FRUITPORT – Cooper Lengkeek is keeping the great Cooper wrestling tradition alive at Fruitport.

It turns out that Lengkeek is the first cousin of brothers Crue, Nash and Roan Cooper, who were all state qualifies for the Trojans.

Now Lengkeek is well on his way to doing the same, possibly within the next few weeks, if he has his way.

If it seems funny that Lengkeek’s first name is Cooper, and his cousins’ last name is Cooper – well, it is a little different.

Cooper is his mother’s maiden name, and she gave it to him as a first name, instead of going the hyphenated last name route, which has become so common in recent years.

Either way, Lengkeek grew up watching his Cooper cousins dominate on the mat, closely monitored their accomplishments, and decided to follow in their footsteps.

“Nash and Roan were state qualifiers, and Crue finished fourth in the state in his junior year and third in his senior year,” Lengkeek said. “I remember when I was in kindergarten we went to one of their meets, and my mom asked me if I might want to do this, I said yes, this is awesome, I definitely want to do this!”

Lengkeek officially joined the Fruitport wresting program last season after transferring from Spring Lake.

He got off to a very good start as a sophomore, posting a 33-12 record and qualifying for regionals.

This season he’s stepped it up big time, with a team-best 30-4 record, 16 pins and an individual championship at the recent Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tournament.

He’s currently ranked 10th in the state in Division 2 in the 157-pound weight class, with the biggest events of the year just around the corner.

Lengkeek made a conscious decision to go all in on wrestling this year. He quit football and started training and competing year-round, and it’s made him a lot better, according to Fruitport Coach Chad Johnson.

“I think his confidence has gotten a lot better,” Johnson said. “That comes with a lot of offseason training. He is now fully committed to wrestling, he competed in the offseason, and that made a big difference.

“He’s really good on his feet, and he has good takedowns. That’s where he’s at his best. I could see him making the state finals and having a nice run. It all circles back to his work ethic. He’s always putting wrestling first.”

Lengkeek said he finally just decided to specialize in the sport he loves.

“I’m just really focused on wrestling,” he said. “I stopped playing football, just to dial in. I never really had the same connection to football that I do to wrestling. Wrestling feels like home.”

A little better than last year in a lot of ways

Lengkeek has been determined to do at least a little better than he did last season in several different ways.

He got off to a good start at the GMAA tournament, where he won the 157-pound championship after finishing as a runner-up last year.

He pinned Reeths-Puffer’s Bryce Muskovin in 1:08 and defeated Orchard View’s Landen Arvey 15-0, then beat Whitehall’s Liam Leeke – another state-ranked wrestler – 17-1 in the title match.

“That was a really great experience,” Lengkeek said. “All my friends came to watch. It was nice to finally get the job done.”

There are several other items on Lengkeek’s improvement list, as well.

Last year he finished as a runner-up at the O-K Blue conference tournament, and he hopes to beat that with an individual title on Friday at the O-K Silver conference tournament at Belding.

Last year he finished third in his weight class in districts, which was good enough to qualify for regionals, but he figures he can do much better this time around.

Last year he had a very disappointing experience at regionals, losing his first two matches, which cost him a chance to qualify for the state finals.

That’s one painful memory that Lengkeek definitely wants to address this season.

“I plan on really going after it,” he said. “I don’t think I felt very confident last year. I was scared and didn’t know what to expect. This time around it’s going to be different.”

Lengkeek says he feels like he’s going to win every time he steps on the mat, which is different than a year ago.

“It’s probably all the work I’ve put in, and I have good coaches in my corner,” he said. “When I’m in a tough stop, they always know what I should do.”

All of the above has to do with Lengkeek’s individual accomplishments, and wrestling is indeed an individual sport.

But it’s also a team sport, and that’s the part that Lengkeek says in the most enjoyable.

The Trojans are having a great season as a team, with a 13-2 overall record and a 5-0 mark in the conference standings.

They will go in as a favorite to win the team title at Friday’s conference tournament in Belding, which would give them the outright O-K Silver championship.

Fruitport has done well as a team in recent years, winning two straight Division 2 district titles, but a conference championship would be new and exciting for the Trojan wrestlers.

“It’s a really big deal,” Lengkeek said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have never experienced winning conference in anything. I have been on other teams before, and you are just there to get in your matches, but when your team is winning, it’s incredible. I had never experienced that before. It’s way more fun.

“We are a really tight group. We all keep close and we don’t let each other slip up. It’s really like a family.”