De La Salle wins first regional championship
De La Salle Collegiate’s wrestlers followed the plan.
Casey Beleshi, started a streak of five pins that propelled the Pilots to a 71-9 victory over Lakeview and De La Salle’s first team regional championship Wednesday night.
Beleshi got a first-period pin at 215 pounds and was followed by Gjon Nikollaj at 285, Easton Smerek at 106, Max Krug at 113 and Giovanni Cousmano at 120 as the host Pilots rolled into the state quarterfinals that will be next week at Kalamazoo.
“Our boys wrestled very well,” coach Dave Prince said. “We lost some close matches that we thought we should have won. On the other hand, we had individuals step up and exceed our expectations to pull out some wins.”
The season has been one of “growth and maturity,” Prince said.
“From the beginning of the season, we said this group had the opportunity to do something special, but they had to buy in
and do things the right way, and that they’ve done 1000%,” the coach said. “Our lineup has a good mix of senior leadership and underclassmen.
“While our upper classmen have been the anchor of our lineup, our underclassmen have been hungry and eager to learn and have gotten substantially better as the season’s gone on.”
De La Salle and Romeo will
represent Macomb County at the quarterfinals.
“This regional win is very special to us, as it is the first in our program history,” Prince said. “On a larger scale, we hope it fuels and motivates future teams, and lets people know we’re here to compete.”
In semifinal matches, De La Salle defeated Royal Oak 39-36 and Lakeview beat Fraser 37-34.
Other regional champions were Davison, Hartland, Rockford, Holt, Detroit Catholic Central and Temperance Bedford.
Davison is the defending state champion.
Teams will be seeded prior to the quarterfinals, which will be Feb. 24 at the Wings Events Center.
DIVISION 1
At De La Salle
CHAMPIONSHIP De La Salle 71, Lakeview 9
215: Casey Beleshi (DELASALE) over Anthony Gisevan (L) (Fall 0:17) 285: Gjon Nikollaj (DELASALE) over Sean Bias (L) (Fall 0:37) 106: Easton Smerek (DELASALE) over Karl Monasterski (L) (Fall 1:09) 113: Max Krug (DELASALE) over Ryan Doebler (L) (Fall 3:05) 120: Giovanni Cousmano (DELASALE) over Leland Ozee (L) (Fall 4:24) 126: Aidan Shaba (DELASALE) over (L) (For.) 132: Avian Shaba (DELASALE) over Max Mowrey (L) (Fall 3:53) 138: Sebastian Jundy (DELASALE) over Corion Lattimore (L) (TF 16-1 4:17) 144: Brady Pope (L) over Evan Van Paemel (DELASALE) (Dec 9-2) 150: Joseph Montilla (DELASALE) over Matthew Horak (L) (Fall 1:36) 157: Nathan O`Donnell (DELASALE) over Logan Craft (L) (Fall 2:28) 165: Mason Collins (DELASALE) over Dylan Castle (L) (Fall 1:03) 175: Joseph Trupiano (L) over (DELASALE) (For.) 190: Vincent Lertola (DELASALE) over Deon Lacey (L) (Fall 0:54)
Semifinals De La Salle 39, Royal Oak 36
190: Vincent Lertola (DELASALE) over Hugh Gomillion (RO) (Dec 5-2)
215: Cody Beleshi (DELASALE) over Jaylen Jones (RO) (Dec 6-2) 285: Gjon Nikollaj (DELASALE) over Aiden Tesch (RO) (Fall 3:45) 106: Andy Allen (RO) over Easton Smerek (DELASALE) (Fall 1:28) 113: Max Krug (DELASALE) over Michael McGowan (RO) (Fall 1:29) 120: Elijah Solnikowski (RO) over Sebastian Cvetanovski (DELASALE) (Fall 1:35) 126: Aidan Shaba (DELASALE) over Liam Pattison (RO) (Fall 3:20) 132:
Luca Conflitti (RO) over Avian Shaba (DELASALE) (Fall 1:33) 138: Sebastian Jundy (DELASALE) over Grady Bowman (RO) (Fall 1:11) 144: Atticus Brady (RO) over Blake Semlow (DELASALE) (Fall 4:19) 150: Mark White (DELASALE) over Joseph Webb (RO) (Dec 5-2) 157: Joseph Montilla (DELASALE) over Elijah Lyons (RO) (Fall 1:40) 165: Gabriel Harrison (RO) over (DELASALE) (For.) 175: Robbie Godau (RO) over (DELASALE) (For.)
Lakeview 37, Fraser 34
190: Draven McAllister (FRASER) over Deon Lacey (L) (Fall 1:23) 215: Hayden Granger (L) over Caleb Stanberry (FRASER) (Fall 1:04) 285: Bryce Warner (FRASER) over Sean Bias (L) (Fall 1:26) 106: Connor Wilson (FRASER) over Karl Monasterski (L) (Fall 3:05) 113: Stanley Anderson (FRASER) over Jaleal Dortch (L) (Fall 3:25) 120: Ryan Doebler (L) over Jayden Marcano-Cruz (FRASER) (Dec 1-0) 126: Konrad Bogacz (FRASER) over Leland Ozee (L) (MD 14-4) 132: Max Mowrey (L) over Kaden Addy (FRASER) (Fall 1:12) 138: Korin CramerKawa (FRASER) over Oliver Koepp (L) (Fall 3:32) 144: Brady Pope (L) over
Rick Johnson (FRASER) (MD 10-2) 150: Matthew Horak (L) over Dinell Echols (FRASER) (Fall 3:44) 157: Logan Craft (L) over George Wahby (FRASER) (Dec 6-2) 165: Dylan Castle (L) over Michael Brooks (FRASER) (Fall 3:45) 175: Joseph Trupiano (L) over Christopher Carter (FRASER) (Dec 11-5).