LocalSportsJournal.com
KALAMAZOO – The Whitehall Vikings flashed their deep wrestling roster on Friday and defeated Gladstone 52-18 in the Division 3 state quarterfinals.
The meet, at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, also will host the state semifinals and finals on Saturday in the team event.
Also, the Hart Pirates nearly battled back from a large deficit before falling to Constantine, 32-30. The outcome was decided in the final match, which went into overtime.
Whitehall 52, Gladstone 18
The second-ranked Vikings raced out to a 39-6 lead early in the match and cruised to the semifinal berth.
Whitehall will take on Clinton, which defeated Yale, 34-21, in another quarterfinal contest. That match is set for noon Saturday.
The match-clinching victory was posted by junior Wyatt Jenkins, who was wrestling in his first match of the season. Jenkins (190) suffered a broken neck back in July at a football came that required surgery and plenty of rehabilitation to get back into action.
Senior Darnell Mack was impressive at 150 pounds with a pin over Austin S0lis of Gladstone. A major decision for Blake English at 157 pounds also helped the Vikings’ cause. Ryan Goodrich and Gavin Craner followed with a pair of technical falls.
Wyatt Jenkins provided the match-clinching victory at 190 pounds, as the junior grappler for the Vikings pinned Jack Savard to the mat in the first minute of the opening round. It was Jenkins’ first match back since a serious neck injury in the summer and it pushed the Vikings back to the state semifinals, where they’ll face Clinton.
Constantine 32, Hart 30
The Pirates staged an impressive comeback that put the outcome on the final match of the day. The Pirate wrestler won an overtime match, but that left the Pirates two points short.
Aiden Schaner (106) and Jose Chavira (113) fueled the comeback that pulled Hart back to within contention.
Photos/Joe Washington
