By By ERIKA PICKLES / Vigilant/Argus
NILES - Buchanan head coach Frank Mucha had a lot to smile about Saturday afternoon at Brandywine High School.
Cassopolis' John McCoy captured the 145-pound championship with a 4-1 decision over Buchanan's David Medlin.
Edwardsburg's Matt Peters won the 135-pound title with a pin of Brandywine's Chase Molica.
Edwardsburg's Alex Hall and Chris Ake also reached the tournament's championship finals.
His team had a stellar performance throughout the entire Lakeland Conference Individual Wrestling tournament, where nine of his wrestlers made it to the championship round. Out of the nine, five of them took home the title in their weight classes.
The performance allowed the Bucks, which are currently ranked seventh in the state in Division 3, to score 222 points on the day, blowing past all of the other teams in attendance to claim the LAC championship.
Mucha was also named Coach of the Year by the Lakeland Conference coaches and was given a white hooded sweatshirt signed by all of his wrestlers.
Tim Carrigan and Buchanan's junior high wrestling coach Andy Riggs assist Mucha throughout the year.
Winning championships for Buchanan were Todd Taylor (112), Nick Wheetley (125), Travis Reith (130) grabbed his third individual championship for his varsity career, Auston Ferris (152) and Phil Metz (275).
Brandywine, which hosted the tournament, finished second place with 153 points and had only one wrestler, Adam Simons (189) take a championship.
Simons wrestled River Valley's Tim Morrissey in an ugly match which ended due to Simons being hurt.
Morrissey, who was blowing kisses at Simons and dancing around him before the start of the match, was disqualified after he elbowed Simons in the head and speared him. Simons had to be carried off the mat by his coaches.
Morrissey will not be able to wrestle at the team districts.
Other Brandywine wrestlers who advanced to the finals were Warren Watson (125), Chase Molica (135), Justin Price (152) and Joel Perry (160).
Brandywine will travel to Eau Claire on Thursday for the Division 4 team districts.
The Bobcats will face the Beavers at 6 p.m. while Cassopolis will take on River Valley in the other semifinal match.
The finals will begin 10 minutes after the last semifinal match.
On Wednesday, The Bucks will host Dowagiac, Edwardsburg and Berrien Springs for the Division 3 team districts.
In the opening round, Dowagiac will take on Edwardsburg at 6 p.m., while Buchanan will take on Berrien Springs.
The finals will begin 10 minutes after the completion of the semifinals.
Lakeland Conference Wrestling
at Brandywine High School
Team results
Buchanan 222, Brandywine 153, Coloma 130.5, River Valley 89, Edwardsburg 87, Cassopolis 51, Berrien Springs 50.5
Championship Finals
103: Jordan Muenchow (Col) d. David Knisely (Buch), 10-8
112: Todd Taylor (Buch) d.Huston Harrison (Col), 14-0
119: John Stein (RV) d. Tony Taylor (Buch), 8-2
125: Nick Wheetley (Buch) p. Warren Watson (Brandy), 2:28
130: Travis Reith (Buch) p. Matt Kiser (Col), 4:38
135: Matt Peters (E) p. Chase Molica (Brandy), 1:13
140: Kyle Froelich (BS) d. Alex Hall (E), 4-0
145: John McCoy (Cass) d. David Medlin (Buch), 4-1
152: Auston Ferris (Buch) t.f. Justin Price (Brandy), 19-2
160: Lequae Caldwell (Col) d. Joel Perry (Brandy), 17-3
171: John Coniglio (RV) d. Ryan Harrington (Buch), 13-5
189: Adam Simons (Brandy) won by disqualification over Tim Morrissey (RV)
215: Jesse Martin (Coloma) t.f. Chris Ake (E), 18-3
275: Phil Metz (Buch) p. Jason Rafter (BS), 1:17
Final Lakeland Conference dual meet standings
1. Buchanan 6-0, 2. Brandywine 5-1, 3. Coloma and Edwardsburg 3-3, 5. River Valley and Cassopolis 2-4, 7. Berrien Springs 0-6
Final overall Lakeland Conference
standings
1. Buchanan, 2. Brandywine, 3. Coloma, 4. River Valley and Edwardsburg tied, 6. Cassopolis, 7. Berrien Springs