The Sault High Varsity Blue Devils Wrestling Team traveled to Munising over the holiday break to compete in their Holiday Super Duals. The Blue Devils swept their competition and were 5-0 at the end of the East vs. West competition. Head Coach Jacinto Arreola commented on the team’s performance in Munising. “Getting a chance to see some of the west end teams prior to UP finals was a great opportunity, and we took advantage of it.”
First up for the Blue Devils were the Gwinn Modeltowners. Sawyer Kuenzer (285) was up first, and quickly pinned Wyatt McGowan (0:42). Gwinn countered, when Jack Gardner pinned Chase Tracey (106), and took another six with a void in the 120 lb weight class. Max VanDoren (126) tied things up, pinning Devin Brabbs (1:12) followed by a Wyatt Peabody (132) pin over Landyn Spade (0:30). Will Ohman (138) and Caleb Klier (144) both won by void. Brett Siesel (150) pinned Carter Stansky (1:14), and Brady Rondeau (157) beat Connor Berglund by points (5-2). Gwinn hit the scoreboard one last time when Matt Jenkins pinned Jonah Rishmawi (165). Marc DeWildt (175) pinned Robert Lenay (2:36), Cody Russo (190) beat Connor Delton by points (3-2) and Chris Kiekhaefer finished things off winning by void. The final score was Sault 54, and Gwinn 18.
Round two brought the Negaunee Miners to the Blue Devils’ mat. Tracey won by void, and VanDoren was pinned by Phoenix Espinoza. The Blue Devils fought back with four consecutive pins. Peabody pinned Cooper Petroick (1:52), Ohman pinned Matthew Foster (0:26), Klier pinned Peyton Black (1:56), and Siesel pinned Connor Chapman (3:49). Rondeau won by void and Rishmawi was pinned by Dominik Storm. DeWildt won by void, Russo followed with a quick pin (0:17) over Eli Cody, and Kiekhaefer and Kuenzer both won by voids, bringing the final score to Blue Devils 60, and Miners 12.
After a long break, the Sault switched mats and wrestled the Menominee Maroons. The closest matchup of the day, the Blue Devils had their work cut out for them. They started off in the hole, giving up voids in the 113 and 120 lb weight classes. VanDoren closed the gap and pinned Lewis Voglantz (0:59), but Menominee countered when Caleb Barstow pinned Peabody. The Blue Devils took control of the dual when Ohman pinned Ian Johnson (0:31), Klier pinned Dayton Monfils (0:53), and Siesel pinned Tucker Baxley (4:43). Menominee took the lead when Nathan Nelson pinned Rondeau, and Isaiah Odom pinned Rishmawi. The Sault rallied with four straight pins. DeWildt pinned Zayne Kohnert (3:34), Russo pinned Kahne Clark (3:59), Kiekhaefer pinned Cameron Gauthier (0:10) and Kuenzer pinned Lucas Thoune (4:44). Menominee put points on the board one last time when Arria Rebbie pinned Tracey. The final score was Sault 48, and Menominee 36.
Round four paired the Blue Devils up with a combined team “UP Extra” which consisted of a small Pellston team, and overflow wrestlers from Gwinn, Munising, Menominee, Newberry and Rudyard. VanDoren won by void, Peabody pinned John Sonnenberg from Pellston (1:59) and Ohman pinned Hunter Sonnenberg from Pellston (0:47). Korbin Smith of Munising pinned Siesel. Sam Kiekhaefer pinned Donald Jordan of Gwinn (2:20), and Kenny Crawford of Pellston had a technical fall (15-0) over Rondeau. Rishmawi won by void, and DeWildt pinned Jackson Little of Rudyard (1:28). Russo pinned Franklin Way of Menominee (1:16), Chris Kiekhaefer won by void, Kuenzer pinned Devon Hamilton of Newberry (0:23) and Tracey won by void. The final score was Sault 60, and UP Extra 11.
The last round put the Sault against district rivals, Escanaba. Last year, Escanaba ended the Sault’s season after a close district matchup. The Blue Devils started out strong with VanDoren beating Linnea Britton by points (8-2), Peabody pinning Zander Bowden (0:43), Ohman beating Eli Gardner by points (4-3) and Klier pinning Nick Chiu (1:52). The Eskymos fought back, with Cannon Arnt beating Siesel by points (8-1), Dustin Skerbek pinning Rondeau (1:59), and Kaleb Gagne pinning Rishmawi (0:15). The Sault rallied, winning the remaining matches with DeWildt winning by void, Russo pinning Ronaldihno Portillo (1:45), Kiekhaefer winning by void, Kuenzer pinning Thomas Benoit (2:10), and Tracey winning by void. The Sault won this match up, with a final score of 48-27. “It’s always great to beat rivals and to handle Escanaba like so after our close district title match last year, it was so close. But the job isn’t done yet. Regular season wins are great, but we will face them again in team districts this year, where we are focused on capturing this season.”
There were six Blue Devils that finished the day undefeated. Seniors Ohman and Kiekhaefer, juniors Kuenzer and Russo, and sophomores DeWildt and Klier. Ohman also had his 100th win during the tournament, earning his spot on the elite 100 Wins Club board in the Sault High gym. Ohman was asked how it felt to get his 100th win. “I guess I would say it felt relieving in a way because this is something I’ve wanted since I started wrestling at 6 looking up at the board with the names also just good to know I have the accomplishment.” Arreola also weighed in on him meeting his goal. “Will earning his 100th win was great. When most have 4 years to achieve that, he did it in 3 since and plans on surpassing some of the Saults 100 win club record holders.”
The Blue Devils (17-2) are also coached by Brendin Cryderman and Matt Vieira, and will now focus their efforts on preparing for the Escanaba Elks individual tournament.
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