NEWS RELEASE
BLUE DEVILS
***************************
GAYLORD - The Blue Devils had a challenging day in Gaylord for individual district competition on Saturday. Top wrestlers from 14 different teams across northern Michigan, from Cadillac to Croswell-Lexington and Marquette to Mt Pleasant, competed with the goal of keeping their seasons going by qualifying for regional competition. Three Blue Devil wrestlers placed in the top four of their weight classes, earning their way to regionals in Cadillac next week.
Will Ohman, a junior in the 138 lb weight class, earned third place. He received a bye in his first round, then quickly pinned his opponent from Gaylord High School in the quarterfinals. Ohman met a tough competitor from Bay City, John Glenn, in the semifinal round, knocking him out of finals contention. He rallied, pinning his opponent from Caro High School and in the third-place match, he had his third pin of the day, defeating his opponent from Crosswell-Lexington.
Cody Russo, a sophomore in the 157 lb weight class, also placed third. He received a bye in the first round. In the quarterfinal match, he pinned his opponent from Marquette. In the semifinal match, Russo met a tough competitor from Gaylord and ended up in the consolation bracket. He worked his way back, pinning his opponent from Cadillac. In the third-place match, Russo met up with his first opponent from Marquette and pinned him again.
Calvin Aldrich, a sophomore in the 190 lb weight class, placed fourth. He also started his day off with a bye. Aldrich pinned his opponent from North Branch in the quarterfinal match. Aldrich also met a challenging competitor from Gaylord, who sent him to the consolation bracket. Aldrich beat his next opponent from Caro by points but fell to his opponent from Cadillac in the third-place match.
A number of additional Blue Devil wrestlers also made some positive moves in their brackets, placing in the top eight. Max VanDoren, sophomore, 113 lbs; Wyatt Peabody, freshman, 120 lbs; Caleb Klier, freshman, 132 lbs; Isaac Niebuhr, freshman, 132 lbs; Brett Siesel, sophomore, 144 lbs; Chris Kiekhafer, junior, 215 lbs, and Callen Campbell, junior, 285 lbs all had some great matches.
This young team shows great promise for the future of Blue Devil wrestling. Only losing one senior, Tim Garland, 157/165 lbs, this team will be one to watch in the coming years. The Blue Devils are coached by Jacinto Arreola, Brendin Cryderman, Gordi Campbell and Matt Vieira.
***************************
