Warriors’ Gibson takes 4th at girls state meet
Last week was quite the week for Chippewa Hills wrestling.
On Sunday sophomore Lindsey Gibson earned All-state honors at the Michigan Wrestling Association (MWA) Girls State Championships via a fourth-place finish.
She went 4-2 in the state championships from the Michigan Revolution Training Center in Highland and finished fourth in the 117-pound weight class.
Gibson wrestles at 119-pounds for the Warriors.
The MWA State Championships are different from the MHSAA state wrestling championships in that only female wrestlers compete in the event and all compete in one division, instead of four.
This event has been running for three years now and is sponsored by the MHSAA.
Gibson, who also earned Allstate honors in 2020 via a thirdplace finish, advanced to the quarterfinals Sunday before losing.
From there she had to fight back through wrestlebacks, advancing to the third/fourth-place match.
Gibson was one of two area Allstaters.
Mount Pleasant’s Mackenzie Burger finished seventh at 107 pounds.
On Saturday, nine Chippewa Hills wrestlers advanced through individual districts, which is a huge number for any program.
Getting through into next weekend’s individual regionals were Robert Vanvleet (2nd at 103); Adrionn Lucas (3rd at 112); Gavin Miller (1st at 119); Jayden Long (2nd at 119); Daylin Wittig (2nd at 135); Craig Wernette (3rd at 140); Hunter Sellers (4th at 160); Trenten Wiggins (1st at 189) and Colby Roosa (1st at heavyweight).
And let’s not forget the fact that Chippewa Hills won a Division 3 team district title last Wednesday and will now compete in D3 regionals at Freeland this Wednesday.
The No. 10 Warriors are the only ranked team in the regional.
They first face Midland Bullock Creek.
The winner of that match takes on either West Branch Ogemaw Heights or Freeland for the regional championship.
Regional winners advance to the team state quarterfinals March 30 at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.
The fact that Chippewa Hills won the team district is nothing new because the Warriors are a state powerhouse that wins districts nearly every year.
Rather, it was how they won it.
As it was the Warriors just showed up to last week’s home district and they won the title.
Show up, win a prize. Big Rapids, Farwell and Clare all either opted-out from wrestling or had Covid-19 issues, thus didn’t show which gave the Warriors the title.
So, what does this week have in store for the Warriors?
Will they win a team regional title and advance a bunch of kids into the individual state finals?
We’ll see.