Salem's Blake Abbey, shown pinning Milford's Kevin Tierney, placed third at 215.

KLAA wrestling tournament
proves to be rousing success

BY CHARLES ROTHWELL
Feb. 7, 2010, 2:30 p.m.

  The first-ever KLAA Individual Wrestling Tournament was a huge success at Westland John Glenn High School.

  Five mats in the main gym and three mats in the auxiliary gym, and stands in both gyms were crammed with wrestlers and their fans from all 24 league schools.

  The wrestling itself ran approximately 11 hours and there  were plenty of upsets, heart-breaking losses and thrilling las-second victories.

  Taking home the first-place trophy, as expected, were the Hartland Eagles. Hartland placed 13 wrestlers in the top six and amassed 248.5.

  Winning individual championships were Nick Montiz with a dominant 11-1 win over Milford's Devin Boria, and returning state champion Nick McDiarmid with a 15-4 major decision over Waterford Kettering's Jesse Vance.

  In one of the more exciting matches of the evening, Hartland's Jeff Lopez dropped a 7-3 decision on a late take-down and near-fall by South Lyon's Joe Johnson at 135 pounds.

  John Glenn finished second with 202.5 points. Four Rockets made it to the championship finals. Seniors Anthony Pavlich (130 pounds) and Dustin Gajowiak (285), and freshman 140-pounder Travis Mann won their matches.

  Steve Wakeford (112) jumped out to a comfortable 6-1 lead in his championship match, but Milford's Jimmy Schroader hit a reversal with 10 seconds left and scored a fall as time expired to snatch the victory. Four other Rockets had excellent days and finished third: Kyle Gillies (103), Josh Austin (119), Mark Thompson (135) and Mike Johnson (145).

  Livonia Franklin finished eighth with 101 points. The Patriots were led by Steve Tuyo, who had an impressive 10-3 victory over the top-seeded Austin in the semi-finals, and a solid 5-2 win over Brighton's C.J. Brish in the finals.

  Other top-five finishers for the Patriots were Matt Roos (second at 152), Gabe Martinez (fourth at 103) and Zach Leuenberger (fifth at 160).

  The Plymouth-Canton schools did not fare so well. Salem had strong performances from seniors Jimmy Gross (second at 160), Blake Abbey (third at 215), James Middleditch (fifth at 135) and Devin Stratton (fifth at 125), and ended up in 12th place with 73 points.

  Plymouth was led by Wally Eppler, who placed third at heavyweight.

  Canton only sent a handful of first-year varsity wrestlers and freshman Richard DeMarois (fifth at 103) was the only one to place.

  Other top-five placers from Observerland-area schools were Curtis Castleberry (second at 171) and Jake Meadows (fifth at 112) from Livonia Churchill; and Andrew Schramm (fourth at 189) from Livonia Stevenson.

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Hartland, 248.50; 2. John Glenn, 202.50; 3. Brighton, 144; 4. Northville, 132; 5. Howell, 119; 6. Grand Blanc, 108; 7. Milford, 102; 8. Livonia Franklin, 101; 9. Walled Lake Northern, 92.50; 10. Walled Lake Central, 89; 11. South Lyon, 85; 12. Salem, 73; 13. Waterford Kettering, 63; 14. Livonia Churchill, 60; 15. Plymouth, 53.50; 16. Novi, 49; 17. Walled Lake Western, 39; 18. South Lyon East, 38.50; 19. Wayne Memorial, 29; 20. Livonia Stevenson, 27; 21. Pinckney, 21; 22. Canton, 17.50; 23. Lakeland, 14; 24. Waterford Mott, 4.

103: 1st: Kyle Pillars (HWL) dec. Tyler Foley (SLE), 6-3; 3rd: Kyle Gillies (JG) pinned Jordan Amine (B) in 2:30; 5th: Richard Demarois (C) dec. Ian Stirton (NVL), 4-1; 7th: Dan Martinez (LF) dec. Jay Banks (GB), 8-2.

112: 1st: Jimmy Schroader (M) pinned Steve Wakeford (JG) in 5:59; 3rd: Ross Kantola (HRT) won by injury default over Alex Calandrino (HOW); 5th: Jake Meadows (LC) won by major dec. over Gabe Martinez (LF), 13-2; 7th: Said Youssef (P) won by tech. fall over Jake Helka (WLN), 16-1 in 3:40.

