By BUTCH HARMON
One of the premier conference wrestling tournaments in the state takes place Friday at Greenville when the wrestling powers of the O-K White Conference come together.
Lowell, ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 1 is the team to beat at the league tournament after turning in a perfect record in conference dual meets. Host Greenville, ranked fifth in the state in Division 2 will be looking to earn a share of the league tournament with a win at the league meet. A third major player at the league tournament will be a Northview team that is capable of moving into the top ten in Division 2. Rounding out the field at Greenville are non-traditional wrestling schools East Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Creston and Grand Rapids Christian.
The big matchups at the tournament will come when Lowell and Greenville wrestlers lock horns with Northview capable of playing the spoiler role.
The O-K White tournament will feature some of the top individual talent in the state as well beginning at 103 pounds where Greenville junior Michael Schmidt should be favored. At 112 pounds, Lowell sophomore Bailey Jack will be favored. Lowell should also be in line to win the title at 119 pounds with freshman Jordan Hall.
One of the closest weight classes should be at 125 pounds where both the Red Arrows and Yellowjackets have state-ranked wrestlers. Lowell freshman Nate Limmex is ranked second in the state at 125 while Greenville sophomore Alec Ward is ranked seventh in the state.
A pair of weight classes that could be up for grabs are 130 and 135 pounds. The conference is void of state-ranked wrestlers at those two weight classes.
Moving into middle weights, the Red Arrows have a substantial upper hand with the one-two punch of Gabe Morse at 140 pounds and freshman Angus Arthur at 145 pounds.
Greenville is no devoid of talent in the middle weight classes either with senior Devon Lehman at 140 pounds.
Like Gabe Morse at 140, Andrew Morse at 152 pounds is ranked first in the state. The 152-pound weight class also includes Joe Preston of Northview who is ranked in the top ten.
The most competitive weight class in the conference could be at 160 pounds. Greenville’s Luke Gilmore is ranked third in the state at 160 while Lowell’s Jake Stehley is ranked fourth and Ben Clinkscale of Northview is ranked ninth.
The 171-pound weight class will also be key. Lowell sophomore Garrett Stehley is ranked second in the state while Greenville senior Kaleb Bell is ranked seventh.
The 189-pound weight class may feature the marquee matchup of the tournament. That is where Greenville’s Jordan Thomas is ranked first in the state at 189 and Lowell standout Gabe Dean is ranked third.
At 215 pounds, Lowell’s Josh Cole is one of the premier freshmen in the state in the upper weights and is ranked second in the state in Division 2.