By Staff
For the eighth straight year the Lakeshore wrestling team won the Berrien County title Saturday at St. Joseph High School.
The Lancers placed 10 wrestlers in the championship round and took home four individual championships.
Niles pushed the Lancers and wound up in second place with a team total of 201.5 points, 35 points behind Lakeshore. Brandywine finished third at 182.5 and River Valley took fourth at 151.5.
The Niles wrestling team placed three wrestlers in the championship round and all three won their matches.
At 103 pounds, Niles' Matt Poehlman won his second Berrien County title with a 7-4 decision over Lakeshore's Kyle Hammermeister.
Niles junior Josh Henry won his first county title with a 10-4 decision over Coloma's Jesse Martin at 171 pounds.
James Edwards also won an individual title for Niles as he beat St. Joseph's Nick Grenke 13-9 in the title match.
Brandywine also had three wrestlers in the championship round but only one was victorious. Senior Matt Koller beat Lakeshore's Aaron Bradley 11-4 at 135 pounds to win his first county title.
Buchanan's Travis Reith also reached the championship round but lost.
Lakeshore 236.5, Niles 201.5, Brandywine 182.5, River Valley 151.5, St., Joseph 149, Coloma 114, Watervliet 113, Buchanan 71.5, Berrien Springs 49, Benton Harbor 37, LMC 32, Eau Claire 32, Galien 26.5
Championship round
103: Matt Poehlman (Niles) beat Kyle Hammermeister (Lakeshore) 7-4; 112: Justin Agens (Lakeshore) beat Travis Reith (Buchanan) 11-6, 119: Cody Wieand (Watervliet) beat Chris Forrester (Lakeshore) 6-4; 125: Bret Hawblitzel (Coloma) pinned Drew Welke (Lakeshore) 1:03; 130: Todd Ehlert (River Valley) beat Nathan Broehm (Lakeshore) 4-0; 135: Matt Koller (Brandywine) beat Aaron Bradley (Lakeshore) 11-4; 140: Jeremy Ashley (Watervliet) beat Chad Newman (Lakeshore) 16-0 (technical fall); 145: Ryan Kolberg (Lakeshore) pinned Adam Ringler (Brandywine) 1:35; 152: Matt Wittmann (Lakeshore) pinned Evan Smith (Brandywine) 3:38; 160: Andy Gebhard (Lakeshore) beat C.J. Myers (Coloma) 15-11; 171: Josh Henry (Niles) beat Jesse Martin (Coloma) 10-4; 189: Matt Arend (St. Joseph) beat Ben Isbrecht (Watervliet) 10-6; 215: James Edwards (Niles) beat Nick Grenke (St. Joseph) 13-9; 275: Derrick Haman (River Valley) pinned Mike Creekmore (Galien) 4:52.