119: 1st: Steve Tuyo (LF) dec. CJ Brish (B), 5-2; 3rd: Josh Austin (JG) pinned Spencer Hellner (HRT) in 2:14; 5th: Jordan Schaefer (SL) dec. Chad Czerneski (HOW), 11-7; 7th: Giddiani Albuerne (NOVI) dec. Nick Byrnes (SLE), 6-3.

125: Nick Monitz (HRT) won by major dec. over Devin Boria (M), 11-1; 3rd: Montel Watkins (WK) dec. Evan Hoshaw (B), 10-6; 5th: Brooks O'Brien (SL) dec. Devin Stratton (S), 2-1; 7th: Taylor Moore (HOW) won by injury default over Alejandro Albuerne (NOVI).

130: 1st: Anthony Pavlich (JG) dec. Christian O'Guinn (GB), 5-3; 3rd: Chase Snider (HRT) pinned Chase Snider (HRT), 2:29; 5th: Trevor Slicker (WLN) pinned George McClymont (NVL) in 2:13; 7th: Keith Kooperman (B) dec. Ziad Tamimi (P), 9-2.

135: 1st: Joe Johnson (SL) dec. Jeff Lopez (HRT), 7-3; 3rd: Mark Thompson (JG) pinned Aaron Calderon (B) in 49 seconds; 5th James Middleditch (S) dec. Mitchell Tucker (HOW), 6-4 (OT); 7th: Clayton Hughes (WLN) won by DQ.

140: 1st: Travis Mann (JG) dec. Frank Martin (WLC), 8-2; 3rd: John Julien (HRT) dec. Josh Wright (NVL), 6-3; 5th: Jake Smith (B) pinned Jake Hosking (M) in 1:20; 7th: Collin Anglin (SL) dec. Charlie Kokenakes (LS), 4-0.

145: 1st: Jon Nelson (NVL) dec. Doug Baughman (HRT), 11-4; 3rd: Mike Johnson (JG) dec. Kyle Marion (WLC), 12-5; 5th: Nick Burt (M) won by major dec. over Andy White (B), 11-0; 7th: Martin Bunney (NOVI) dec. Jalen Jones (WM), 9-5.

152: 1st: Drew Morris (GB) won by major dec. over Matt Roos (LF), 10-2; 3rd: Jake Hickman (WLN) dec. Joe Leavens (HOW), 13-8; 5th: Devin Butler (WLW) pinned Jesse Lashbrook (HRT) in 3:56; 7th: Nick Zakovich (WLC) pinned Andrew Rangarger (BR) in 1:55.

160: 1st: Don Kril (WLC) won by major dec. over Colin Gross (S), 17-3; 3rd: Kyle Regorrah (HRT) dec. Alex Engebretson (NOVI), 7-4; 5th: Zach Leuenberger (LF) dec. Dylan Arthur (WK), 3-1; 7th: Josh Mills (WM) dec. Zach Redden (JG), 5-2.

171: 1st: Nick Mudar (NVL) dec. Curis Castleberry (LC), 8-4; 3rd: Ryan Erps (PNY) dec. Vince Tkac (B), 11-4; 5th: Matt Ostemiller (HRT) dec. Patrick Roeser (WK), 11-6; 7th: Anthony Patritto (HOW) pinned Kameron Jones (JG) in 1:29.

189: 1st: Marco Smallman (WLN) pinned Bobby Lahiff (NVL) in 4:15; 3rd: Kurt Alder (B) dec. Andrew Schramm (LS), 9-3; 5th: Sean Wright (HRT) pinned Sam Welch (WLW) in 2:00; 7th: Charles Sovel (WLC) pinned Mitch Faulkner (HOW) in 1:50.

215: 1st: Nick McDiarmid (HRT) won by major dec. over Jesse Vance (WK), 15-4; 3rd: Blake Abbey (S) dec. Josh Sasek (GB), 5-1; 5th: Justin Umin (NVL) won by major dec. over Alex Sokell (L), 11-0; 7th: Durim Gega (SL) won by major dec. over Karl Hamina (WLW), 11-3.

285: 1st: Dustin Gajowiak (JG) pinned Chad Cook (GB) in 2:39; 3rd: Wally Eppler (P) dec. Jimmy Walsh (HOW), 3-1; 5th: Chris Combs (M) pinned Jon Meissner (HRT) in 2:14; 7th: Jon Sheckell (LC) dec. Chris Bowie (WM), 3-2.

LOWER WEIGHTS MVP: Jimmy Schroader (Milford);
UPPER WEIGHTS MVP: Nick McDiarmid (Hartland).