Hartford Press Box

Wrestlers track to Three Rivers for two early-year tournaments

Last week, the Hartford Husky high school wrestling team took to the mats to compete in a pair of tournaments to begin the calendar year, one of which was for the growing group of female wrestlers. The other was a team tournament that included all team members. The squad has lofty goals down the line, which sees them wanting to win conference and district crowns, at the very least. Considering their early results, there are encouraging signs, but work left to be had.

First are the results from the Three Rivers Girls and Junior Varsity Invitational which was held on Friday, Jan. 5. The tournament, between the girls and junior varsity divisions, was filled with a total of 168 wrestlers, including 58 that appeared in a multitude of female brackets. Team scores were not kept, but Hartford sent a total of five young ladies to the event with four returning to town with finishes in the top-three in their weight classes.

In terms of individual results, two wrestlers – Anya Watkins (115 pounds) and Niomi Perez (235 pounds) scored runner-up finishes, while Vanessa Alonso (120 pounds) and Taliyah Mendoza (125 pounds) finished in third place.

The Three Rivers Super Duals, which was held on Saturday, Jan. 6, included the Huskies, the host Wildcats, and eight additional schools. After wrestling in five matches, Hartford finished with a record of 2-3, as they reigned victorious over Niles, 42-42 (the dual was decided on tiebreaker criteria, where the Huskies had zero forfeits to the Vikings three) and Kalamazoo Central, 36-31, while suffering defeat to Portage Northern (42-36), Dowagiac (51-30) and Constantine (66-15).

In terms of individual results, three wrestlers finished the day with a 4-1 record, including Roman Rodarte (120 pounds), Alex Saldana (126 / 132 pounds) and Braeden Birkhead (144 / 150 pounds). Three additional wrestlers, including Brady Rice (113 pounds), Robert Lenza (126 / 132 pounds) and Linken Birkhead (175 pounds) ended the day with 3-2 records.

Hartford is currently 5-4 on the season in team duals, which includes a 2-0 record in Southwest 10 Conference action. The wrestling team will participate in a pair of events during this coming week, including a conference quad on the weekdays and a second-straight weekend team tournament. The squad will have hosted Cassopolis, Comstock and Marcellus, for a conference quad in their home gymnasium on Wednesday, Jan. 10, before traveling to Buchanan on Saturday, Jan. 13, for the Buchanan Super Duals.

As always, GO GREEN! GO WHITE!