SN 3-16-2024

Page 12/The Sun and News, Saturday, March 16, 2024

Big TKWC group earns spots in MYWAY State tournament

The TK Wrestling Club
had more than 30 wrestlers
compete in the MYWAY
West Regional at Grandville
High School Sunday, and 22
of the club’s wrestlers earned
top four finishes to qualify
for the upcoming MWAY
State Championships.

The Caledonia wrestling

club also had seven of its

eight wrestlers competing in

the West Regional earn spots

in the state championships.

TKWC’s Abram Dutcher

won the 2008-2009 HS 218-

pound weight class by pin-

ning The Heights WC’s

Adam Morend in their cham-

pionship match, and the

TKWC also got regional vic-

tories from Sawyer Jones in

the 2016 Open 112-pound

class and Tristen Craig-

Wright in the 2015 Open

Heavyweight A class.

Caledonia got a regional

championship from Owen

Buckley in the 2016 Open

43-pound weight class. He

took an 8-5 win over Fremont

Wolf Pack’s Fischer Zeedyk

in his championship bout.

Ryker Reurink, Hendrix

Sokoloski, Ben Landon,

Zander Holderman, Ashton

Braska and James Manne

from the TKWC all finished

second in their divisions.

Kiernan LaMange, Collin

Underhill, Remington

Reurink, Donovan Matthes,

Austin Quint and Brekin

Mcwhinney were all third for

TKWC. Blake Bossenberger,

Brayden Polmanteer, Levi

Sheely, Bryson Godfrey,

Chandler Simerly, David

Sheely and Trace Pfeifer all

placed fourth at the regional.

The TKWC also plans to

have six girls competing in

the MYWAY State

Championships.

Caledonia also had Chase

Harder and Rhys Helmholdt

earn regional runner-up fin-

ishes, Egan Otto place third

and Teddy Maines, Louis

Dyer and Lucas Griswold

each place fourth in

Grandville.

The MYWAY State

Championships will be held

March 21-24 at Wings Event

Center in Kalamazoo.

Vanstee first GLIAC Sixth Woman award winner

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Paige Vanstee made her
way out onto the court inside
the GVSU Fieldhouse a little
over three minutes into
Sunday’s Great Lakes
Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (GLIAC)
Tournament Championship
Game inside her Lakers’ own
Grand Valley State
University Fieldhouse Arena.
Nobody was better com-
ing off the bench during the
2023-24 GLIAC Women’s
Basketball season than the
former Thornapple Kellogg
Trojan, Vanstee.
Vanstee and the Lakers
followed up their GLIAC
regular season championship
by taking down the Northern
Michigan University women
67-48 in the conference tour-
nament final Sunday.
A red-shirt sophomore for-
ward who graduated from
Thornapple Kellogg High
School in 2021, Vanstee was
named the GLIAC’s Sixth
Woman of the Year award
winner last week. This is the
first year that the GLIAC has
given out a sixth woman
award.
Vanstee has played in 19
games so far this season for
the Lakers, averaging 17.
minutes a game. She heads
into the NCAA Division II
postseason averaging 8.
points and 4.4 rebounds per
game. She had a career-high
24 points in a Laker victory
at Wisconsin-Parkside last

month.

Vanstee played in 32

games as a red-shirt fresh-

man for the Lakers during

the 2022-23 season, averag-

ing a little over 15 minutes a

game while tallying 6.

points and 3.5 rebounds per

game. Playing four varsity

seasons at TK, Vanstee was

named all-conference in the

OK Gold three times and

was a three-time All-Barry

County First Team honoree

too.

She isn’t the only Laker

to earn GLIAC honors, cer-

tainly not after a 17-1 con-

ference regular season.

Laker head coach Mike

Williams was named GLIAC

Coach of the Year and junior

forward Rylie Bisballe was

named both the GLIAC

Player of the Year and

GLIAC Defensive Player of

the Year. Bisballe was joined

on the all-conference first

team by teammate Nicole

Kamin. Kamin, Bisballe and

teammate Hadley Miller

were all named to the

GLIAC All-Defensive Team

this season.

The Lakers swept through

the GLIAC Tournament on

their home court with a 65-

win over Purdue Northwest

in the opening round, March

6, and a 72-59 victory over

Parkside in the GLIAC

Semifinals Saturday.

Vanstee was just 1-of-

from the field during the

tournament championship

game against Northern

Michigan, but is shooting

closer to 50 percent from the

floor on the season. She fin-

ished the final with six

points and five rebounds,

going 4-of-5 at the free

throw line.

She helped cap off the

Laker victory over the

Wildcats with an assist on a

three by Molly Anderson

which put the Lakers up

65-43 with three minutes to

go and a steal that led to her

team’s final basket of the

GLIAC season.

Vanstee also had nine

points and six rebounds in

the tournament semifinal

victory over Parkside and

five points and three

rebounds in the win over

Purdue Northwest in the

tournament’s opening round

last week.

The Lakers are hosting

their NCAA Division II

Regional Tournament this

weekend. They were set to

open action last night,

March 15, on the home

floor where they are 18-

this season. They were

scheduled to face Trevecca

Nazarene in the NCAA

Midwest Regional

Quarterfinals at 5 p.m. back

inside the GVSU Fieldhouse

Arena. Regional semifinal

ballgames will be played

today, March 16, and the

NCAA DII Regional Final

is set for Monday evening,

March 18, in Allendale.

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Thornapple Kellogg alumnus Paige Vanstee (24) and her Grand Valley State University Laker teammates

(from left) Ava Scanlon, Lexi Plitzuweit, Macy Bisballe and Avery Zeinstra enjoy celebrating their Great Lakes

Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship after beating Northern Michigan University in

the tournament final Sunday at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale. VanStee was named the conference’s

first Sixth Woman of the Year award winner during the Lakers’ conference championship run. (Photo courtesy

gvsulakers.com)

Paige Vanstee

The TK Wrestling Club’s 2024 MYWAY state qualifiers include (front from left)

Brayden Polmanteer, Ryker Reurink, Kiernan LaMange, Bayleigh Reurink,

Remington Reurink, Colin Underhill, (middle row) Sawyer Jones, Donovan

Matthes, Rilie Hall, Hendrix Sokoloski, Levi Sheely, Bryson Godfrey, David Sheely,

(back) Trace Pfeifer, Brekin Mcwhinney, Matalie Underhill, Zander Holderman,

Ashton Braska, Austin Quint, Ben Landon and Blake Bossenberger as well as

(missing from photo) Tristen Craig-Wright, Chandler Simerly, Abram Dutcher,

James Manne, Raini Braska and Emma Gibson.