Click the thumbnails to see photos of some of the state qualifiers
The Upper Peninsula will be well-represented next month at the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Individual state finals at Ford Field in Detroit.
The results from the individual regional tournaments on Saturday around northern Michigan ended with 28 UP Wrestlers qualifying.
They had to finish in the top four in their respective weight class at last week's districts and at this week's regionals to make it to Ford Field. If you win your regional, you get a better draw at the state finals, but if you finish fourth in your region, you will probably be facing a regional champion right off the bat in Detroit.
DIVISION TWO at CADILLAC
Escanaba's Cade Krueger finished third in his 120-pound regional and will be the only Eskymo to head to Ford Field. He had to win three matches (one on a medical forfeit) after loosing his first match of the day on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Marquette will send one wrestler to Detroit: heavyweight Dasan Smith, who finished second on Saturday. He won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches rather easily, but lost to James Mahoon of Goodrich High School on a pin in 1:02 in the championship match.
Sault Ste. Marie will also send one wrestler to Detroit: 138-pounder Will Ohman, He won two tight matches, 6-5 over Adoniah Delgado of Linden, and 3-2 over Matt Schaffer of Bay City John Glenn to advance to the final. Ohman had to settle for runner-up when he lost to Cole Riedel of St. John's on a 4-0 decision.
DIVISION THREE AT GRAYLING
The Gladstone Braves will send four wrestlers to Ford Field, including two of them as regional champions. There were two Gladstone wrestlers that had to face each other in the 113-pound regional championship match: Drew Hansen and Eli Terrien.
Both Braves wrestlers won their quarterfinal and semifinal matches, and in the championship match, Hansen improved to 41-1 on the season by beating Terrien on a pin in 1:01.
Hansen, who's brother, Cole, wrestles at Michigan State University, should get a favorable seed at Ford Field at states, while Terrien also qualified for states.
Gladstone's other regional champion is Austin Solis at 144 pounds. He won his championship match over Kingsley's Justin Grahn on a pin in just 41 seconds. Solis improved his season record to 44-4 heading to Detroit.
And Gladstone 190-pounder Cole Potier will also be heading to Ford Field. He pinned his first two opponents, including is semifinal opponent in only 42 seconds. In the championship match, Potier came up one point short against Bryson Hughes of Reed City, losing on an 8-7 decision. Potier still earns a trip to Detroit.
Also in Division Three, the Kingsford Flivvers will send two wrestlers at the 215-pound weight class to Detroit. One of them is Elizin Rouse, who won the regional championship by beating Cheboygan's Robert LaPointe on a 5-2 decision.
Fellow Flivver Noah Johnson qualified in third place with a 55-second pin over Max Herrick of Tawas High School in the third place match.
The third Flivver wrestler to make it to Ford Field is 175-pounder Josh Peterson. He won his third place match over Kingsley's Maximus Goethals on a 3-2 decision.
DIVISION FOUR AT CHARLEVOIX
The most Upper Peninsula wrestlers to qualify for Ford Field comes from D-4, with Bark River-Harris and Iron Mountain sending the most boys to states.
Bark River-Harris, a co-op with North Central, will have five wrestlers in Detroit, with two of them going as regional champions. Defending D-4 state champion Drew Allgeyer won his championship at 190 pounds by taking Landon Swanson of Charlevoix on an 8-4 decision.
And 157-pounder Dillon Raab won his championship with a quick 45-second pin over Samuel Vyner of Whittemore-Prescott High School.
Broncos 215-pounder Lucas Sischo qualified third after taking a 9-5 decision over Liam Jones of Benzie Central in the third place match.
At 132 pounds, Elliot Corrigan finished third by taking Damien Jackson of Pine River High School on a pin in 1:40 in the third place match. And at 144 pounds, Josh Riley also finished third by winning his third place match over Draven Karbowski of Mio-Au Sable on an 11-6 decision.
Iron Mountain had three regional champions and three runners-up in Saturday's action.
At 126 pounds, two Mountaineers faced each other in the championship match, just like they did last year in the state championship match at Ford Field.
On Saturday, Shawn Mcguire easily won his first two matches, while Tyler Winch had an easy 16-second pin in the quarterfinal before he had to survive a sudden victory overtime match in the semifinals. In the championship match, Mcguire defeated Winch on an 11-3 decision. It was Mcguire's 150th career win, and fourth regional title.
Both Mcguire and Winch made the state tournament, and could very well face each other in the state championship match for the second straight year.
Another of Iron Mouuntain's regional champions is 165-pounder Fulton Stroud. He dominated his opponents on Saturday, winning on 12-0 and 6-0 decisions, before pinning Isaac Paull of Rogers City in the championship match in 2:42.
At 152 pounds, Evan Haferkorn continued his undefeated season by getting a pin and a tech fall in the first two rounds, and then defeated Munising's Reagan Bowerman in the championship match, also easily, 8-0. Haferkorn improves to 37-0 on the season.
Two Mountaineers made it to championship matches, but will head to Detroit as runners-up. At 113 pounds, Alexander Wilson lost in the championship match to Tyler Sheeran of Traverse City St. Francis on a 7-3 decision.
And at 132 pounds, Daniel Manier won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches on 7-0 and 7-2 decisions, before facing Landen Pangborn of Benzie Central in the championship match. Pangborn won the match on a 9-4 decision. Manier, though, advances to the state finals as a second-place regional finisher.
Gwinn will have one wrestler in Detroit: heavyweight Colton Berglund. He won his third place match over Pine River's Caleb Gepford on a 3-1 decision.
Ishpening will also have one wrestler at states: Logan Hurkmans, who finished fourth in the 175-pound weight class.
There will be two Munising Mustangs on the mats of Ford Field. At 126 pounds, Andrew Cain lost his first match, but pinned his next two opponents to get into the third place match. Cain lost to Jericho Holmes of Pine River on an 18-1 tech fall, but Cain still heads to Detroit with a fourth place finish.
Bowerman easily won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches at 150 pounds, but ran up against Haferkorn in the championship match. Bowerman still qualifies for states as regional runner-up with a 35-4 season record.
The Manistique Emeralds have one state qualifier. At 120 pounds, Dillon Hayes defeated Hudson Decker of Onaway in a wild third place match on a 14-11 decision.
The Newberry Indians will have one wrestler in Detroit, as 138-pounder Hayden O'Neil won his third place match by pinning Mio-Au Sable's Ashton Burden in 49 seconds.
St. Ignace will have one wrestler at states, as 157-pounder Jax Lipnitz won his third place match over Mason Cunningham of Charlevoix, pinning him in 51 seconds.
