Davison’s wrestlers dominate district mats

Davison’s Trevor Thomas won the 189-pound district title. Photos by Dan Nilsen DAVISON — The Cardinals rolled through the first week of the Div. 1 state wrestling tournament last week, squashing Port Huron Northern, 62-9, for the team district title last Thursday, and then qualifying 13 wrestlers with seven champions in the individual district last Saturday at home.

Lincoln Olson, Justin Oliver, Dominic Russ, Matt Miller, Thomas Garty, Jordan Cooks and Trevor Thomas all won district titles, as Davison advanced every wrestler it entered to the regional this Saturday, also on its own mat. The top four regional finishers will move on to the state meet March 1-3 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Davison brought three top-ranked individuals into the district, and all three upheld that state ranking. Olson won the 103-lb. crown with a 13-11 win over Port Huron Northern’s Austin Thompson in the final. The freshman remained undefeated at 36-0.

Justin Oliver hits the mats earlier this season. Oliver pinned his way through the 119 field, beating teammate Derek Humphrey in one minute in the final. Both are sophomores.

Cooks, another sophomore, beat Grand Blanc’s Christian O’Guinn, 6-3, in the 160 final.

Miller came in ranked third in the state at 130 but was seeded only third in the district. The sophomore had lost to topseeded Parker Willard of Port Huron Northern, 13-11, in the team district two days earlier. That was enough motivation for Miller, who beat second-seeded Jared Keifer of Saginaw Heritage, 20-7, in the semifinals and teched Willard, 20-3, in the final.

Russ, yet another sophomore ranked sixth at 125, also teched a Northern wrestler in the final, 15-0 over Kevin Nguyen.

Garty, the fifth sophomore to win a district title, had two tech falls at 140, including a 20-5 rout of Bay City Central’s Jacob Powers in the final.

Thomas was the upset special of the day, coming from a No. 3 seed to beat Nos. 1 and 2, capped by a 14-5 rout of top seed Jordan Corby of Port Huron at 189.

Humphrey had two pins, one in 29 seconds, before finishing second to Oliver. Also taking second for the Cardinals was junior Carter Stoddard, who had two pins before losing the 135-pound final, 1-0, to Tyler Balderstone of Saginaw Heritage.

Patrick Rooker also lost a close final, 4- 1 to second-ranked Jake Weissend of Carman-Ainsworth, at 145 pounds.

Freshman Tyler Wildmo was third at 152, beating teammate Gramm Goyette, 9-3, to reach the third-place final. Ryan Thick also qualified third, winning twice by 17-2 tech fall scores.

Jacob Madrigal placed fourth at 103 after getting bumped into the consolation bracket with a 17-5 loss to teammate Olson. Madrigal bounced back with a 16- 8 major decision to reach the third-place final, where he lost, 7-0.

Davison cruised through the team district at Port Huron, starting with a forfeit win over Grand Blanc when the Bobcats pulled out of the tournament. In the final, Olson, Oliver, Russ and Wildmo all had pins despite moving up a class. Humphrey, Goyette, Thick and Thomas also won by fall, Garty won by tech fall and Stoddard bumped up to 140 and took a 14-7 decision. Dakota Powers won by void at 215.

The Cardinals advanced to last night’s team regional at Midland, where they took on Bay City Central in the semifinals. Heritage and Traverse City West were in the other bracket, with the champion advancing to the quarterfinals Feb. 24 at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.