Cheer Captures KLAA meet; 12 Wrestlers Advance to Regionals

COMPETITIVE CHEER — Hartland won the Kensington Lakes Activities Association meet Saturday with 767.4720 points at Novi, according to results posted at the Michigan High School Competitive Cheer Web site.

WRESTLING — Hartland moved 12 out of their 14 wrestlers on to the regional tournament next week, finishing with five champions.

Freshman Austin Eicher (112), senior Keith Boldt (119), sophomore Mitchel Thomas (140), senior Chase Snider (145) and senior John Julien (152) took first; senior Ross Kantola (125) and senior Chad Hunt (160) took second; freshmen Nate Hughes (103) and Justin Rollins (130), along with junior Justin Charneski (171) took third; and junior Matt Ostermiller (189) and sophomore Phil Rowland (285) took fourth.

"It was a great day," said Hartland head coach Todd Cheney. "Thomas was a huge surprise and Chase (Snider) teched state-ranked (Avery) Hasenauer from West Bloomfield."

The Eagles are at home Wednesday for team regionals, taking on Rochester Adams beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Friday

BOYS HOCKEY — Jake Taiariol scored four goals for South Lyon as they defeated Hartland, 6-4, Friday night at the Michigan Public High School Hockey Showcase in Chelsea.

The Eagles broke out to an early 3-1 lead but two second period power-play goals allowed South Lyon right back in the game.

The Lions shot just four times in the third period; however, three of them found the back of the net.

Hartland — now 11-9-1 on the season — struggled late in the contest clearing the puck out of their own defensive zone. All three goals came following turnovers in the zone.

Nick Manley, Zach Parks, Ryan Daavettila and Tyler Johnston all scored for Hartland. Chad Washburn assisted in two goals.

With the loss, the Eagles split games in the tournament. The next play 6 p.m. Tuesday against Walled Lake Central at the .

Thursday

WRESTLING — Hartland overpowered Milford 79-0 and Lakeland 64-6 Thursday, becoming district champions for the 11th year in a row.

The Eagles earned eight pins and three voids against Milford and five pins and one void against Lakeland High School, where the competition was held.  The only points Hartland gave up was a void at 103 against Lakeland.

"We wrestled very well," said Hartland head coach Todd Cheney. "We got some new guys in the lineup and they stepped up to the challenge."

At 152, sophomore Ryan Hill saw his first varsity action of the season and pinned both of his opponents.  Junior Phil Rowland also continued his first week on varsity, pinning against Milford and drawing a decision against Lakeland.

The team competes in individual districts 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Walled Lake Central.

BOYS AND GIRLS SKIING — The girls finished Thursday's divisional race in sixth and the boys finished ninth in the competition at Alpine Valley, according to an email from Hartland coach Glenn Makin.

Marian won the girls division while Brother Rice topped the boys, Makin said.

Leading the girls was Mallory Reader, who was 11th in both the slalom and giant slalom events. In the slalom, Rhianna Dilworth finished 21st, Nicole Wistinghausen 52nd, Carly Nylander 55th and Haley David 59th. In giant slalom, David was 17th,  Dilworth 30th,  Nylander 48th and Wistinghausen 59th.

Rocky Crotty placed the highest among the boys, finishing in the giant slalom and 21st in the slalom. In the slalom, other finishers included: Carter Janssen (32nd), Cameron Wheeler (34th), Grant Comly (43rd) and Joe Haig (55th). In the giant slalom Nick Colaianne was 32nd, Wheeler 58th, Colin David 63rd, Comly 64th, Dan Aberasturi 68th,  Haig 72nd and Janssen 76th.

The Eagles next compete Monday in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association meet at Alpine Valley.

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING — Hartland lost 100-85 to Livonia Stevenson on Thursday.

The Eagles won four of 12 events. For complete results, click here. With the loss, Hartland ends the dual meet season with a 7-3 record.

The Eagles next compete next Friday and Saturday in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association divisional meet.

Wednesday

HOCKEY — Hartland senior Cory Snyder said the Eagles’ hockey team just came off a meeting in which two main points were discussed – picking up the intensity and skating harder.

Snyder’s overtime heroics in the team’s 5-4 win over Saline show that he took that to heart in a game that opened the inaugural Michigan High School Hockey Invitational Showcase Wednesday at Arctic Coliseum in Chelsea.

“I’m very happy. I got hit, I fell and dropped my stick. Had to go pick that up, skated down ice with (Brandon) Fry and I put one in,” Snyder said. “We needed that win bad. It’s going to boost our confidence a lot.”

Snyder picked up the pass from fry right in front of Saline goalie Neil Flavin. Snyder was able to deke Flavin and put the puck in the net.

Snyder wasn’t the only Eagle to shine.

Zak Bodziak, the teams leading scorer, put his mark on the game with his first hat-trick of the season – in just the first period. He scored the hat trick in a remarkable seven minutes. Bodziak finished with four goals.

“I had like a curse going this year,” Bodziak said. “I was just on my game today. Everyone was giving me the puck when I wanted it.”

