Teams don’t get better by competing against mediocre opponents.

The only way to become one of the best is to take on the best, and that’s what the Fruitport wrestling team did on Saturday.

The Trojans finished seventh out of 16 teams at the very tough Sparta Invitational, with six wrestlers placing in the top six of their weight classes.

Fruitport finished with `113.5 points. Plainwell won the championship with 204.5 points.

“It was ranked as one of the toughest tournaments in the state last weekend,” said Fruitport Coach Chad Johnson. “It included 30 state-ranked wrestlers. It’s one of my favorite tournaments of the year. I always tell the boys, ‘This is tougher than the individual district tournament.’

Zach Aardema, who finished second in the 120-pound weight class.

“These are the types of tournaments that made us grow, being challenged and facing adversity, mentally and physically. Overall I’m happy with the way we wrestled. We defeated a lot of state-ranked wrestlers. There are a couple of things we need to continue to work on, but the boys are all in.”

The top Trojan of the day was Zach Aardema, who finished in second place in the 120-pound weight class with a 3-1 record.

Aardema won his first two matches by pin, then won his semifinal match by outlasting Plainwell’s Tyler Cooper 6-5 in a nail-biter.

He lost the championship match to Jenison’s Tomas Mendez.

Cooper Lengkeek (157 pounds), Ethan Riggs (215) and Luke Westerlund (285) all posted 3-1 records and finished third in their weight classes.

Davis Johnson (138) took fourth in his weight class with a 2-2 record while Jeremiah Stone-Tyler (106) placed sixth with a 3-2 mark.

The Trojans will be back on the mat on Wednesday, hosting Godwin Heights and Ottawa Hills.storageeddieminith brands