CAPAC — Capac 105-pounder Cierra Helzer saw to it she would not go home emptyhanded, registering an eighth at the second-ever Michigan High School Athletic Association-sponsored Girls’ Wrestling Individual State Finals.
Ford Field, in Detroit, hosted the two-day tournament which unfolded last Friday and Saturday.
Capac’s Cierra Helzer (R) took eighth in her weight class at the individual state finals.
Helzer opened her run Friday by pinning Ovid Elsie’s Ava Juhas with 3:40 gone.
She then went to 1-1, dropping a 13-10 quarterfinal verdict to Grandville’s Beyonkah Rincones, the eventual sixth-place finish.
Helzer followed that up Friday with a 3-1 sudden victory outcome versus Mancelona’s Abby Wildfong.
Those outcomes landed Helzer a spot in Saturday’s action.
She then squared off versus Oxford’s Cheyenne Frank next. That clash ended when Frank, the eventual fifth-place finisher pinned Helzer with 2:26 gone.
Helzer would face Iron Mountain’s Shayna Hruska next for seventh place honors. It was there Hruska posted a 9-1 win.
With her performance, Helzer earned All-State accolades (awarded to the top-eight finishers in each weight division).
Helzer concluded the year with a 12-10 record.
Ava Klink (155) also represented Capac at the Girls’ State Finals, going 0-2.
Klink began her stint at states Friday when she was pinned by Southgate Anderson’s Brooklyn Sage, the eventual fifth-place finisher, with 3:13 gone
She then bowed out later that day with a 6-22 loss to Gull Lake’’s Sophie Mattioli.
Klink finished the campaign with a 7-12 record.
Kevin Kissane
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.
