LocalSportsJournal.com

High school team wrestling regionals will be in full swing on Wednesday.

The individual district winners through fourth-place finishers were rewarded with a spot in this weekend’s regional tournament.

Now it’s time to give the nod to the area’s best wrestlers at Local Sports Journal’s Varsity Blues Sports Awards show on Saturday at the Frauenthal Theater. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. and tickets can be purchased at the Frauenthal Theater box office or online by clicking here.

Here are the wrestling nominations for the Justin Zeerip Wrestling Award:

Ian Cook – Reeths-Puffer
Gavin Craner – Whitehall
Darnell Mack – Whitehall
Tee Ward – Fremont

The wrestling tradition in the Greater Muskegon area is one of the finest traditions in the state of Michigan.

Just look take a look the storied career of Justin Zeerip and you will start to understand why we have the world’s best local sports scene right here at LocalSportsJournal.com.

Zeerip set a national record when he posted a 260-0 high school career at Hesperia High School. He also holds the record for the most career pins at 206. It’s a feat that is still tops in the state of Michigan and the United States.

He was named to Wrestling USA magazine’s Academic All-America team in 2007, the year he graduated from Hesperia. He was Michigan’s recipient of the Dave Schultz Award and was selected as Michigan’s ‘Mr. Wrestler.’

Zeerip was a four-time Michigan state champion (2004, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07) and he also competed in cross country, where he earned All-Western Waterways Athletic Conference honors. He helped his Panther teammates capture two cross-country state team championships in 2004 and ‘06.

Wrestling for the University of Michigan was an easy fit for Zeerip who was co-Valedictorian at Hesperia with his future wife, Jenna.

At U-M, he became a two-time Academic All-American and a four-time Academic All-Big Ten. He wrestled in four straight NCAA Championships, placed in four Big Ten Championships and finished with 100 career wins, just the 35th Wolverine to do so.

Currently, Zeerip is the head coach of Whitehall High School’s wrestling program and helped lead his team to a Division 3 state runner-up finish in 2023.