Hartland Wrestling Heads to State Semifinals

BATTLE CREEK — The Hartland wrestling team started the state quarterfinal round with a bang as 103-pounder Nate Hughes pinned Romeo’s Kevin Ketvirtis in 16 seconds during the first match against sixth-seeded Romeo on Friday.

“It (Hughes' pin) happened a little too fast – I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ ” said freshman Austin Eicher, who laughed.

The Eagles won 46-15 to head to the team state semifinal for the third consecutive year. Hartland will play second-seeded Oxford 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Kellogg Arena. The winner will play for the state championship at 4 p.m. against either Brighton or Detroit Catholic Central, who will square off in the other semifinal.

Not only did the team finish the day with an incredible victory, but Hartland head coach Todd Cheney also recorded his 500th victory, sending his record to 500-82-2 in his 19th year as head coach.

Michigangrappler.com projected the Eagles to win by 18, but the team far exceeded these expectations by defeating Romeo by a stunning 31 points. Hartland sailed to a comfortable lead of 18-0 by the 125-pound match and only allowed four losses at 130, 140, 160 and 285.

“We wrestled pretty well,” said Cheney. “We lost a couple overtime matches that were close, but in big duals, that’s going to happen. We just have to make sure in the next dual meet we don’t lose any close matches like that. If we do that, we’ll have some success.”

Cheney said that in order to beat Oxford, the team will have to pick up the intensity and be eager to score points.

Eicher bumped his record up to 55-2, defeating Tayron Womble 8-0. The win brings him within one victory of tying the record for most wins as a freshman within Hartland’s wrestling program.

“We did pretty good,” Eicher said. “But we could’ve done better in some matches. … We need to keep our bench louder and more excited so we can go out there ready."