Sports
Hartland Wrestler Julien Captures Third in Division 1
Four Eagle wrestlers place at individual state finals.
AUBURN HILLS — Hartland senior John Julien (152 pounds) defeated Korey Knapp of Grand Ledge, 6-1, to finish the MHSAA Division 1 state wrestling tournament in third place.
Julien, 58-3, led 2-0 after Knapp was called for a stall and allowed Julien up at the start of the third. Julien scored a takedown with 1:12 left in the final period of the bout to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
“This feels good. I didn’t get first but third is good,” Julien said. “This may be the last match I ever wrestle, I’m happy to go out like this. … I knew if I kept pushing the pace I would come out on top.”
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Julien won his first two consolation bouts. Beating Monroe's A.J. Arnett, 6-5, and Jenison's Trevor Dunham, 7-5.
Hartland freshman Austin Eicher extended a one-point lead to six with :08 remaining en route to a 8-2 victort over Doug Zundel of Roseville. Eicher was taken down with just :05 left in overtime and was eventually defeated 6-4 in the battle for third place by Jourdain Spulin of Southgate.
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Spulin trailed 4-0 with 1:30 left in the second period and finally got on the board with a minute left in the second for an escape. Spulin again escaped the hands of Eicher just :20 seconds into the final period and took him down for the first time all match with :35 seconds remaining in the bout.
Eicher finished in fourth place, still an impressive feat for someone his age. His 60 wins also set a new school record for a freshman.
Hartland's Keith Boldt made good on his chance to step on the podium Saturday night after he pinnned Cody Korpus of Salem with just 1:03 left in the bout to decide seventh place.
Boldt led 7-4 before the pin, which came after he reversed Korpus who left his side exposed. Boldt previously had three near-fall points, all coming in the second period.
Justin Charneski (171) faced Brighton's Vince Tkac for fifth place. Charneski was defeated 6-2 by Tomas Gomez of Southgate.
Despite wrestling for rival schools, Tkac hadn’t wrestled Charneski all season until the MHSAA state tournament. Tkac defeated him twice, the second time, 9-4, en route to a fifth-place finish.
“My goal was to make it to the finals or upset as many people as I could,” Tkac said.
Tkac, a senior, took an early 5-0 lead after taking a shot with :18 seconds left in the first period. He got the two for the takedown then got three near-fall points to close out the period. Tkac was unable to get off the bottom in the second and Charneski chose neutral to start the third period.
Charneski came out firing in the final period, shooting on Tkac’s legs just nine seconds in. Charneski completed the takedown 20 seconds later to cut the lead to two, however Tkac escaped just nine seconds later.
Here's a final summary of the tournament (UPDATED Saturday 4:04 p.m.):
112 Austin Eicher — 60-4 overall; 4-2 in eventResult Vs. School How Won Dakota Torralva Grandville Fall 2:36 Lost Malik Amine Detroit Catholic Central Dec 5-3 OT
Won Zach Henderson Hudsonville Fall 4:53 Won Tayron Womble Romeo M-Dec 16-3 Won Doug Zundel Roseville Dec 8-2 Lost Jourdain Spurlin Southgate Anderson Dec 6-4 OT Eicher Wins 4th Place
119 Keith Boldt — 42-8 overall; 3-2 in event
Result Vs. School How Lost Alex Calandrino Howell Dec 6-0 Lost Aaron Mathews Midland Dow Dec 4-2 145 Chase Snider — 52-7 overall; 1-2 in event
Result Vs. School How Lost Chase Singleton Caledonia Dec 5-4 Won Brandon Mattinen Warren DeLaSalle M-Dec 9-0 Lost Derek Saudners Monroe Dec 4-2 OT 152 John Julien — 58-3 overall; 5-1 in event
Result Vs. School How Won Dan Wagner Southfield Fall 3:44 Lost Niko Parks East Kentwood Dec 9-2 Won Shon Powell Brother Rice Dec 10-4 Won Trevor Dunham Jenison Dec 7-5 Won A.J. Arnett Monroe Dec 6-5 Won Korey Knapp Grand Ledge Dec 6-1 Julien Wins 3rd Place 160 Chad Hunt — 30-10 overall; 0-2 in event
Result Vs. School How Lost Caleb Wilson Southgate Anderson Dec 3-2 OT Lost Brandon Krupp Grand Rapids Union Dec 10-5 OT 171 Justin Charneski Record: 46-19 overall, 3-3 in event
Result Vs. School How Won Connor Moynihan Grand Haven Dec 7-5 Lost Vince Tkac Brighton Dec 6-0 Won Kameron Jones Westland John Glenn Dec 2-1 Won Knute Hoffman Midland Dec 4-2 OT Lost Tomas Gomez Southgate Anderson Dec 6-2 Lost Vince Tkac Brighton Dec 9-4 Charneski Wins 6th Place
Table source: MHSAA tournament results and Patch reporting
Note: One loss puts wrestlers in the consolation bracket where they compete for third place in their weight class. A second loss on the first two days puts them out of the tournament. They can lose on Saturday but still wrestle for another place.
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For Thursday's coverage, click .
