Dan Stickradt
Sports Scene
BATTLE CREEK — With several decades of success, New Lothrop has truly felt the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat on the wrestling mats.
The top-seeded Hornets went on another thrill ride this year at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena, ending with the school’s 14th state title in the sport.
“Every year is different,” said New Lothrop coach Jeff Campbell. “It feels different because it’s a different mix of kids. But we don’t take it for granted, either. It’s so hard just to get here. There’s so many good teams and so much tradition here. Getting to Battle Creek is never easy, and winning once you get here is never easy.”
New Lothrup (29-1) trailed 9-0 after two matches, but quickly tied it at 9-9 and ventured on a 19-0 run through six weight classes for a 19-9 advantage.
Hudson (23-6) did close the gap to 22-21 through 10 matches, only to see New Lothrop go on a 20-0 run over the next three battles to clinch the deal by a final score of 38-24.
“The one thing I did was grab enough young kids to walk with us in the grand march. They are our future in our community,” said Campbell. “As you can see, we are a small- town community, and most of the town was here. I want the younger kids to be a part of this and know what it takes to succeed. A lot of our current kids grew up watching our program and saw what it takes to be successful. There’s a lot of hard work, dedication, and support that goes into it. We wouldn’t be here all the time if we didn’t have [those ingredients].”
Hudson was making its seventh straight state finals appearance. The Tigers won five straight from 2009 through 2013 and finished in the runner up slot in both 2014 and 2015.
“We lost to a very good team,” sighed Hudson coach Scott Marry. “We’ve had a great run of getting [to the finals] seven straight years. The kids understand our tradition and what it takes to get here. This year we came up a bit short.”
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com