Dowagiac falls to Constantine in regional finals

Published 11:48 am Thursday, February 15, 2024

By Scott Novak

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HOPKINS — The two-time defending Division 3 Regional wrestling champion Constantine Falcons ended Dowagiac’s run at Hopkins High School Wednesday night.

The Chieftains reached the Division 3 Regional title match with a come-from-behind 46-30 victory over Hartford. The Falcons blew out the host Vikings 62-12 to advance.

In the semifinals against the Huskies, Dowagiac had to rally from a 30-18 deficit with four matches remaining.

The comeback actually started with a loss. The Chieftains’ Maverick Baerg refused to get pinned at 175 pounds by Hartford’s Erick Morales. Baerg fought off his back multiple times before falling 13-6. But having only given up three points, Baerg made it a bit easier for Dowagiac to make a run at the Huskies.

The comeback continued at 190 pounds when Hayden Groth pinned Shane Phillips in 3:20 to cut the deficit to 30-24.

Isiah Hill, who came out for wrestling his senior season, tied the match at 30-30 with a pin of Javier Frias in just 19 seconds at 215 pounds. When Cal Chapman pinned Hunter Tipson in 15 seconds at 285, Dowagiac was ahead for the first time in the match and in charge of its own destiny.

The winning continued at 106 when Markus Ottinger won by major decision (13-2) to give the Chieftains a 40-30 advantage with one match left.

Hartford forfeited to Dowagiac’s AJ Munson, and the Chieftains were on their way to the championship match.

The Huskie led 15-0 to start the match before Cameron White got Dowagiac on the scoreboard with a time of Jehieli Gonzalez-Garcia.

The Chieftains’ other wins came from Israel Villegas, who stuck Rocco Lenza in 38 seconds and Jeremiah Hargrreaves, who picked up a forfeit.

Dowagiac really had no answers for Constantine in the title match.

The Falcons had back-to-back pins to open the match at 126 and 132 before Cameron White won by forfeit at 138 pounds.

When Israel Villegas pinned Michael Featherstone in 5:33 at 144 pounds, the match was tied. It would be all Constantine from there.

The Falcons got five consecutive pins and received a forfeit over the next six matches.

Dowagiac’s Cal Chapman stopped the Constantine winning streak as he won by injury default.

The match finished out with Ottinger getting a forfeit victory, Munson pinning Ashtin Forrwest in 3:25 and Dowagiac giving up a forfeit in the final bout.

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