David Cook
Sports Scene
The Division 2 Michigan High School Athletic Association team wrestling title dual between Lowell and Fowlerville was a combination of surprise and business as usual.
For Lowell, which defeated Fowlerville 52-14, it was business as usual as the Red Arrows claimed their 12th consecutive Division 2 team wrestling state title. For Fowlerville, reaching the final match was the surprise of the tournament as the Gladiators entered the D2 finals as the seventh seed.
Fowlerville proved those seeds were just numbers. The Gladiators opened the tournament by defeating the No. 2 seed, Freeland, 40-29 in the quarterfinals. Fowlerville then continued breaking the bracket when it turned back No. 3 seed New Boston Huron 43-30 in the semifinals. Taking down the top-seeded Red Arrows proved to be an elusive hurdle as the top-ranked and nationally-ranked Lowell team controlled the title match.
Lowell started the title match by piling up points in a big way. The Red Arrows won the first nine bouts of the finals including three matches by fall and four by technical fall.
Carson Blum started the match with a first-period fall at 113 pounds. The Red Arrows then picked up back-to-back major decisions by Jarrett Smith (120 pounds) and Cole Cichocki (126).
The Lowell lead then expanded to 26-0 with pins from Carter Cichocki at 132 pounds and Jackson Blum at 138 pounds.
The Red Arrows kept the wins flowing as Logan Dawson (144), Trevor Boone (150), Seth Harvey (157) and Owen Segorski (165) all won by technical fall in the next four matches as the Lowell lead grew to 46-0.
Fowlerville snapped the Lowell win streak at 175 pounds. That was where Brock Foster won by a major decision to give the Gladiators their first points of the match.
Lowell added its final points of the dual at 190 pounds where Casey Engle won by a decision and in the final match of the dual John Carter McKay won a decision at 106 pounds.
Fowlerville, which rode the power of its upper weights to the state finals, picked up wins at 215 and 285 pounds. At 215 pounds Layne O’Neal won a major decision while at 285 pounds Liam O’Neil won by fall.
Lowell, which has wrestled in the Division 2 state championship match every year since 2012, won all three of its matches at the team finals in impressive fashion. The Red Arrows began the team final by turning back Warren Woods-Tower 50-20 in the quarterfinals. Lowell then stopped fourth-seeded Three Rivers 55-19 in the semifinal round.