February 23, 2020

Return of the Jedi, National Lampoon’s Vacation were in the theaters.  The final episode of M*A*S*H* aired on TV.  Cabbage Patch Dolls were all the rage and Zeeland High School sent five (5) guys to the MHSAA State Individual Championships.  The year was 1983.  Zeeland High School would continue to send a wrestler or two to the finals each year with three (3) wrestlers in 1996, 2000, and 2002.  Zeeland High School split into Zeeland East and Zeeland West in 2005.  Yesterday, Zeeland East Wrestling qualified four (4) individuals for the Championship Tournament.    The most in Zeeland East history and the most in Zeeland High since 1983.

Joel Ledford (160) and Carter Hinson (135) both finished in 2^nd Place, Marty Landes (125) finished in 3^rd, and Noah Ledford (140) finished in 4^th at the MHSAA Regionals in Lowell yesterday. 

Joel, the incoming District Champion began the day pinning Dominic Cordes of Kenowa Hills (with a record of 28-18) in the second period at 3:37.  Joel then guaranteed his State berth by pinning Hayden Foote of Forest Hills Eastern (38-10) in the first period.   The win over Foote also gave Joel 50 wins on the season besting the current Zeeland East season win record of 49 held by Kyle Samuels since the early 2000s.  The Regional Finals match was a re-match of the District Finals between Ledford and Doak Dean of Lowell (27-8).  This time, Dean defeated Ledford by securing a takedown in the closing seconds of the match to win 5-3.  Joel enters the State Championships with a record of 50-1. 

Carter Hinson also had a rematch in the Regional Finals of his District Finals match versus Dawson Jankowski (26-10) of Lowell.  Carter fell to Jankowski with a score of 3-1.  The match did not finish without controversy.  A stalemate was called in the closing seconds of the match while Carter was positioning himself to secure a takedown that would have tied the match at 3-all.  Unfortunately, with the reset and short remaining time, Carter was unable to score the additional points needed for the win.  Carter got to the finals by defeating Dalton Tant of Forest Hills Northern (32-10) by a score of 9-4 and Nicholas Blanchard of Whitehall (32-12) by a score of 9-6.  Carter carries a record of 47-5 into the State Championships.

Marty Landes began the day beating Connor Sykes of Fruitport (38-11) by a score of 11-6.  Marty was then defeated by Caden Peterman of Greenville (41-4) by a score of 9-2.  In the consolation semi-finals, also known as the blood round, Marty squared off verse a familiar opponent, Jakov Ramos of Allendale (34-12).  Marty found himself down 0-4 early in the match, but battled his way back to gain the lead and eventually pin Ramos at 4:16 to punch his ticket to the 3^rd Place match and the State finals.  In the 3^rd Place match Marty pinned Kyron Zoet of Middleville (37-9) in the first period at 0:50.  Marty carries a record of 45-8 into the State Championships.

Noah Ledford started the day upsetting Nathan Moe of Kenowa Hills (39-7) by pinning him at 4:18.  Noah then lost a tough match to eventual Regional Champion Will Link of Lowell (39-11) by a score of 10-3.  In the blood round, he defeated Marco Moore of Whitehall (33-12) in an exciting match with a score of 11-7 to secure his State Championship berth.  In the 3^rd Place match Noah fell to Gabe Hassan of Forest Hills Eastern (44-8) by a score of 10-4.  Noah carries a record of 39-11 into the State Championships.

Josh Folkers also competed for Zeeland East but was unable to defeat some very strong competition in the 189 weigh class. Josh finished his Senior campaign for East Wrestling with a season record of 22-15. 

The MHSAA Individual State Championships will be held March 6-7 at Ford Field in Detroit.  Good Luck CHIX.