By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Niles, Brandywine and Buchanan were all in attendance at the Eau Claire Varsity Wrestling Invitational Saturday, which included a total of 19 teams from around West Michigan.
The Vikings claimed second place with 207 points, while Hesperia was the overall winner with 254 points.
Decatur took third with 129, Brandywine took fourth with 115.5 and Buchanan rounded out the top five with 105.5 points.
Niles' Todd Scansen took first place in the 140-pound weight class, defeating Decatur's John Burns, 7-4.
Buchanan's David Medlin took a first place finish in the 145-pound weight class, defeating Hartford's Coty Marcoux, 13-10.
Buchanan's Travis Reith (125) and Brandywine's Adam Simons (189) also made it to the final round in their weight classes.
Placing second for the Vikes were Nate Allison (103), Jake Glueckert (112), Mason Stephenson (135), and Ben Brandstatter (152).
Third place finishers were Marcus Brinker (103) and Jake Groves (171).
Finishing fourth was Bryce Flannery (119) and taking fifth place were Andy Karsten (125), John Wregglesworth (145), Alex Zanders (189) and Chad Nichols (275).
Other individual placers for the Bobcats were Bryton Hutchings (103), Warren Watson (125) and Jeremy Hechtl (215) were all fourth place finishers; Justin Price finished fifth at 152; and Pat Van Laere (119) Kyle Perry (140) and Joel Perry (160) all finished sixth.
For the Bucks, Travis Reith placed second in the 125-pound weight class.
Todd Taylor (112) and Nick Wheetley (125) both took third place finishes; Jim Connors finished fourth at 189; and David Knisely (112), Drew Medlin (130), A.J. Long (160) and Ryan Harrington (171) all finished fifth for Buchanan.
Buchanan B at White Pigeon
Buchanan's B team, which attended the White Pigeon Invitational, posted a 3-2 record on the day.
The Bucks fell to White Pigeon, 48-26 and Marcellus, 39-29.
Buchanan took wins against Comstock, 56-24; Climax-Scotts, 57-24; and Lawrence, 78-0.
Leading Buchanan was Mike Witherow (112) and Scott Warner (130), who both went 5-0.
Auston Ferris (160) went 4-0 and D.J. Hurd (103), Tony Taylor (119), Josh Mills (135), Dan Toth (145) and Justin Brown (215) all went 4-1.
Eau Claire Invitational results
1. Hesperia, 254
2. Niles, 207
3. Decatur, 129
4. Brandywine, 115.5
5. Buchanan, 105.5
6. River Valley, 94
7. Delton-Kellogg, 73
8. Watervaliet, 68
9. Hartford, 65
10. Edwardsburg, 60
11. Berrien Springs, 51
12. Eau Claire, 50.5
13. Lawton, 37
14. Gobles, 28
15. Fennville, 19
16. Schoolcraft, 17
17. Covert, 16
18. Benton Harbor Countryside, 15
19. Benton Harbor, 5
First place finishers
103 - Kevin Davis, Eau Claire
112 - John Stein, River Valley
119 - Brandon Zeerip, Hesperia
125 - Dan Yates, Hesperia
130 - Mark Ackerberg, Hesperia
135 - Phil Khozein, Hesperia
140 - Todd Scansen, Niles
145 - David Medlin, Buchanan
152 - Justin Zeerip, Hesperia
160 - Robert Hall, Decatur
171 - Tom Morrissey, River Valley
189 - Ben Isbrecht, Watervliet
215 - Jordan Rasmussen, Decatur
275 - Rudy Spaulding, Hesperia