By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Niles High School junior Kenyon Ellison placed fifth in the Division 2 285-pound weight class this past weekend at the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Ellison fell in his first match of the tournament on Thursday to Ferndale's Christopher Reeves. Reeves took a 4-2 win in overtime.
After that match, Ellison bounced back and won three straight matches. He defeated Swartz Creek's Tom Roland, 4-2; Landon Winowiecki of St. John's by pin at the 2:14 mark; and pinned Ionia's Adam Warner at the 4:21 mark.
Ellison faced Reeves again in the Consolation semifinals, but was defeated, 3-1.
Ellison was able to advance to the finals, where he took a 1-0 win over Michael Schailnly of Caledonia.
Ellison finished the season with an overall record of 43-12.
Other Viking wrestlers advancing were Ben Brandstatter (160) and Jake Glueckert (125). Both were defeated in their first two matches of the tournament. Glueckert finished the season 40-7, while Brandstatter was 38-8 overall.
In Division 3 action, Buchanan's Todd Taylor (119) and Drew Medlin each won one match, while Nick Wheetley (125) fell in both of his matches.
Taylor was defeated by Seth Schanner of Big Rapids, 9-6, in his first match, but came back and won the second match, 5-2, against Montrose's Cody Wray.
Steve Lambert of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern ended Taylor's season by a 3-1 decision. Taylor was 45-9 this year.
Medlin lost his first match against Brandon Roose of Roscommon when he was pinned in 3:22.
Medlin won his next match against John Osborn of Millington, 5-4, but fell to Wyoming Park's Jake Potyraj, 4-0. Medlin finished the year 40-16.
Wheetley was defeated by Dundee's Eric Desbrough, 21-4, and Whitehall's Jordan Clarke, 7-4. Wheetley was 44-6 this season.
Dowagiac junior Drew Staley finished eighth in the 215-pound weight class.
Teammate Nate Behnke was 1-2 at 189-pounds and did not place.
Staley (45-14) lost to Richmond's Ed Henry in the opening round of the tournament, 5-0.
The junior rebounded with a pair of wins to advance to Saturday's final day of competition.
Staley edged Adam Palleschi of Croswell-Lexington, 4-3. Staley then pinned Nick Gurski of Lakeview in 2:16.
On Saturday, Staley was decisioned by Donald Whitehead of Otisville-Lakeville, 8-2. In the final round of consolations, Keith Thompson of Flat Rock edged Staley, 3-1.
Edwardsburg's Alex Hall lost his first two matches at 145-pounds and was eliminated on Friday morning.
Hall, who ended the year at 35-15, was defeated in overtime by Curtis Hoskins of Corunna in the opening round on Thursday.
He was then pinned by Corey Woodruff of Pinconning in 2:01.
In Division 4, Brandywine's Jeremy Hechtl (215) won his first match of the tournament, pinning Romulus Summit Academy's Michael Winterhalter in 3:02.
Hechtl then lost his next two matches, falling to Cody Sehl of Mancelona in 4:19 and Ithaca's Logan Sanders, 13-5. Hechtl ended the season 53-5.
Bryon Fisher fell in his first two matches at 103-pounds.
Fisher lost to Hudson's Zeb Hilyard, 12-1, and Kent City's Cody Carew, 11-5. Fisher had a 34-22 record this season.
Cassopolis' John McCoy capped a brilliant four-year career with a seventh place finish at 145-pounds.
McCoy defeated Dayne Derosiers of Memphis, 17-2 on Thursday, but dropped his first match on Friday to fall into the consolation bracket.
Dan Yates of Hesperia defeated McCoy, 7-1.
The Cassopolis senior then pinned Josh Butts of Hudson in 4:45 before falling to Robert Johnstone of Whittemore-Prescott in the consolation semifinals, 3-1 in overtime.
McCoy (52-5) won by technical fall in the seventh place match as he defeated Clinton's Ryan Perry 22-4.
Cassopolis' John Grice went 1-2 at 285-pounds, while the Rangers' Corey Lowe was 0-2 at 140-pounds.
Grice finished the year at 27-9, while Lowe was 41-9.