HOPKINS — There was a time when Dowagiac wrestling was revered around the state of Michigan.

Under the direction of coaches like John Lewis and Chuck Rubino, the Chieftains were a perennial state power. But hard times fell upon the Dowagiac program in the 2000s, and it was not until Colin Burandt was hired to take over the program that the Chieftains began to thrive once again.

Five years ago, Burandt and his staff could not fill a 14-weight roster. Four years ago, the Chieftains were upset by Constantine in the Division 3 district, which Dowagiac hosted. It left a bad taste in the mouths of the wrestlers and the coaching staff.

But for the past three years, Dowagiac has begun to restore its tradition with a trio of district and regional championships.

On Wednesday night in Hopkins, the unranked Chieftains defeated South Haven 35-34 in the Division 3 regional semifinals, and then gained a measure of revenge against Constantine with a 38-33 victory in the championship match.

The win advances Dowagiac to the Division 3 state quarterfinals at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo. The Chieftains will find out their opponent on Sunday when the Michigan High School Athletic Association releases the seedings for the state finals.

Division 3 will wrestle at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, with the winners advancing to the semifinals at noon on Saturday. All four division finals will begin at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday.

For seniors Alex McIntosh and Lamberto Paredes, a third consecutive trip and a chance to help rebuild the Dowagiac wrestling program has been a thrill.

“This is just a great experience,” McIntosh said. “This is awesome. There is nothing better than team state. Coach always tells us that he would rather take us to team state. It is just an awesome experience.”

McIntosh gave credit to Burandt for the turnaround in the program,

“Coach started the foundation,” he said. “We are starting to build it.”

Paredes remembers how losing to Constantine at the district lit a fire under him and his teammates.

“We started progressing that year,” he said. “People started going to the weight room more the next year, and we kind of surprised people that year. Last year, we just expected to go back [to the finals] and worked hard the entire year. We did the same this year. We expected to do this. We wanted to prove people wrong.”

Dowagiac has felt a bit disrespected the past two seasons by the state rankings. The Chieftains dropped out of the rankings a few weeks back despite having lost to only one Division 3 team the entire season.

Burandt used that as fuel for his squad heading into the postseason.

“We are trying to return to what Dowagiac wrestling used to be,” he said. “They have done a great job of doing that. The first year they saw what should have been when we lost in the district finals at home to Constantine. They did not like that taste in their mouth. Since then, we have been on a roll.”

Coaches talk about a total team effort. Wednesday night, that was not just talk as the Chieftains got contributions from wrestlers up and down its lineup.

“Top to bottom, everybody did their job,” Burandt said. “We talked about it all week. Do your job, whether that is getting a pin or staying off your back. We had some kids show up big time tonight. Jorge Gamino-Rivera, at 103 and 112, goes out there and wins two big matches. Dustin Sirk goes out there against two tough opponents and gets pins. Those points were huge.”

Against the Rams, Sirk pinned Ethan Emerson in 5:34 at 119, while Tyler Huston gutted out a hand injury to defeat Karlie Mercado-Woodall 11-3 at 125. Deny White got Dowagiac off on the right foot with a 29-second pin of Jeremy Rowland at 152.

Dowagiac voided the final two weight classes after building an insurmountable 35-22 lead.

In the championship match, the Falcons led 26-6 early on, which included an upset pin at heavyweight.

The Chieftains came roaring back, winning five straight bouts, and six of the last eight to pull out the victory.

Key wins came at 103, where Gamino-Rivera pinned Kali Cox in 3:11, Sirk pinned Jacob Ledesma at 119 in 3:58, Huston pinned Andrew Colwell in 2:43 at 125, and Seth Ward won by major decision (11-3) to seal the victory.