The varsity wrestling team had their first match in Friday night’s win against the Kenowa Hills Knights 49-18. At the weight class of 103, freshman Caden Jacobs got his first win as a varsity competitor.

Caden came out in the first round with a bang. He immediately got two points for a takedown, but his opponent got one point for an escape. Caden battled for his second takedown, giving him two more points, and then received two points for a near fall. After letting his opponent back up and forfeiting one point, he shot for his third takedown. Caden finally pinned his opponent in the first round in only 56.9 seconds.

Senior Isaac Torrey had the same experience Friday night. Isaac immediately shot for his takedown scoring him two points. He allowed his opponent to get up, giving his opponent one point but fought for his second consecutive takedown. Before being pushed out of bounds, Isaac gained two points for an opponent near fall. Starting in the neutral position, he scored another two points for a takedown. While in that takedown, he pinned his opponent in 57.3 seconds during the first round.

Senior Keegan Moore also followed the same method as Caden and Isaac. He started the round with a two point takedown, but let his opponent back up causing him to forfeit a point. Keegan did this two more times, setting the score at 6-3. He went for his final takedown for another two points resulting in a pin. Keegan pinned his opponent in the first round as well, this time in just one minute.

“The first match of the year is always stressful,” said Keegan. “It was a good start and now I can go onto the rest of the season with the harder matches.”

Coach Brad Anderson was pleased with the boys Friday night. They have an even mix of seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen in the lineup. He felt the Kenowa Hills match was for the newer guys on the team to see them in their own competitive atmospheres. He was impressed with the boys performance, but still believes the team has some improving to do if they want to reach their team goals.

This year’s goals are the same as every other year: District champions, qualify for the team State tournament, qualify 6 wrestlers for the individual state tournament, and to be academic all state.

“The academic all state starts in the classroom,” said Brad. “It starts at the dinner table doing their homework. The other aspect, however, is in the wrestling room. Our guys are working incredibly hard, so I believe we can achieve our goals.”

On Saturday, the team made their way to the Howell tournament. This tournament is individual and is annually a very challenging tournament. The team only brought 10 wrestlers: Seniors Keegan Moore, Isaac Torrey, Nolan Ott, Adam Heneveld, Trace Schirmers, Donald Alm, Seth Udell, Junior Sam Roub, and sophomores Wyatt Engler and Tommy Hendricks.

“Howell is a tough tournament,” said Keegan. “It might be a lot harder, but I still planned on placing in first.”

Both Keegan and Isaac placed first last year and repeated again this year. Adam Heneveld placed 2nd, Donald Alm placed 4th, Nolan Ott placed 5th, Trace Schirmers placed 5th, and Seth Udell placed 6th all in their respective weight classes.

The FHC wrestling team has their next tournament on December 16th at FHC. This tournament is the Kent County tournament.