Tecumseh’s Indians were more than willing to pose for pictures after winning the district title last Wednesday, Feb. 10. Adrian defeated Tecumseh in two previous competitions but was simply outmatched in the district final, losing 40-23. Photo by Mickey Alvarado.
By MICKEY ALVARADO
The old saying, “Third time’s a charm,” held true for Tecumseh’s varsity wrestling team on Wednesday, Feb. 10, after meeting Adrian in the District championship final.
The Indians lost their previous two contests to the Maples but each time learned from the experience. When it came time to meet up with the Maples for the third time this season in the district final, Tecumseh knew just what to do and upset the Maples 40-23 to earn the championship.
“We made sure we got the matches we needed to have,” said Tecumseh coach Casey Randolph. “We did change some things around. We learned a lot by wrestling them.
“The kids came with heart,” said Randolph. “This is what we prepared for all year.”
Tecumseh was prepared indeed, dominating the Maples for a 28-4 lead after the first eight matches.
Adrian opened the final with Anthony Garcia recording a 12-4 major decision over Tecumseh’s Luke Liuzzi at 112-pounds.
The Indians mounted up and took a 7-4 lead with Nate Bagby (119) beating Joel Orozco 12-10 and Collin Lesko (125) shutting out Jake Pellowe (8-0) for a major decision.
The wins continued piling up for Tecumseh. Ronnie Bechtol (130) earned a major decision (15-5) over Adrian’s Alex Lee and C.J. Trip (135) followed with a 21-5 tech fall over Zak Pinkard. Jeff Jenkins bumped up to 140-pounds for the Indians but was able to beat Matt Galvin 6-2.
“We needed to make some changes,” said Randolph. “We switched to different styles. We weighed in the kids a little differently and it worked out better than expected, quite honestly...We were able to pull off some upsets. And really, us beating Adrian is an upset, they have a tremendous team.”
Sam Million returned to the mat after having a shoulder injury sideline him early in the season. The home crowd went wild when he pinned Adrian’s Jared Nieto in 2:27 at 145-pounds.
Dakota Dotson (152) then defeated Adrian’s Nick Horton 13-8 before the Maples were able to stop the bleeding.
Rafael Rodriguez pinned Tecumseh’s Tim Elkins in 1:49 at 160-pounds.
Tom Carney (171) gave the Indians another six points by defeating Adrian’s Dustin Soto by pin in 4:00.
Adrian won two matches in a row with Gavin Burstall losing 12-4 to the Maples’ Andre White (189) and Joe Rebottaro (215) being edged 5-3 against Derek Hoffman.
Heavyweight Kyle Connors controlled his bout against Muhammad Jasper and recorded a pin in 3:25.
Adrian’s Zac Garcia received the benefit of a void at 103-pounds to finish all scoring.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this win,” said Randolph. “They beat us twice, as everybody knows. The first time was by 25, the second time by two, and it was our time. It was our time.”
Tecumseh downed Dexter 44-22 in its opening district match while Adrian defeated Chelsea 35-32 to advance to the championship final.
The Indians’ had a couple of highlight matches against the Dreadnaughts. Lesko (119) shut out his opponent 14-0 while Connors recorded a pin in 3:15.
Tecumseh will send six to the Division 2 regionals at Dexter, Saturday, Feb 20, including two individual district champions, Connors and Jenkins. Also attending will be Collin Lesko, Bechtol, Carney and Dotson.