FRUITPORT – Zach Aardema may only be a freshman, but he’s obviously got a lot of fight in him.

Aardema was successful at last Saturday’s Division 2 individual district tournament, where only the top four in each weight class kept their seasons alive by advancing to regionals.

But he had to battle hard to gain that success.

Aardema got off to a good start, pinning his opponent in the first match and winning by technical fall in the second, but then trouble came.

He lost to Allendale’s Jaxon Ramos by a rough 16-1 score in the semifinal round, and for a lot of wrestlers, that type of defeat could have led to confidence issues and a downward spiral.

He pulled himself together in the consolation bracket, however, pinning his last two opponents, finishing third in the 113-pound weight class and qualifying for regionals, after all.

“I guess I just didn’t wrestle good,” Aardema said about the ugly loss. “I could have done better. It made me pretty mad, and I just decided, all right, I’m going to win the rest of my matches, no matter what. I just decided to pin everyone else I had to wrestle.”

By finishing strong, Aardema became the first Fruitport freshman wrestler since 2003 (Gordy Lee) to qualify for individual regionals. That was a few years before Aardema was even born.

He’s proud that he broke the long drought for Fruitport freshmen wrestlers, but said he was determined to keep his season alive, either way.

“Coach told me about that the day before,” Aardema said. ‘He said I could be the first freshman in 20-some years to make it. I wanted to make regionals no matter what, though.”

Getting to regionals is not Aardema’s ultimate goal. He and three teammates – Kyle Holt, Cooper Lengkeek and Phillip Stone-Tyler – will compete in the Division 2 regional on Saturday at Allendale, with a chance to qualify for the state finals at Detroit’s Ford Field.

Aardema thinks he has what it takes to not only qualify for state, but also win a medal at that elite level, and he’s ready to go all out.

“It’s really important to me,” he said. “The goal is to qualify for state and place. I think I can make it.”

He admits that he’s a little nervous heading into the upper tiers of the state tournament, since he’s new to all of it, but plans on overcoming the butterflies by the time he hits the mat.

“I’ve just got to get around that and wrestle,” Aardema said.

Aardema will enter regionals with a 26-7 record and 10 pins. He has been doing well all season, but really started turning on the jets when he moved from the 120-pound weight class to 113 pounds at midseason, according to Fruitport wrestling coach Chad Johnson.

“With him dropping down a weight class, he started doing a little more extra work,” Johnson said. “He had to run more to make sure he made eight, and I think the extra work really helped him. It’s paying off right now.

“I knew he was going to be a good wrestler, but he’s kind of surprised me. His technique is really good, he has a really good work ethic, and he’s a very coachable kid. He’s willing to do whatever you ask him to do.”

Johnson said Aardema has been preparing for regionals this week with a lot of determination.

“Any time you go to a regional tournament, it’s tough,” the coach said. “But he’s been working hard, and he’s been asking for extra practice. I am really looking forward to seeing how he does.”

Aardema came to varsity as an experienced wrestler with advanced technical skills, due to all the mat time he gained in the Fruitport junior wrestling program over the years, plus the time he spent competing with an elite club team out of Grand Rapids.

While that type of competition was challenging and rewarding, Aardema said the goal has always been to do well once he reached high school wrestling.

“I like the team part of it a lot more in high school,” Aardema said. “You make good friends.”

He said he really had fun last week, when Fruitport won two matches and captured a Division 2 team district championship at Fremont High School.

“That was pretty exciting,” Aardema said. “I never experienced that before, winning a team district. Everyone was really excited.”