Advertisement

Goodrich's Mark Weber (135) and Kyler Elsworth (189) along with Davison's Justin McDermott (140) all capped off Saturday's three-day Individual Wrestling State Finals by winning a state title in their respective weight classes. Weber and Elsworth's titles were in Division 3 while McDermott's title was in Division 1.

For Weber, the weekend capped off an amazing four-year run, where the Martian wrestler became the Flint-area's fourth and Michigan's 13th four-time state champion with a 12-3 win over Whitehall's Anthony Verala in the Division 2, 135-pound weight title match. With the finals win, Weber finished the weekend a perfect 4-0, ended the year with a 62-3 record while also tying Davison's Chase Metcalf for the 5th best win total in Lapeer-area wrestling history with 223 career wins.

Weber breezed into the finals. The senior opened the weekend with a 18-7 major decision victory over Battle Creek Pennfield's Brandon Case before later scoring another major decision with a 10-4 win over Fremont's Tim Carpenter.

Weber's closest match was a 7-1 decision over Chesaning's Chad Reiber, which allowed him to advance to the Division 3 finals for his match against Verala.

Verala, a 50-match winner going into the final match, proved to be no match for Weber. The match was close early, as Weber took the early lead with a takedown just 14 seconds into the match. Verala kept it close until the third period, until Weber outscored him 8-1 to get the major decision victory.

The road to the title was not as easy for Elsworth. Just a junior, Elsworth scored a first round pin on Comstock's Matt Ritchie and later won by an 11-2 major decision over Remus-Chippewa Hills' Kevin Smith to move into the third round of the winners bracket.

Elsworth won by a 15-0 technical fall over Reed City's Ryan Dagen to advance to the finals to face undefeated Celic Bell of South Haven. Bell, who owned a 57-0 record heading into the finals, took the early 1-0 lead over Elsworth.

Elsworth scored an escape to begin the third period to tie the match 1-1, and it would remain that way until the very end of the match. Elsworth scored a takedown on Bell with seven points remaining to get two points before also taking two points on a nearfall as the match ended for the 5-1 victory and the state title as well.

Elsworth, who was making his third appearance in the state tournament, finishes the season with a 67-1 record. The 67 wins for the 2007-08 season is a new Lapeer-area season record, breaking the previous mark of 65 set by Lapeer West's Roger Kish in the 2002-03 season. Elsworth now has a 165-31 mark for his three year career.

A week after Goodrich won the team wrestling title in Division 3, the Martians continued to show their dominance on the mats. Grant Overcashier took second place in 130, losing to Yale's Andrew Schutt by a 5-3 overtime decision in the finals. Overcashier finished the year with a 65-2 record.

Goodrich junior Kyle March also finished with a second place in his weight division. March, who finished the year with a 59-10 record, lost an 8-3 decision to South Haven's Kamron Jackson in the finals at 171. Teammate Kirk Britton, a junior who went 55-8 over the season, grabbed a sixth place finish at 125. Joe Hopkins was the fifth Martian to get all state honors, as the junior finished in seventh place in the 140 weight class. Hopkins finished his third year with a 52-13 record.

Capac's Alex Wegner was the last local wrestler to earn all state honors in Division 3. The senior, who ended his career with the Chiefs with a 59-7 record for the 2007-08 season, finished in sixth place at 285.

DIVISION 1

Davison's McDermitt was leading Detroit Catholic Central's Shea Hasenaer 7-2 before an injured Hasenaer could not continue. McDermitt has already defeated Hasenaer twice this season and finished his senior season with a 50-2 record. McDermitt finished in third place last year after taking second place as a sophmore two years ago.

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