SN 3-11-2023

Page 16/The Sun and News, Saturday, March 11, 2023

O’Neil managed a reversal to
even the match.
“That [reversal] was an
eye-opener. I was like, dang,
I have to pick it up some
more or I might not place.
I’m not trying to risk my
senior year not placing and
have that be the end,” Chivis
said.
He held O’Neil down for
the whole second period, and
then got an escape to start the
third period to move in front
3-2. The two went back and
forth from there. Chivis got
an escape with about 90 sec-
onds to go, O’Neil managed
another reversal. With Chivis
still holding a 5-4 lead, he
added to that lead with an

escape point with half a min-

ute to go and then clinched

the win with a late take

down.

Chivis opened Saturday’s

action with a 4-1 win over

Pickney’s Brady Raymond.

Goodrich’s Brady Benson

got Chivis in the consolation

semifinals, 3-1, and then

John Glenn’s Logan

Demarest knocked off a

worn out Chivis 3-0 in the

match for fifth.

In the opening round of

the tournament Friday,

Chivis outscored Allen

Park’s Gryphon Alwell 6-0.

It was Mason’s Derek

Badgley who knocked him

from the championship

bracket with a 2-0 decision

in the quarterfinals.

Zoet was happy to walk in

the Grand March Friday at

the opening of the tourna-

ment. He spent much of the

time between qualifying for

the state finals for a fourth

time by winning his weight

class at the Feb. 18 regional

in Lowell and the weekend’s

individual state finals getting

treatment and surgeries for

an infection that was target-

ing his chest, hips and a fin-

ger.

He started experiencing

his first pain issues from the

infection the day after the

Trojans’ individual district

tournament. There were a

couple ER visits for Zoet

between the district tourna-

ment and being admitted to

the hospital a few days after

regionals. He wasn’t even

sure he’d get to be at the

finals.

“They were trying to get

me out earlier in the week,

but it was still hard to walk

and to sit down for a long

period of time without laying

down. That was my main

goal. When I got sent home

on Wednesday I knew I

would be able to be here,”

Zoet said.

Zoet still ends his high

school wrestling career with

over 150 victories and as a

two-time state medalist.

“That was not easy for any

of us to hear the new,” Fletke

said, “and it turned us to

thinking about Kyron and

praying for him. A lot of the

community came together

and supported him, and it

just shows that the wrestling

community in Middleville

has a lot of support. We were

really happy that he was able

to make the trip down here,

and get to march and watch

with his friends.”

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TROJANS, continued from page 15

Thornapple Kellogg senior Austin Chivis smiles
from the medal stand Saturday after placing at the
MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals for the first time
over the weekend at Ford Field in Detroit. Chivis
placed sixth in Division 2’s 175-pound weight class.
(Photo by Brett Bremer)

Meduna knew he had to be

more fit to hang with the

kinds of wrestlers who had

knocked him out of the state

tournament the previous two

seasons, and the kind who

finish their season on the

state medal stand.

He made a tough decision,

with the help of his young

cousin Aden Terhorst, to quit

playing football before the

varsity football season began

in August and then watched

as his classmates won their

way to the MHSAA Division

1 Football Finals at Ford

Field in November. His plan

was always to get his turn to

touch the Detroit Lions’ turf

in March.

He thought he needed to

put in three or four days a

week of work on his wres-

tling to accomplish his goal

of earning a state medal and

he just couldn’t see how he

could fit that in and compete

with the varsity football

team.

“I texted my little cousin

[Terhorst]. He’s been my

biggest little supporter ever.

He’s my biggest fan,”

Meduna said. “I was like,

‘bro, what do I do? He is like

this kid ... and nobody would

ever ask him anything like

that, and I was, ‘what do I

do?’”

Terhorst’s answer, accord-

ing to Meduna?

“You like wrestling. Do

wrestling.”

Meduna thought that was

simple enough and he went

to work. He committed to

the work Ares Wrestling

coach Owen Scott suggest-

ed. He worked on his condi-

tioning and he said every-

thing started to get a little

easier and wrestling got a lot

more fun.

“For Caledonia, this was

an amazing finish to a very

challenging year,”

Singleton said. “I had very

low numbers this year, but I

had two kids that loved

wrestling, that put their

shoes on in the offseason,

that worked their butt off,

and that both came away

with a legacy really, when

you think about it. When

you place at the state tour-

nament, it is documented

for history.”

Caledonia senior Dylan Meduna is all smiles during the Grand March before

the championship finals Saturday at the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals at

Ford Field in downtown Detroit. (Photo by Brett Bremer)

Caledonia freshman Maddie Hayden has her arm raised as the state champion

after defeating Howell’s Brynn Green in the girls’ 155-pound weight class at the

MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals at Ford Field in downtown Detroit Saturday.

(Photo by Brett Bremer)

SCOTS, continued from page 14