The Fruitport wrestling team has been successful pretty much everywhere it has competed this season, but there’s nothing quite like winning a tournament championship at home.
The Trojans accomplished that on Saturday, winning the title at their own Fruitport Legends Invitational in a close battle with state-ranked Greenville.
Fruitport finished with 213 team points, followed by Greenville (211), Reed City (174),Muskegon (165) and Grandville (158) in the top five. There were a total of 12 teams in the tournament.
The Trojans were led by four individual weight class champions.
Ethan Riggs took the title at 215 pounds with a 3-0 record. He pinned Grant’s Zayne Powell in 11 seconds and Muskegon’s Mekhi Griffin in 18 seconds before beating Grandville’s Emery Moody 11-2 in the title round.
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Chase Rosema won the championship at 190 pounds with a 3-0 record. He pinned Godwin Heights’ Cameron Overton in 1:55 and Grandville’s Reid Graverson in 5:13, then dominated Kelloggsville’s Jonathon Mubake 17-1 in the finals.
Cooper Lengkeek went 4-0 to win the 157-pound title. He started with three pins, over Greenville’s Chase Beck (2:31), Reed City’s Joshua Rosas (1:03) and Muskegon’s Lyn Wilson (4:44), before beating Reed City’s Andrew Kiaunis 21-16 in a high-scoring final.
Zach Aardema went 3-0 with three pins and won the title at 120 pounds. He stopped Greenville’s Max Ellison in 46 seconds, Kelloggsville’s Idai Lopez in 3:33 and Grant’s Cameron Esponoza in 3:42 in the finals.
Several other Trojans also did well, including Kayden Barnes (106 pounds) and Ryder Chan (113), who both finished second with 3-1 records.
Finishing third in their weight classes were Phillip Stone-Tyler (113), Davis Johnson (144) and Colton Smith (190).
Taking fourth place were Jeremiah Stone-Tyler (106), Alex Aardema (126) and Luke Westerlund (285).
Finishing in sixth place were Jacob Totten (126) and Blair Zimmer (150).
“We talk a lot about the team,” said Fruitport Coach Chad Johnson. “We know we have a solid team from top to bottom that contributes in their own individual ways. It’s been a team goal since day one to win a tournament as a team. It seemed very fitting to win our first one at home in front of the community that supports us endlessly.”
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