Thurston Wins National Wrestling Title

At left, St. Ignace's Galloway Thurston has his arm raised by the referee, signaling his victory in the finals of the national youth championships at Battle Creek. (Photograph courtesy of Thurston family)

Galloway Thurston, 12, won the Division 4, 135-pound wrestling national championship at Battle Creek Saturday, March 29.

Thurston, a seventh grade student at Gros Cap School, qualified for the nationals with a third place finish at the Michigan state finals and recorded a 3-0 mark to win the title.

He pinned a third-seeded wrestler from Ohio in the first match, earned a pin against the first-seeded player from Michigan, and outlasted the state champion from Pennsylvania 9-1 in the championship match.

Galloway Thurston is the son of David and Marilyn Thurston of St. Ignace, and has been wrestling for seven years.