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Lapeer East's Philip Joseph and Jarrett Starr were both seeded number one in Division 2 in their respective weight classes at the Individual State wrestling finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday, yet neither wrestler finished the weekend with a state title.

Joseph battled back after an early loss to defeat the wrestler who put him in the consolation bracket for a third place finish at 160 while Starr went 3-2 over the three-day tournament to finish in fourth place at 285.

Not what they had wanted, but according to their coach, it was still a good showing for his wrestlers.

"It was not what we had wanted when we made our goals for the weekend," Lapeer East coach Sean Bashore said. "We thought both kids had a great chance of winning their weight brackets, but things didn't work out the way we wanted them to. I thought both kids wrestled very good, and they both showed a lot of heart by coming back after early setbacks.

"Both kids wrestled tough and they made a good showing of it."

Joseph, undefeated on the season as of Thursday, lost his first match of the year in his second match of the weekend. After winning an opening round match over Milan's Jacob Nelson by a score of 12-3, Joseph lost a close one to Allegan's John Rizgallah by a score of 7-6. It was a match that Bashore said Joseph could have won.

"He was leading that one by a point with around 30 seconds left in the match," Bashore said.

"He wound up losing a hold and gave up two points at the end of the match. That cost him the win.

"The way it worked out, Philip finished just one point from wrestling in the State Finals."

Joseph came back from the disappointing loss to get his revenge. Joseph won his next three matches to get a rematch with Rizgallah in the third place final.

In that match, Joseph scored two points on an early takedown, allowed Rizgallah a one-point escape and cruised the rest of the way to get the win and the third place finish.

"Philip wrestled that match very smart," Bashore said. "That was a nailbiter type of match, but he knew what he was doing, and he got out of there with the third place finish.

"The best part is he's just a junior, so he'll be back."

Joseph finishes the season with a 58-1 record.

As for Starr, he closes out his senior year and his career with a record of 48-5.

"Jarrett lost his first match of the weekend as well," Bashore said. "That put him in the consolation bracket, where we thought he could wind up winning it as well."

Starr lost 14-7 to Charlotte's Blake Beals in their first match of the weekend. Starr was able to overcome the disappointing to later get back at Beals.

Starr win his next two matches, including an exciting 5-3 overtime decision over Brandon's Zeke Grounds, to set up a rematch with Beals. In the second match, Starr moved into the early advantage, overpowering Beals before scoring the win by fall at the 2:21 point of the match.

"Jarrett really came back well on that one," Bashore said. "He was able to get the takedown and get himself into position to win third, but it just didn't work out for him."

In the third place finals, Starr lost by fall to Eaton Rapids' Josh Hendrickson after 2:02.

"Overall, not what we had wanted to do," Bashore said. "But I'm proud of the way my guys fought back and I think they made a good overall showing for Lapeer East.

"That's something to be proud of."

Andrew Selich is Sports Editor at The County Press. He can be reached at (810) 664-0811 ext 8124 or andrew.selich@lapeergroup.com