John Raffel
Sports Scene
It was.
Betham became the Division 3 state champion at 152 pounds at the state finals March 1-3. He ended his season at 56-2.
He won all of his matches by decision: 5-2 over Brandon McCann of Bullock Creek, 8-2 over Zach Newhouse of Dundee, 5-2 over Caleb Slavik of Birch Run, and 14-6 in the finals over Todd Olson of Dundee.
Last year, Betham’s season ended with a 47-7 record and a fourth-place finish at 152 pounds in the state finals.
He had started out 2-0 in the finals with 9-4 and 6-4 decisions over Luke Szymanchack of Kingsley and Caleb Slavik of Birch Run. But in the semifinals against Trevor Jaster of Caro, he was disqualified when he inadvertently slammed his opponent onto the mat. He rebounded and beat Todd Olson of Dundee 10-9 but lost 3-0 to Caleb Slavik in the match for third place.
“I told my brother I was going to be back and win it,” Betham said.
He lived up to his promise.
“I was definitely on my game,” he said.
Regarding his title match, Betham said that Olson “was not a slouch. It was a tough match.” However, when he got up by third points in the second period, he “was pretty confident,” he recalled.
Being a state champion was the ultimate goal for Betham.
“The whole season I had two losses, although I was hoping to go undefeated,” he said. “Those two losses weren’t bad. Those were to two good wrestlers. So it was a good year.”
The 5-2 win over Slavik was critical in the semifinals, Betham recalls. “It should have been 3-2,” he said. “I got a takedown at the end.”
Betham noted that he had lost to Mitch Malot of Swan Valley earlier in the season. But Malot lost in the semifinals and never had a chance to see Betham at The Palace.
“I was hoping to wrestle him again, but we didn’t get the chance,” Betham said.
He wrestled all four years in high school.
“I definitely improved every single year,” he said. “The coaches helped me out a lot.” He engaged in extensive half-court work to prepare for the senior season.
He also runs track and plays football.
“I’d like to wrestle at college,” he said. “Olivet has talked to me and Alma has sent me letters.”
But right now, Betham plans on focusing on academics at Central Michigan University.