Martians second at 15-team tourney

Goodrich’s Kristi Garr (103 lbs.) at the Lapeer West quad last week. HARTLAND — In an event where the host school took the championship with a whopping 293 points, the only question was which squad would win the race for second place at last Saturday’s Hartland Invitational, a spot the Goodrich varsity wrestling team claimed with a score of 125.5. Coming in third for the day was Belleville at 122, followed by Bay City Central (114.5), Lake Fenton (113), Petoskey (97.5), Fenton (77), Lapeer East (75.5), Ann Arbor Pioneer (71.5), Fruitport (71), Hartland B (65), Allen Park (61), Fowlerville (39), Grosse Pointe North (31.5) and Plainwell (29).

The Martians wound up with three titlists for the tournament, including Kristi Garr, who had two byes before pinning Hartland B’s Devon Chalut in 3:53 and outlasting Hartland’s Alec Bain 3-1 to secure herself a first-place finish. For Parker Lovell (171), his road to glory was littered with a lot more obstacles, sticking Bay City Central’s Mike Meeth in 2:57 and Hartland B’s Garrett Mackey in :35, before taking consecutive 11-4 decisions over Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Justin Pose and Petoskey’s Zach Marihugh.

Taking Goodrich’s other first-place finish was Jarred LaBelle (189), posting 15-0, 7- 6, and 3-0 decisons over Allen Park’s Tyler Hill, Fruitport’s Travis Chorny and Hartland’s Sean Wright after dismissing Nick Long of Hartland B in 73 seconds. Not far behind for the Martians was Evan Grzecki (125), beating Belleville’s Casey O’Keefe, 10- 2, and Bay City Central’s Tyler Lemke in 3:31 before losing to Hartland’s Nick Monitz, 11-3, to come in second.

Cody Petit (119) was also among the placers for Goodrich, coming in fourth with losses to Belleville’s Brendan Papin and Fruitport’s Tyler Pastor after besting Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Keegan Pape in 91 seconds and Hartland’s Keith Boldt, 13-11. With a secondround loss to Fruitport’s David Juarez in 5:27 after a roundone bye, Bryce Montgomery (140) was the Martians’ final championship represenative, getting the better of Bellville’s Canter Sherman, Allen Park’s Brad Ferguson and Belleville’s Kyle Skotak to the tune of 5-0, 10-1, and 5-0.

With the win, Hartland moved up from the on-deck circle and took over the top spot in Div. 1, according to michigangrappler.com. The site also lists several Martians among the top 10 individuals for their respective Div. 3 weight classes, including LaBelle, who holds the fifth spot at 189 lbs. as of Dec. 9, 2009. Lovell and Garr are the squad’s other ranked grapplers, holding down the 10th spot at 171 and 103 lbs, respectively.

Goodrich competed last Tuesday at the Rochester Adams quad meet. GRAND BLANC

The Bobcats were at Romeo for a team duals tournament last Saturday, losing to Oxford, 61-9, Richmond, 64- 12, Romeo, 47-24, and Wyandotte Roosevelt, 40-36. Grand Blanc also beat Saginaw, 66-6.

“We are off to a real slow start, but we are hopeful that we will turn things around,” said coach Scott Turnbow “We are searching for some leadership within the team, and a few leaders are beginning to emerge. Hopefully, they will take this team in the right direction.”

On Dec. 9 the Bobcats were at former Big Nine rival Flushing for a quad meet, losing to Bangor John Glenn, 56- 24, but beating Genesee Area Conference rival Byron. The Raiders also lost to John Glenn, 51-21, but defeated Byron, 42-31.

Grand Blanc also has several wrestlers listed in the top 10 for their Div. 1 weight class, including fourth-seeded Jay Banks (103), Christian O’Guinn (130) and Drew Morris (152) are both seventh and Chad Cook (285) came in ninth.

The Bobcats take the mat Saturday at Davison at the Genesee County Invitational.