IMLAY CITY — Imlay City 125-pounder Cristian Rojas registered a fourth-place finish last Friday at the Division 2 individual state wrestling finals.
Van Andel Arena, in Grand Rapids, served as the tournament venue.
Imlay City’s Cristian Rojas, shown in this file photo, took fourth at the Div. 2 state finals.
Rojas started things off with a 6-0 win against Adrian’s Joey Spagnoli. Those grapplers entered the clash sporting 25-4 and 21-8 marks, respectively.
Dewitt’s Kiefer Kolito, who was 27-3 when they collided, was his next mat assignment. The clash drew to a close with Kolito, the eventual third-place finisher, ahead 3-0.
Rojas then improved to 2-1 with a pin just 1:18 into his contest with Lake Fenton’s Ty Johnson.
The Imlay City grappler then squared off versus Lowell’s Landon Miller, who was 17-9 when they collided. Rojas picked up a 6-2 victory there. Miller would go to place eighth in the weight class.
Rojas went up against Monroe Jefferson’s Dylan Garcia (21-7) next. That battle ended with Rojas prevailing 4-2 in sudden victory.
That earned him a spot in the third place match where he squared off against Kolito again. This time Kolito triumphed via a pin with 2:22
For his performance, Rojas earned All-State accolades (reserved for the top-eight finishers in the weight class).
Rojas concluded the season at 29-6.
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.
