The Fruitport wrestling team had plenty of opportunities to lose on Wednesday night and quietly bow out of the state tournament, but the Trojans simply refused to go down.
As a result, they are Division 2 regional champions and are headed to the state quarterfinals. It’s the first regional title for the Fruitport wrestling team in 41 years.
Fruitport earned the championship the hard way, rallying from a huge deficit to beat Greenville 36-31 in its regional semifinal match, then battling back from a smaller deficit to down Gaylord 46-24 in the championship match.’
The Trojans, 26-6 on the season, now have a regional trophy to go along with their conference and district trophies.
They now have a date in the state Final 8, and will compete in the quarterfinals a week from Friday in Kalamazoo. A victory would put them in the state semifinals the next day.
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“Forty-one years,” said Fruitport head coach Chad Johnson. “That’s how long it’s been since Fruitport wrestling had won a regional title. This group didn’t just compete – they made history!
“We are grateful to bring a regional title back to the Fruitport community, which has supported us unconditionally every step of the way.”
Fruitport’s victory over Greenville in the semifinals was pretty amazing.
The Trojans lost to the Yellowjackets 46-18 back on Jan. 3, and the way things started out, it looked like a rerun was about to occur.
Greenville won the first match, then Fruitport’s Blair Zimmer won, and the score was tied 3-3.
The Yellowjackets then won four straight matches to take a 20-3 lead. Fruitport’s Adam Marjonen got a six-point pin, making it 20-9, then Greenville got another win and led 25-9.
That’s when the Trojans lowered the boom, winning five straight matches, all with bonus points, to literally steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
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Rylan Thorson got a pin at 113 pounds. Ryder Chan got a pin at 120 pounds. Zach Aardema got a technical fall victory at 126 pounds.
Murphy Lengkeek followed with a pin at 132 pounds, and Alex Aardema added a major decision win at 138 pounds.
All of that added up to 27 points, and suddenly the Trojans led 36-25.
The Trojans forfeited in the final match, because they already had enough points to win.
“Going into the tournament tonight, we knew Greenville would be the team to beat,” Coach Johnson said. “Starting at 150, we knew they were going to be tough through the middle of the lineup and capable of making a strong run.
“All week our focus was on keeping it close during that stretch and putting ourselves in position to win when we got back to the top of our lineup. We won five of the last six matches from 113 through 138 to seal the dual.”
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The championship match against Gaylord also started out badly for the Trojans, who lost the first three matches and trailed 15-0.
But again Fruitport was up to the challenge, rattling off nine straight victories to take control.
Colton Smith (190), and Chase Rosema (215), who both lost their matches pretty badly against Greenville, ignited the explosion with two straight pins, then Luke Westerlund (285) made it three in a row.
Jeremiah Stone-Tyler followed with a three-point decision, Thorsen won by pin, Chan won by major decision, Zach Aardema won by technical fall, Lengkeek won by major decision and Alex Aardema got a pin.
The Trojans lost the last two matches, but it was far too little, too late for Gaylord to recover.
“Gaylord brought firepower in the early weights and made it interesting,” Johnson said. “The difference was our depth. Once we got rolling, we didn’t let up. Nine straight wins shows the balance in our lineup.”
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