Often when freshmen have a great season in high school wrestling, it’s in the lower weights like 106 or 113, where they compete against a lot of other underclassmen who have yet to hit a growth spurt.

That’s not the case with Fruitport ninth-grader Murphy Lengkeek. He competes at 132 pounds, against quite a few older wrestlers, and it doesn’t seem to make any difference at all.

The freshman phenom continued his amazing season on Saturday, posting a 3-0 record and winning the 132-pound championship at the the Division 2 individual regional tournament at Cadillac High School.

Lenkeek, now 46-7 on the season, defeated Bay City John Glenn’s Zayden Rose 6-0 and Freeland’s Michael Wilson 9-3, before downing Port Huron’s Aiden Davidson 7-1 in the championship match.

Lengkeek, the Trojans’ only individual regional champion, will now go into the Division 2 individual state finals at Detroit’s Ford Field seeded among the top four in his weight class.

“Murphy put on an absolute show today, adding another championship to his growing collection this season,” said Fruitport head coach Chad Johnson. “A regional title is elite for any wrestler. Doing it as a freshman makes it even more impressive.”

Lengkeek was one of four Trojans who took at least fourth place in their weight classes and qualified for the state finals.

The others were Chase Rosema, who took second place at 215 pounds; Zach Aardema, who took second at 126 pounds, and Alex Aardema, who took fourth at 138 pounds.

Qualifying for the state finals was a huge leap for Rosema, who did not even qualify for regionals last season.

Rosema, now 36-11 on the season, posted a 2-1 record, beating Bay City Western’s Jace Winden 16-6 and Freeland’s Zach Clark by pin, before losing in the championship round.

“That’s not just improvement – that’s development, maturity and belief coming together,” Coach Johnson said about Rosema. “Those are the kinds of gains athletes remember long after the season ends.

“I am overly proud. That’s what growth looks like.”

Zach Aardema, now 42-5, had a bye in the quarterfinal round, then beat Croswell-Lexington’s Braylon Davis 5-4 in the semifinals. He lost the 126-pound championship match.

He is now a two-time state qualifier.

“Zach battled through one of the toughest brackets of the tournament,” Coach Johnson said. “In the semifinals, he knocked off the eighth-ranked wrestler in dramatic fashion, mounting a come-from-behind win fueled by resilience and unwavering belief in himself, to punch his ticket to the finals.”

Alex Aardema (39-17) had to work the hardest to have a successful day, and earned his very first trip to the state finals.

He came into the meet seeded 15th out of 16 in his weight class, but battled until he got where he needed to be.

He beat Freeland’s Preston Wetherall 9-0 in the quarterfinals, was pinned in the semifinals, then bounced back to beat St. Clair’s Nick Vitale 8-0 in the consolation semifinals.

Aardema lost the third-place match, but still finished fourth and made the cut for the state finals.

“Alex is dangerous right now,” Coach Johnson said. “He’s not someone anyone will want to see across the mat at the state tournament.”