krizan (140) and Brad Wiebenga (171) each pinned their opponent. Corey Blanding (145) scored a tough 8-6 decision and Alex Turton won a 9-3 decision. Will Montgomery (112), Jake Roetter (135), Travis Hall (152), Louie Bennett (152), Pat Heins (152) and Tim Workman (152) each won. Seth Crace (171) and Erik Scott (145) both scored overtime wins.

GH 3rd at Provencal invite

Grand Haven Tribune
Monday, January 5, 2004

They didn't have any individual weight class champions, but several second- and third-place finishes helped Grand Haven take third at Saturday's Adam H. Provencal 2004 Wrestling Tournament. (continued)

Shelby won the event with 220.5 points, followed by Canfield, Ohio at 195 and the. Buccaneers with 177. Traverse City Central took fourth place with 162.5 points, followed by Forest Hills Central (135.5), Spring Lake (128) and Fruitport (96).

Several Buccaneer wrestlers advanced to the championship match of their weight class, including 103-pound senior Kevin Schmidt. Schmidt, who began wrestling last year, took part in his second Adam H. Provencal tournament. He was disappointed in his performance at the event last year, and still wasn't content to take second Saturday. He was pinned in 1 minute, 35 seconds in the 103-pound title match by Alex Gorton of Shelby.

"I blame myself for getting pinned," said Schmidt, nursing a hyper-extended elbow with a bag of ice. "I charged in. It was a foolish thing, and he got me in a headlock. I'll learn from my mistake. It's better to learn it now than to have it happen at state."

"Mentally, I can get inside their head," Schmidt said. "If I bang on their head enough during the match, a lot of times they'll give up. I didn't place here last year, but I felt a lot more confident this year. I knew the finals match would be tough."

Several other Buc wrestlers took second, including Josh Juarez at 145 pounds. Juarez, who exploded onto the scene by winning his weight class at this same tournament last year. Juarez pinned his first two opponents, then dropped a 9-5 decision in the championship match to Forest Hills Central's Ben Flowers.

Buccaneer 152-pounder Zack Strunk also went unbeaten until his finals match, pinning a pair of opponents. He then lost to Canfield's Chris Pankewicz, 9-5. Pankewicz was named the tournament's Most Valuable Wrestler.

Grand Haven's Kurtis Abraham, a returning state qualifier, took third place at 189 pounds, as did teammate Josh Dahlman at 215. Abraham scored a 5-2 decision over Fruitport's Luke Dobb in his third-place match while Dahlman scored a 9-5 win over Canfield's Alex Roman.

Grand Haven's Sean Sluis took fourth at heavyweight, and Justin Perry placed fourth at 171 pounds.

Buccaneer 112-pounder Jeff Pipp was fifth while Matt Dempsey placed eighth at 119. Derek Houseman was sixth at 135 pounds for the Bucs; Matt LaFleur took seventh at 140; Seth Grace was seventh at 160; Brad Wiebenga finished sixth at 171; and Rick Brenner took eighth at 189.

Spring Lake's Scott Koops continued his fantastic wrestling with a first-place finish at 171 pounds. He scored a hard-fought 6-5 victory over Forest Hills Central's Nick Vogtmann in the finals. Koops is 18-1 on the year.

Billy Swano improved to 20-3 on the season with a second-place finish at 130 pounds. He lost in the finals to Shelby's Jake Gorton from Shelby, 12-8. Joel Latsch took third place at 135 pounds, winning his third-place match 2-1 over Mike Magyar of Canfield.

"Joel had an excellent tournament in spite of moving up weight classes and being nine pounds underweight," said Laker coach Tom Koops.

Logan Worel (103 pounds), D.J. Kanatzar (119 pounds), Kyle Gould (152 pounds) and Cody Goodburn (189 pounds) each took fifth place for the Lakers. Josh Jobin placed sixth at 145 pounds.

Fruitport's best finish was a second-place result by 135-pounder Drew Brandenburg. He lost in the finals to Mike Zernow of Traverse City Central.

For complete tournament results and pictures click on this link.

Buc wrestlers edged by WO

Grand Haven's varsity wrestling team dropped its O-K Red Lakeshore Division opener at West Ottawa Thursday, falling to the Panthers, 35-34.

The Bucs trailed 35-22 going into the 103-pound weight class. Grand Haven's Kevin Schmidt and Jeff Pipp each pinned their respective opponents to make the final score closer.

Schmidt pinned West Ottawa's Ben Sasamoto in 50 seconds while Pipp needed 2 minutes, 49 seconds to put Zack Coffman on his back.

