Luke Thurston St. Ignace Six St. Ignace Saints and two Rudyard Bulldogs wrestlers qualified for the Division 4 wrestling regionals with top four places during the individual districts at LaSalle High School Saturday, February 13.

Saints statistics: Senior John Evashevski (135) and freshman Joey Ostman (171) registered 3-0 records and finished first; senior Dan St. Onge (152) and freshman Richard Bentley (119) placed second with 2-1 records; freshmen Galloway Thurston (160) was third with a 3-1 mark, and sophomore Dylan Brown (125) was fourth with a 1-2 record.

Four additional wrestlers, Billy Bentgen (103), Louie Radecki (130), Cody Swagger (130), and Joe Krause (135), were one win away from qualifying for the regionals.

Two Rudyard Wrestlers

Advance to Regionals

Senior Brock Lewis (152) and junior Chad Mesnard (145) of Rudyard both won their classes with 3-0 records and advanced to the regionals at Rogers City during the individual districts at LaSalle High School Saturday, February 13.

John Evashevski (135) of St. Ignace captured first place during the individual districts with a 3-0 record. He posted two victories during the team districts. Four wrestlers in each weight class from the St. Ignace and Manton districts will compete in the Division 4 regionals in Rogers City Saturday, February 20, and the top four athletes from each class at Rogers City will advance to the state finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills Thursday, March 4, Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6.

Saints Fall in Wrestling

District Finals

The St. Ignace Saints defeated the Newberry Indians 59-24 in the semifinals, but fell to the Rogers City Hurons 48-21 in Division 4 district wrestling finals at Newberry Thursday, February 11.

Joey Ostman (top) of St. Ignace recorded two victories during the district team finals at Newberry Thursday, February 11, and won the 171 weight division with a 3-0 mark to advance to the regionals. The Saints defeated a young Rogers City team with 12 athletes, who were all sophomores and freshmen last year, for the district title. This year, the older Hurons upended the younger Saints squad , which has eight starters and 11 total wrestlers who are sophomores or freshmen.

Galloway Thurston (160) led the Saints at 2-0 with two pins. John Evashevski (140-145) and Dan St. Onge (152) were 2-0 with one pin, and Joe Ostman (171-189) and Richard Bentley (119) were 2-0.

Recording 1-1 records were Billy Bentgen (103) with one pin, Dylan Brown (125), Louie Radecki (130-135), Joe Krause (135-140), and Robert Sayles (189-171). Cody Swagger (130) and Caleb Litzner (145) were 0- 1 and Dakota McClennan (112) was 0-2. Luke Thurston competed in his first match of the season after suffering an injury, but the junior lost his first match.

LaSalle High School junior Jessica Bentley performed the National Anthem before the team districts at Newberry Thursday, February 11, and the individual districts at St. Ignace Saturday, February 13. Bulldogs Fall

to Hurons

Rudyard fell to the Rogers City Hurons 74-6 in the second district semifinals, with Brock Lewis (152) earning the points

the Bulldogs.
The Saints’ Dan St. Onge (right) qualified for the state regionals with a second-place finish.
Brock Lewis (152, top) of Rudyard finished first to qualify for the regionals with a 3-0 record.
The Bulldogs’ Chad Mesnard (145) placed first with a 3-0 record and advanced to the regionals.
The Saints’ Dylan Brown (125) placed fourth to qualify for the regionals at Rogers City.
The Saints’ Galloway Thurston (right) posted two victories in the district finals and qualified for the regionals with a third-place finish.
The Saints’ Richard Bentley 119, left) finished second at the districts to qualify for the regionals with a 2-1 mark.