Ben Murphy
Sports Scene
Fresh off their first team district title in school history, the Meridian Mustang wrestling team saw its season come to an end Wednesday, February 15, after falling to Pine River 42-28 at the Montabella regional.
“It was an excellent year,” head coach Jeremy Sampson said. “We went 23-4 and won the Hemlock, Vassar, Gladwin and Meridian Individual tournaments and team districts. We set ourselves up for a good year again next year; we will be returning 14 wrestlers and have a good influx of freshmen. This team set the benchmark high.”
Seger Jackson (152 pounds), Eric Fader (215), Kaine Sturgeon (285), Chase Robinson (103), Shane Parisi (112), and Joe Shuler (119) each picked up wins in the loss.
The Mustangs were just 5-19 in dual matches last year. Even so, Sampson, in his first year guiding the program as head coach after being involved with the program for over 10 years, saw his team flourish.
“The kids put all their individual goals aside and worked on team success,” he said. “Several of the kids wrestled outside of their weight class so we could put our best team on the mat and fill all 14 weight classes. They work as hard as any team I have been a part of.”
Of the 14 starters, half are freshmen and sophomores, with the other seven being juniors and seniors.
“We have a very balanced group,” Sampson said. “The underclassmen have wrestled very well this season. We had [at least] 30 wins out of five of our seven freshmen and sophomores. There is a lot of wrestling experience in the entire group. Ten of our starters wrestled in our youth program.”
The upperclassmen have left their marks as well, playing pivotal roles in the district final win over Whittemore-Prescott and second place finish in the Jack Pine Conference.
“They have bought in to our program,” Sampson said. “A prime example, we had four kids that could have wrestled at 112 this year. Two wrestled there all season and the other two weighed in at 119 and split time between there and 125. Three of them won 30 matches or more this season.”
The Mustangs had four wrestlers qualify for the individual state finals March 1-3 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. They are freshman Chase Robinson (103), sophomores Damon Walter (112) and Erid Fader (215), and senior Shane Parisi (112).