By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac junior Drew Staley finished eighth at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Lower Peninsula Individual Wrestling Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Staley went 2-3 to finish eighth in the 215-pound weight class in Division 3.
Teammate Nate Behnke was 1-2 at 189-pounds and did not place.
Staley (45-14) lost to Richmond's Ed Henry, 5-0, in the opening round of the tournament.
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.
Behnke, who finished his year with a 44-13 record, dropped a 9-2 decision to Steve Shields of Whitehall in the opening round.
On Friday morning, Behnke defeated Kyle March of Goodrich, 4-1. In the consolation quarterfinals, however, Behnke was edged by Kevin Smith of Remus-Chippewa Hills, 6-5.
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, 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 finishes the year at 27-9, while Lowe was 41-9.