Clinton Township

Chippewa wrestling wins regional semifinal; loses in finals

By Mark Vest
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Erin Sanchez Chippewa Valley’s Jack Mulligan was victorious in his regional semifinal match against his opponent from Warren De La Salle. Chippewa beat De La Salle prior to being defeated by Macomb Dakota in a regional final matchup. Photo by Erin Sanchez Chippewa Valley’s Jack Mulligan was victorious in his regional semifinal match against his opponent from Warren De La Salle. Chippewa beat De La Salle prior to being defeated by Macomb Dakota in a regional final matchup.

Chippewa Valley’s wrestling season came to a close after falling to Macomb Dakota 64-3 in a regional final matchup Feb. 13. At Anchor Bay.

Although coach Gary Brundirks would have preferred for Chippewa’s season to continue, he is pleased his team was able to accomplish one of its goals, which was to walk away from the season with a district title.

“I’m proud of my kids,” he said. “All year round, we’ve been voiding some weight classes (and) bumping kids up a weight class or two so we’re not voiding as many. The kids wrestle hard (and) do the best that they can.”

While Chippewa wasn’t able to advance this time around, Brundirks was optimistic about Chippewa’s future.

“We got a lot of sophomores coming back, and juniors,” he said. “We’ll build on this for next year.”

Chippewa defeated Warren De La Salle 41-30 in a regional semifinal match to advance to the finals.

While the team portion of the season is over, several individuals were still alive in the state tournament following the district round of the individual state tourney.

Michael Solomon (112), Brandon Prano (119), Jack Mulligan (125), Tristen Szajna (140) and Tristan Oliver (152) each qualified to represent Chippewa at an individual regional tournament Feb. 16; results were not available at press time.

As for Dakota, the Cougars’ victory over Chippewa gave the program its first-ever regional title. In fact, coach Ed Skowneski said prior to this season, Dakota had never made it past districts.

He said he was pleased his team was able to make some new history for the program.

“It feels really great,” he said following the Cougars’ victory. “We set a goal at the beginning of the year, (and) we’ve been working towards it. Today was the day we needed to buckle down and get after it, and they really did. These kids are really good kids. I love every single one of them. They’ve been working hard all year long, and they deserve this.”

Dakota defeated Grosse Pointe North 77-3 in its district semifinal match.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mark Vest at mvest@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1112. Follow Mark on Twitter.