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West edges Davison to capture county wrestling meet
Monday, December 18, 2000
By Jody O'Hara
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER
It took more than 14 hours to get all the matches in but, finally, at 11:10 p.m. Saturday, Lapeer West was named the winner of the Genesee County Wrestling Championships.
The Panthers, ranked No. 1 and defending state champions in Division II, beat out host Davison, ranked No. 1 and defending state champions in Division I, by just two points, 264-262.
It was the second time Lapeer West beat Davison this season, having also downed the Cardinals 49-18 in the Michigan Super Duals the first week of December.
Lapeer West had four champions to Davison's six, but Panthers coach John Virnich said it wasn't the champs who won the tournament for his team.
"My stars are my stars, but my other kids worked their tails off," Virnich said. "When you consider a two-point win in a tournament this big, that's a pin somewhere along the way and if we don't get those points in the preliminary rounds, we don't win the thing."
Davison coach Roy Hall was in agreement with Virnich.
"What a tournament, it was so intense," he said. "You've got two defending state champions going at each other and in a tournament like that every single point is so important."
Once the finals started at 8:35 p.m., the crowd got a show right from the start when Davison's 103-pound Keristen LaBelle went against teammate Paul Donahoe. The two wrestled evenly, with Donahoe holding a two-point lead late in the match.
A reversal by LaBelle tied it at five, however, and she got a takedown in overtime to win 7-5.
Montrose, which finished third with 161 points, got its sole champion in Lance Byers, who also went to overtime before taking a 7-5 win over West's James Ranger at 112 pounds.
In one of the more exciting matches of the evening, West's David Schlaud beat defending state champ Lambros Kottalis of Fenton at 119 pounds.
The 10-4 final score wasn't indicative of the war that took place on the mat. Kottalis had beaten Schlaud three of the four times they'd met but ran out of energy while Schlaud kept up the pressure.
"I know he's a good technical wrestler," Schlaud said. "So I just went physical on him, it feels good."
Kottalis said he'd been sick for the last week and wasn't able to work out to a normal schedule.
"I just haven't had the gas," he said. "He did really good tonight, he's improved. I've just got to get past this."
Davison's John Whitman won his third straight county title with a 16-9 win over West's Jason Fellows at 125 pounds.
Chase Metcalf, of Davison, also became a three-time winner with an 11-5, 130-pound decision over Jesse Reader of West.
The Cardinals' Joe Whitman, at 135 pounds, joined his brother as a three-time champion when he took a 4-3 win over Nic Oertel of Goodrich.
The fourth, and last, wrestler to earn his third straight title was Goodrich's Ryan Tripp. He won at 140 pounds with a 15-1 decision over Beecher's Montrell Lewis.
West's James Kish remained undefeated on the season, going 5-0 at 145 pounds and beating Durand's Russ Perrin 7-4 in the final.
In what was undoubdtedly the biggest upset of the day, Davison's Chad Roush beat defending 152-pound state champion Zamoier Pittman of Carman-Ainsworth 16-13. Pittman seemed in control through the first period-and-a half before Roush started taking control and finished strong.
"I knew he was explosive and he scores quick," Roush said. "He's in our conference and I knew he gets tired toward the end."
Hall said the victory was a big one for his wrestler, but he shouldn't let it go to his head, as Pittman will still be around later in the season.
"That was huge," Hall said. "But, they're going to battle again. Chad deserves the credit though, nobody works harder than him."
Pittman said a football injury had prevented him from staying in shape and he expected to be back in form soon.
"This is like my first week back," he said. "It'll all come back to me."
Nick Sierakowski of Lapeer West won at 160 pounds with a 12-5 decision over Montrose's Josh Cross.
Roger Kish earned what appeared to be a relatively easy 13-3 win over Davison's Casey Streeter at 171 pounds. Kish said it wasn't as easy as it looked, however.
"He's a very talented wrestler and he makes me work so much harder than anybody else," Kish said.
Davison's Adam Wilmoth took a 6-2 win over Southwestern Academy's Washington Jackson at 189 pounds.
John Webb, a 215-pounder from Durand, got his 15th pin in 15 matches when he took down Kearsley's Andy Walker in just 37 seconds. Webb said the win was all the sweeter for coming in the Genesee County Championships.
"This is probably the hardest tournament we wrestle in every year," he said.
Fenton's Jon Herstein won the heavyweight division with a pin of Lapeer West's Josh Johnson in 1:06.
Genesee County Wrestling Championships
Team results
1. Lapeer West 264; 2. Davison 262; 3. Montrose 161; 4. Fenton 140; 5. Goodrich 132; 6. Durand 121; 7. Swartz Creek 117.5; 8. Carman-Ainsworth 95.5; 9. Beecher 76.5; 10. Bendle 76; 11. Linden 65; 12. Central 52; 13. Southwestern Academy 51; 14. Flushing 48; 15. Mt. Morris 46.5; 16. Bentley 35; 17. Lapeer East 34; 18. Lake Fenton 29; 19. Grand Blanc 27; 20. LakeVille 24; 21. Powers Catholic 21.
Championship matches
103 - Keristen LaBelle (DAV) d. Paul Donahoe (DAV) 7-5, OT; 112 - Lance Byers (MON) d. James Ranger (LPW) 7-5, OT; 119 - David Schlaud (LPW) d. Lambros Kottalis (FEN) 10-4; 125 - John Whitman (DAV) d. Jason Fellows (LPW) 16-9; 130 - Chase Metcalf (DAV) d. Jesse Reader (LPW) 11-5; 135 - Joe Whitman (DAV) d. Nic Oertel (GOO) 4-3; 140 - Ryan Tripp (GOO) d. Montrel Lewis (BEE) 15-1; 145 - James Kish (LPW) d. Russ Perrin (DUR) 7-4; 152 - Chad Roush (DAV) d. Zamoier Pittman (CA) 16-13; 160 - Nick Sierakowski (LPW) d. Josh Cross (MON) 12-5; 171 - Roger Kish (LPW) d. Casey Streeter (DAV) 13-3; 189 - Adam Wilmoth (DAV) d. Washington Jacksom (SWA) 6-2; 215 - John Webb (DUR) d. Andy Walker (KEA) :37; 275 - Jon Herstein (FEN) d. Josh Johnson (LPW) 1:06.***
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New York AC Christmas Open
12/17/00
New York, N.Y.
Entered by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Team Scoring
Results By Weight
Women's freestyle
101 - 1st - Andrea Diamucozzi, Springfield, Mass. (American International College)
112 - 1st - Lindsay Rushton (Brock/Canada) won by tech. fall over Jillian Yost, Springfield, Mass. (American International College)
123 - 1st - Tonya Verbeek (Brock/Canada) won by tech. fall over Julia Furniss (Mesa College), 11-0
150 - 1st - Laura Jones (Brock/Canada) won by tech. fall over Jessica Russo, Springfield, Mass. (American International College), 12-2
It was the first year that all three international styles of wrestling were conducted at the New York AC Christmas Tournament, as a women's freestyle division was also contested. Three of the four individual women's champions were Canadian athletes from Brock University: Lindsay Rushton at 112 pounds, Tonya Verbeek at 123 pounds and Laura Jones at 150 pounds. Claiming the title at 101 pounds was Andrea Diamucozzi (Springfield, Mass./American International College).