The match started at 119 pounds, where Grand Haven's Omeed Veiseh lost to Mathis Saur. The Bucs bounced back as Dave Teunis scored a major decision. Kyle O'Badovic won at 130 pounds for the Bucs. Josh Juarez scored a tech fall victory over Kevin Crosby at 145 pounds, making the score 14-13 in favor of the host Panthers. Justin Perry scored a big win for Grand Haven. He beat Alex Furgus at 171 pounds, again pulling his team close, making the score 26-16. After West Ottawa gained three points at 189 pounds, where John McCure scored a decision over Kurtis Abraham, the Bucs again bounced back.

At 215 pounds, Buccaneer Josh Dahlman pinned Matt Barre in 1:52. Grand Haven's Sean Sluis couldn't keep the momentum rolling for the Bucs as he was pinned by West Ottawa's Scott Arnold.

Grand Haven has this weekend off and returns to the mat Dec. 27 at Thorapple-Kellogg.

GH puts on show for classmates

BY MATT DEYOUNG
mdeyoung@grandhaventribune.com
12-05-03

On a day when well over 1,000 students packed the Grand Haven Field House, the Buccaneer wrestling team put on quite a show, scoring a 63-9 victory over visiting Spring Lake.

The match, which started at 145 pounds, began at 2 p.m. and was treated like an assembly, allowing Grand Haven students the opportunity to see a high school wrestling match. Most had never seen a match before.

"The purpose of this match was to give a chance for the kids to get some well-deserved exposure and to promote the sport of wrestling," said Buccaneer coach James Richardson, whose team went on to beat Wyoming Rogers later in the afternoon.

"We wanted to clear up some misconceptions, too," Richardson added. "Too many people think our sport is what they see on TV. There were a ton of people here today. We were close to filling the stands."

The Buccaneer faithful saw their classmates race out to a 51-0 advantage after 10 matches. The Lakers didn't get onto the board until the 125-pound bout, where D.J. Kanatzar scored an 8-2 decision over Matt Dempsey.

After a Spring Lake forfeit, two-time state qualifier Billy Swano earned the Lakers' second win, pinning Buccaneer freshman Kyle O'Badovic midway through the third period.

Those two wins were the lone bright spots for a young Lakers' team under the guidance of new coach Tom Koops.

The Bucs, on the other hand, received several strong showings, including O'Badovic's performance against Swano.

"I'm very pleased with Kyle's effort," Richardson said. "I'm as pleased with his match as with most. He made some freshman mistakes, and that cost him, but he has a lot of potential."

Two wrestlers who have lived up to their potential are Grand Haven's Kurtis Abraham and Spring Lake's Scott Koops. The two returning state qualifiers battled at 189 pounds as Koops moved up a weight class. Abraham got the best of the brawl, coming away with an 8-3 decision.

Justin Perry also won a key match for the Buccaneers, scoring a 10-2 win over Cody Goodburn at 171 pounds.

"I thought Justin Perry wrestled real well," Richardson said of the senior. "This was his first time in a the varsity lineup. I'm real pleased with his aggressiveness. Koops and Abraham are two state qualifiers, and it says a lot about Koops to go up and wrestle well against a kid that much bigger than him."

Grand Haven won four weight classes by forfeit. Kevin Schmidt, a senior, earned six points for his team by pinning Logan Worel at 103 pounds. Jeff Pipp won a matchup of first-year varsity wrestlers at 112 pounds when he beat Spring Lake's Cody Kirchner, 8-0. Kirchner wrestles despite being blind.

"This was Jeff Pipp's first time in the varsity lineup, and that was exciting to watch," Richardson said. "I was very pleased with his effort. I was really impressed with how Cody wrestled. He has a lot of potential."

At 145 pounds, Grand Haven's Josh Juarez pinned Brad Nietring in 1 minute, 19 seconds. Matt Wilber scored a 15-5 major decision over Kyle Gould at 160 pounds while at 215 pounds, Josh Dahlman of Grand Haven pinned Spring Lake's Adam Miller.

The Bucs' Sean Sluis won the battle of heavyweights when he pinned the Lakers' Ray Govus in 1:28.

""Spring Lake's got a pretty inexperienced team, but with Tom Koops as their new coach, give them a few years and my guess is, they'll be very competitive," Richardson said. "But right now, they're pretty inexperienced."

Grand Haven High School
17001 Ferris St.
Grand Haven, MI 49417
Phone: 616.850.6000

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