Three Imlay City wrestlers win titles, six more medal
Imlay Ctiy heavyweight Joe Harper is seconds away from winning his weight division’s title Saturday at the Tri-City Times Spartan Invitational. photo by Kevin Kissane.
IMLAY CITY — The Imlay City wrestling team registered nine placewinning performances, paving the way to a first-place finish last Saturday at the Tri-City Times Spartan Invitational it hosted.
Imlay City edged Mt. Morris, 176 points to 174, for team honors that day. Byron pulled up third, amassing 162 points en route. They were followed by Cass City (120 points), Lake Fenton (116), Ovid-Elsie (104), St. Clair
(86), Oxford (85.5), Carrollton (84), Farwell (67.5), Valley Lutheran (63), Clawson (53.5), Lansing Waverly (48), North Branch (42.5), Flint Powers (40.5), Webberville (38), Royal Oak (35.5) and Lutheran North (15).
The team champion at Saturday’s tournament would not be decided until the final match had ended. It was there Imlay City heavyweight Joe Harper picked up an 11-8 victory over Lake Fenton’s Zolen Marron, assuring his team of a top finish.
Wesley Hampton and Kyle Kulin gave Imlay City number one finishes as well. Hampton ended his run at 135 pounds when he pinned Lansing Waverly’s James Wagner with 22 seconds gone and Kulin concluded 152-pound action with a 6-1 triumph against Mt. Morris foe Jake Allen.
Hunter Mullins also proved key to Imlay City’s successful showing, claiming a second. Mullins advanced to the title match at 171 pounds where he fell by a 10-3 score to Mt. Morris counterpart Gavin Morgan.
Dakota Sandzik provided Imlay City with a third. Sandzik concluded his run at 112 pounds by stopping Ovid-Elsie’s Max Spiess with 3:30 gone.
Mason Phillips supplied the lone Imlay City fourth. Phillips ended 119-pound action with a 4-3 loss to Mt. Morris adversary Matt Allen.
Austin Torres and Rylan Powers contributed fifths to Imlay City’s cause. Torres finished his stint at 125 pounds when he pinned Byron’s Colby Shettler with 2:51 gone and Powers completed 130-pound action with a 9-6 win against Byron’s Nolan Lange.
Ricky Guerrero rounded out the list of Imlay City placewinners with a sixth. Guerrero ended 160-pound action with a 15-0 setback to Farwell’s Chase Burchette.
Kevin Kissane has been covering high school sports for the Tri-City Times since 1985. When not standing on a field or court with his camera and notepad, he enjoys golf, travel and family. Kevin is a 1980 graduate of Capac High School, and is also a grad of St. Clair Community College and earned a degree in journalism from Central Michigan University.
