Hartland's Kantola, Shettler are state runner-ups; 13 county wrestlers earn all-state
Brighton set a program record with seven while Hartland had six, including two state title runners-up
Hartland's Kantola, Shettler are state runner-ups; 13 county wrestlers earn all-state Brighton set a program record with seven while Hartland had six, including two state title runners-up Check out this story on livingstondaily.com: http://ldpaa.com/2I00hy8
Anthony Odoardi, Livingston Daily Published 8:35 p.m. ET March 3, 2018 | Updated 10:02 p.m. ET March 3, 2018
Brighton's Mason Shrader won the 103-pound class matchup against Keegan Merenuk of Hartland in the state quarterfinals Friday, Feb. 23, 2018 in Kalamazoo.(Photo: Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily)Buy Photo
DETROIT — One state placer. That's it. That's all the Brighton wrestling team was returning entering this season.
It's crazy to think that in just 365 days, the Bulldogs have gone from two to establishing a new program record.
On Saturday, after the final round of the 2018 individual wrestling tournament at Ford Field, Livingston County had 13 state placers — 10 finishing in the top-five in their respective brackets — and Brighton was able to lay claim to a county-high seven.
Hartland's Kyle Kantola (125 pounds) and River Shettler (160) were the highest finishers, placing second.
"Yeah, I mean, it was really awesome," said Brighton coach Tony Greathouse, whose team bested the 2015 title-winning team's mark of six all-staters. "Again, it just kind of validates that we knew we were a good team. It validates that they're capable of competing individually, too, and there's no reason that we can't have a couple guys competing for state titles.
"This helps us break through barriers. The goals at the beginning of the year were to qualify for states, or they wanted to get on the podium. Now, you start to turn the corner and now it's going to be trying to win a state title."
No Brighton wrestlers made it to the title match this year. However, four advanced to the semifinals: senior Nick Bleise (145), sophomore Eddie Homrock (125) and freshmen Mason Shrader (103) and Zach Johnson (125).
Bleise finished third in his weight class while Homrock was fourth, Johnson took fifth and Shrader ended up in sixth due to being knocked unconscious in Friday's semifinal and being deemed unfit to compete Saturday.
Dane Donabedian (140) and Victor Grabowski (145) were fifth and Luke Stanton (215) came in eighth.
"We talked about it at the start of the year, but I knew we were going to be good — I just didn't really know how good," Greathouse said. "What we needed — to be among the top three, four in the state — is guys to really turn the corner and be studs for us.
"Now we know that we're older, and now we gotta turn another corner to close the gap and beat (Detroit Catholic Central) or Davison next year, because some of these teams are going to be pretty phenomenal as well."
Hartland's River Shettler may have "no natural talent," but he's the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 160 pounds this season. (Photo: Scott Confer/Submitted photo)
Kantola, Shettler finish in second
It had been said many times this season that Kantola and Shettler were Livingston County's best hope at an individual state championship in 2018. And there the two were on Saturday living up to every expectation, competing for state titles on center stage at Ford Field.
Both would be the underdogs, the No. 2-ranked wrestlers at their weights up against monster No. 1 seeds.
Kantola's opponent was be Westland John Glenn's Michael Mars, who entered a two-time state champion, four-time finalist and undefeated at 53-0. Shettler would be matched up with Dearborn Edsel Ford's Will Marano, also undefeated at 54-0 and a state runner-up last season who hadn't had a single match last all three periods until Saturday's semifinals.
Kantola was well-known, too, a two-time state placer who was 55-1 and won 46 matches via fall. However, Mars proved to be an opponent unlike any he has seen this season, a speedy, strong and tactical grappler, who scored a two-point takedown in the first period, gave a point back for unnecessary roughness but then refused to allow Kantola to escape at any point throughout the match.
Kantola would trail 3-1 most of the match, needing only a two-point move himself to tie it.
However, there was no opening, and Mars went on to secure his third state title, 5-1.
Shettler's match was also riveting, although mostly controlled by his counterpart, Marano, who consistently gained leverage by locking up the Hartland junior's leg, ripping him down and spinning behind him for the takedown. Marano earned a 10-5 decision, the Michigan Tech football commit earning his first championship.
Other Hartland state placers included Wyatt Nault, who was fourth at 112; Corey Cavanaugh, fifth at 119; Reece Potter, seventh at 160; and Tanner Culver, who battled back from being upset in his first match of the state tournament to claim fourth.
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