Tecumseh wins SEC White Division title

By MICKEY ALVARADO

Seven consecutive Southeastern Conference (SEC) White Division titles have been awarded to Tecumseh's varsity wrestling team with the Indians winning the championship at home this year.

The Indians hosted the event on Saturday, Feb. 9, and scored a total of 273 points to win the White Division title while Bedford's Kicking Mules scored 338 points to earn the SEC Red Division crown. Adrian placed fourth overall at the event and finished second overall in the White Division.

Tecumseh ended the day without winning a championship bout but had four wrestlers pick up silver medals. The finals began at 103-pounds where Tecumseh's Cass Marcum was matched with Adrian's Zac Garcia. The first period closed with Garcia ahead at 2-0 but Marcum tied the match with 28 seconds remaining in the second period on a reversal. Soon after, Garcia pulled a reversal of his own and went to the final period with a 4-2 lead. A quick takedown by Garcia opened the third period and the Maple held off Marcum for the remainder of the match to give Adrian the title.

The next Tecumseh wrestler to step to the finals mat was Sam Million at 119-pounds. He was pinned with just 2.9 seconds left in the first period by Dexter's Bret Marsh and placed second.

Freshman Chris Jenkins also advanced to the final but finished second at 125-pounds after losing 9-1 against his Bedford opponent.

At 135-pounds, the Indians had Anthony Goodwin finish second after getting pinned in the first period by Billy Osborne of Bedford.

In what may have been the highlight match of the evening, Tecumseh's Sean Bagby and Bedford's Aaron Jeffrey went to overtime at 140-pounds to determine the final outcome.

The two closed the first period without a point scored but Bagby outscored Jeffrey 3-2 in the second period. With only 9.4 seconds left in regulation time, the two evened the match at 4-4 and held fast to go into a one-minute overtime. Jeffries scored a takedown in just 18.5 seconds and won the title.
Robert Weirich represented the Indians at 145-pounds. The Tecumseh senior was just one point (5-4) away from Bedford's T. J. Romijn at the end of the second period but fell behind in the third and lost 8-4.

Will Dotson wrestled for Tecumseh at 160-pounds and he was pinned by Bedford’s Alex Ortman with 48.4 seconds remaining in the first period.

Tecumseh's final title bout was at 215-pounds with Kyle Connors going against Saline's Nick Bennett. After a 0-0 first period, Bennett scored the only point in the second period for the lead. Connors tied the match with 28.3 seconds left in the final period but Bennett recorded an escape to win the title.

Third place finishers for the Indians were Mike Butler (130), Shane Elkins (152) and Sam Bishar (189). Tecumseh's Drew Simpson placed fourth at 171-pounds.

Tecumseh was scheduled to wrestle in the team districts at Milan on Wednesday, Feb. 13. The results will be reported in next week's Herald.

mickey@tecumsehherald.com