Hartland out-shot their opposition 31-10. That is the teams largest discrepancy of shots this season.

Ryan Daavettila assisted in two goals for Hartland.

The Eagles will look to build off their success when they face-off against South Lyon 8:15 p.m. Friday in their second game during the massive tournament in Chelsea.

BOYS BASKETBALL — Hartland was on a two game skid after losing senior guard Matt Poches to an injury last week. The Eagles' season was on the verge of crumbling, but from the void rose a new leader.

Youseff Darwich spearheaded Hartlands’ first win since losing Poches to a concussion. The Eagles defeated Grand Blanc 51-46 Wednesday night on the road.

“The biggest thing he does is with his presence and getting guys fired up,” Hartland head coach Frank Leppek said. “He’s becoming a dominant senior leader.”

Darwich finished with four points, four rebounds and two blocks.

Clay Lineberry led Hartland in scoring with 14 points. Coach Leppek said that this has been his best game at Hartland. He also had 12 rebounds.

Hartland led by 13 points going into the final quarter. The Bobcats cut the lead to two; however, Hartland battled back and held on for a win.

Freshman Nelson Cagle scored six points for the Eagles. Anthony Villar has seven.

Hartland can guarantee a spot in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association playoffs by defeating Howell on Friday night at home.

BOYS AND GIRLS BOWLING — The Hartland boys team started well while the girls dominated their opponent in the last game, but both squads fell short to South Lyon on Wednesday, according to coach Ron Heck.

The girls won the last game 757 to 661, led by Sarah Schmitz's 199 and Sam Moesta's 169, he said, but South Lyon already had won all the previous games, including a close 715-701 win the game before, giving the Lions the 19-11 win.

The boys started off with a 6-4 edge, but South Lyon finished strong winning 15 out of the next 18 points for a 21-9 final score, Heck said. Despite the loss, Ryan Lane had a 201 and 172  and Trevor Buswell had a 203 and 179 to lead the Eagles, Heck said.

Hartland next competes Friday against Milford at Brighton Bowl.

Tuesday

GIRLS BASKETBALL — Hartland won its seventh straight Tuesday with a 41-22 defeat over Brighton, setting up a big rematch.

The Eagles take on Grand Blanc, the last and only team to defeat them, 7 p.m. Thursday night in Hartland.

“We said before the game that Brighton was the main objective. If Brighton beats us, the Grand Blanc game will be a must win and then you’ll need some help,” Hartland head coach Don Palmer said. “I told them before this that this is the game you win that will get you into that important game."

The Eagles used an early run to help get the job done.

Hartland led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter. Sara Bennett, who isn’t a normal starter, came up big for Hartland in the quarter. She scored five of the teams 10 points.

“It’s kind of sub by committee. We have three kids out so it’s up to other people. She came through,” Palmer said.

Bailee Maggert helped to put the game completely out of reach with her 12 points – 10 of them coming in the second half.

Kayla Porta added 10 points for the Eagles (13-1, 7-1). Six of them were from the free-throw line where Porta had earlier struggled.

BOYS BASKETBALL — Hartland lost 65-40 to Brighton on Tuesday, according to an article from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. The Eagles are now 6-8 overall and 2-6 in the division. They play at Grand Blanc on 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Monday

WRESTLING — Hartland won its third consecutive Kensington Lakes Athletic Association team dual championship Monday night in Canton, defeating Waterford Kettering 77-3 and Canton 37-23.

Austin Eicher (112), Keith Boldt (119), Ross Kantola (125), Mitchel Thomas (140), Chase Snider (145), Chad Hunt (152), Chad Maks (160), and Phil Rowland (215) all went 2-0.

"We wrestled very solid," said Hartland head coach Todd Cheney. "Mitchel's (Thomas) match was the opener against Canton, and he beat the KLAA runner up 8-7 to give us a huge emotional start. Rowland's pin against Canton came in the third period and was huge. We got out to a 19-0 lead with a major from Chase (Snider) and back-to-back pins at 52 and 60 from Maks and Hunt."

The team is now 25-2, and next wrestles 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Lakeland High School in the state district tournament.

BOYS AND GIRLS SKIING — Joe Haig and Nicole Wistinghausen might have been both the fifth fastest Hartland skier Monday against Walled Lake Western, but both proved to be the pivtol as their placings broke ties to hand the Eagles the win at Alpine Valley, according to an email from Hartland coach Glenn Makin.

Under the rules, both teams tied at 18 and which team with the better fifth skier wins. Hartland's Mallory Reader took first overall to lead the girls team with a combined time of 41.45. Rhianna Dilworth was third in 42.71. Colin David was the fastest for the boys, taking second with a 39.51 combined time.

The girls also beat West Bloomfield 14-22 while the boys lost 17-20. Reader and Dilworth were the meet's two fastest with times of 41.84 and 43.67 respectively. Rocky Crotty was the quickest on the boys team, taking second in 42 seconds.

The girls are now 5-4 on the year and the boys are 4-5. The teams next compete Thursday in an all-day divisional meet at Alpine Valley.