THE HASTINGS
Thursday, February 15, 2024Big pins, small defeats add up to win for Vikes
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
He did it once, twice and then a third time.
On the third time, Lakewood junior
215-pounder Bryan Aguilera finished the job.
He turned Portland’s Barrett Spitzley onto his
back once in each period of their bout in the
MHSAA Division 3 Team District Final at
Portland High School Wednesday.
Aguilera pinned Spitzley with 40 seconds
left in the third period of their match clinch-
ing the Lakewood team its first district cham-
pionship since 2019. That put the Vikings in
front 42-20 with two matches to go and the
Vikings forfeited the 285-pound and 106-
pound matches to the Raiders to finish with a
42-32 victory.
“I was real nervous, you can ask all my
teammates and my girlfriend over there,”
Aguilera said. “I was just pacing. I was like
real nervous, then coach Nick Boucher was
like you’re going out at 215. I was like, all
right.
“I was confident out there. Once I got out
there all my anxiety just went away and I
just snapped him down, got my under hooks
like usual and I just went from there. I
scored and I was like, I got this match. I can
win it.”
Portland had beaten the Vikings in districts
each of the past three seasons, bested the
Vikings in their Capital Area Activities Con-
ference White Division dual last month, and
finished well ahead of them Saturday at themassive CAAC Championship Tournament
in Mason – where both teams were a bit
shorthanded.
Lakewood was set to host its MHSAA
Division 3 Team Regional Tournament
Wednesday, Feb. 14. The Vikings were slated
to take on Saginaw Swan Valley in the
Regional Semifinals with Corunna taking on
Frankenmuth in the regional’s other opening
round match.
“It feels good. It feels amazing to finally
win,” Aguilera said. “Last year, it was a
rough time. We got off the bus and I just had
the confidence in me. I was like, ‘I feel it,’
and the first two pins went by, and then
another pin went by, and I was like ‘yeah,
we’re going to win a district title!’”The win was a big boost for Aguilera who
missed some time this season and wasn’t
quite where the team expected him to be with
his weight when he was ready to wrestle.
Coach Tony Harmer said he was worried that
the program had lost him.
“He just kept on grinding and we had some
challenges and he came back during the
league meet ... and took third. I am proud of
him with some of the adversity he has been
going through,” Harmer said.
Harmer was sure the coin flip going his
team’s way could have helped make the dif-
ference when the two teams met for what
turned into a 42-36 Portland win in their
conference dual back at Lakewood High
School in January.This time the Vikings felt like they were in
control from the start even with Portland’s
Landon Lanz opening the match by pinning
Lakewood’s Eric Bartlett 4:33 into the 113-
pound match. Bartlett put in the work to be
eligible at the weight class and put up a good
fight before he fell, and then things started
falling the Vikings’ way.
Lakewood shot to a 24-0 advantage with
consecutive pins from Vincent Stamm at 120
pounds, Kade Boucher at 126, Hudson Goe-
thals at 132 and Mason Livermore at 138.
Getting Goethals in to face Portland’s George
Burgoyne was one of the key differencesSaxons win their first D1 district title
Valerie Slaughter
Contributing Writer
The Hastings varsity wrestling team made
the move to Division 1 this year on a choice
by Hastings’ head coach Jason Slaughter and
walked away with the schools first D1 Dis-
trict Championship.
The Saxons traveled to Battle Creek Cen-
tral on Wednesday, Feb. 6, where they defeat-
ed Loy Norrix in the first round 74–4 before
moving to the District Finals against Battle
Creek Lakeview and taking the district win
with a 72-10 score.
Slaughter also tagged his 100th career dual
win since taking over the team three years ago,
the team currently has a 33–4 dual team record.
Coach Slaughter was thrilled for his team.
“It’s exciting to win districts as a team,”
Slaughter said. “It is a big accomplishment for
these guys. Our team has worked really hard
this season so it’s really great to see the accom-
plish this. It is also extremely exciting that the
first year we decided to make a change and go
Division 1 that we were able to get the district
title. It shows we are just as competitive as any
of the teams in this division as well.”
In the first match of the night, the Saxons
started at 165 pounds and got three straight
pins from Ben Furrow, Matthew Shults and
Kyle Echtinaw to start them off. Saxon state
placer Isaac Friddle won a 17-4 major deci-
sion for the team. The Saxons lost a match at
heavyweight before seeing two more pins
from Troy Hokanson and Jordan Humphrey
at the light weights.
Saxon freshman Maverick Peake took a
win on a void for the team. The Saxons then
continued their pinning streak with five more
pins from Quinton Schnere, Colton Denton,
Colton Smith, Keegan Sutfin and Haiden
Simmet. In the last match of the meet, soph-
omore, Aiden Armstrong won a major deci-
sion 17-8, brining the team score to 74-4.
The Saxons then faced Lakeview, who had
defeated Battle Creek Central in the first
round. The Saxons started off with a void win
for Shults, before seeing three straight pins
from Echtinaw, Friddle and Diego Coipel.
Hokanson won on a void at 106 pounds. In
the next match, Humphrey was losing 8-4 in
the third period before he was able to turn it
around and get the pin for the team. Peakepicked up a pin before the Saxons dropped a
match at the 120-pound class, but then came
back with four more pins from Denton,
Smith, Sutfin and Simmet.
Armstrong lost a hard fought major deci-
sion before the final pin of the night for the
Saxons, from Furrow, that sealed the win
with a 72-10 victory.
The Saxons were set to wrestle in the
MHSAA Division 1 Team Regional Tourna-
ment Wednesday, Feb. 14, facing off against
Portage Central in the regional semifinals.
Grand Ledge and Brighton were slated to meet
in the first regional semifinal of the evening.
Coach Slaughter indicated that “Brighton
will be the team to beat. They are tough, but
our guys are excited to go after them for a
shot at the regional title.”
The regional championship team advances
to the Feb. 23 MHSAA Division 1 State
Quarterfinals at Wings Event Center in
Kalamazoo.
Hastings will also have five wrestlers in
the MHSAA Division 1 Individual Regional
tournament on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Holt
High School.Lakewood junior heavyweight Bryan Aguilera nears a pin of Portland's Barrett Spitzley during their MHSAA Division 3
District Final at Portland High School Feb. 7. Aguilera's pin clinched the district championship for the Viking team. (Photo by
Brett Bremer)
The Lakewood varsity wrestling team gathers with its trophy after winning the MHSAA
Division 3 District Championship over the host Raiders in the district final at Portland High
School Wednesday evening, Feb. 7. It is the first district championship for the Viking team
since 2019. (Photo by Brett Bremer)See VIKINGS, page 10
The Hastings varsity wrestling team celebrates its MHSAA Division 1 District Championship at Battle Creek Central High School
Wednesday, Feb. 7, after wins over Loy Norrix and Battle Creek Lakeview. The Saxons were set to travel to Grand Ledge for their
MHSAA Division 1 Regional Tournament last night, Feb. 14. (Photo by Valerie Slaughter)
Hastings heavyweight Diego Coipel works to score points against Loy Norrix's Will
Dominianni during the MHSAA Division 1 District Semifinal at Battle Creek Central
High School Wednesday, Feb. 7. (Photo by Valerie Slaughter)The Saxons' Troy Hokanson turns Loy Norrix's Aiden Unangst onto his back during
the first period of their 106-pound match in the MHSAA Division 1 District Semifinal at
Battle Creek Central Wednesday, Feb. 7. (Photo by Valerie Slaughter)