Canton's Brent Winekoff pinned CC's Matt Longe in 3:16 at 160 pounds.

CC takes the
Clash of Titans

Chiefs start strong, but fall to Shamrocks in Regional final

BY ED WRIGHT
Feb. 18, 2010, 9:30 a.m.

  The predominant buzz that circulated through Canton's Phase III gymnasium prior to Wednesday's Canton-Novi Catholic Central Regional final wrestling match was this: The Chiefs could pull off a monumental upset of the Shamrocks if they wrestled a near-perfect match.

  The Chiefs were perfect following the first three matches, building a 12-0 lead thanks to Brent Winekoff's pin of Matt Longe and hard-fought decisions from Keith Zech and Anthony Abro.

  However, the CC freight train got rolling following a Canton void at 215 and a Canton disqualification at 285 and only picked up momentum the rest of the match as the Shamrocks doubled up the Chiefs, 42-21, to advance to the state team finals Feb. 26-27 in Battle Creek.

  Canton finished its most successful team season in history, racking up a 29-7 record. Nine individual wrestlers will compete in Saturday's Regional individual meet seeking a top-four finish that could send them to the state finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills on  March 4-6.

  "I don't know if its disappointment," Canton coach Cory Mancuso said, when asked for his feelings moments after the match. "CC has a really tough team and they're very strong at every weight class. I knew we were going to have our hands full with them.

  "We battled them hard in some weight classes. In some weight classes I felt we could have battled them a little harder, but they're a real good, well-coached team."

  In the coming years, how can Canton close the gap on the Shamrocks, who are able to draw many of the most talented grapplers from across southeast Michigan to their dominant wrestling program?

  "We have to continue to promote the sport of wrestling at our school and try to get as many athletic kids out as we can," Mancuso said. "Once we get the good, sound, athletic kids out, we make they pretty good. What we're doing in our  wrestling room is working; we just have to get more kids out."

  CC dominated the lower weights, pulling off a seven-match winning streak from 103 to 140. Senior captain Donnie Watkins finally snapped the Canton cool spell by ousting CC's Alex Kas-Marogi, 15-0, in a technical fall victory at 145 pounds to cut the Chiefs' impossible-to-overcome deficit to 42-17.

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