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.