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by Marsha Chartrand 

The Manchester High School varsity wrestlers traveled to Ford Field on March 1 with their eight individual state qualifiers.

“After having a great week of practice, the hopes were high for our young squad; all of our qualifiers will be back for next year, and with a lot of young talent on the team we will be looking to bring more than eight next year,” said coach Steve Vlcek.

Drake Neff wrestled very well, eventually losing to the third- and sixth-place finishers.

“Drake had a great break-out year, winning 28 matches this year,” Vlcek commented. “Nathan Meyer won his opening match but lost his next two — he was just one match away from placing, losing a close 4–2 match. Nathan had a tremendous Junior season, winning 45 matches; he should have a great senior year.”

Dylan Gauss, making his second trip to the finals, opened up with a big win, putting himself in good position for the rest of the tournament. He ended up going 1–2 on the rest of the weekend, placing eighth for his first All State honors. Dylan, one of the team captains this year, ended up with 38 wins and was a great leader, Vlcek added.

“Onyx Ostrom was making his third trip to the finals, which is no small feat,” Vlcek said. “He went 3–2 on the weekend; his only losses were to the eventual State Champ and the kid who took third place.” In his last match, Onyx came up with a big second-period pin to earn his seventh-place finish and his second All State Honor. “Onyx ended up his season with 45 wins. Can’t wait for his senior season as he tries to make his fourth trip to the finals.”

Co-captain Gunner Carson also went 3–2 on the weekend — his two losses were to the State Champ and the fifth-place wrestler.

“Gunner extended his team-leading pin total to 36 pins on the season; he was also second on the team with 53 wins,” continued Vlcek. “In his last match, he toughed out a rib injury to pin in the second period to place seventh and earn his second All State finish.”

Nathan Fletcher had his best tournament to date, going 4–2 on the weekend and placing fifth place for his first All State Honor. “Nathan really showed a lot of heart in his first match as he went down 9–2 but battled back to win 12–10 for the tournament,” said Vlcek. “He picked up a pin to bring his total to 29 (second on the team) and ended up with 45 wins on the season.”

Sammy Stewart had a good tournament, going 3–1 for the weekend. His first three wins put him in his second consecutive State finals where he lost a tough 8–5 decision. “All in all a great season for Sammy as he won 55 matches, which led the team and collected his second All State Certificate,” Vlcek said. “Sammy will be doing what he does working in the off season — traveling around the state and country to get better. He really puts in the extra time; this shows his dedication and his leadership for the team.” Sammy was also a captain for the Dutch.

Blake Sloan, the team fourth captain, really showed his toughness over the weekend. Battling his injuries, he won his first three matches convincingly to put himself into his second finals where he lost a really close match 1–0 to a three-time State Champ. “Along the way, he picked up his 51st win on the year,” Vlcek added. “Blake is our first sophomore to collect 100 career wins. His future is bright; hopefully we will get him healed up for a healthy junior season.”

In closing, Vlcek acknowledged that the team had a great season overall with 28 wins, ending up in the Final Four and extending league and district title win streaks to 17 and 19 years in a row, respectively. “Individually, it was a great season as well — while only losing two seniors, the majority of our lineup will come back,” he said. “We had six league champs, 12 regional qualifiers, eight State qualifiers, and six ALL STATE WRESTLERS. The future is bright for the Manchester Wrestling program!

“I would also like to thank all the people who have followed us this year,” he added, “and who have put time in such as signs up town and the boosters who donated drinks and dinner for the team at team States.”

Last but not least, he thanked his great coaching staff “who make it all possible but don’t get a whole lot of credit.” Those men are Brock Vlcek, Mike Bunn, Austin Deacons, and Collin Haag. The biggest thanks of all, of course, go out to Coach Vlcek and all the effort he puts in for each and every wrestler. See you all next year.

MHS Coaching staff observe the matches. Photo courtesy Emma Woods.

Quad-captain Gunner Carson went 3–2 on the weekend, extending his team-leading pin total to 36 pins on the season and remains second on the team with 53 total wins. In his last match, he toughed out a rib injury to pin his opponent and receive All State Honors. Photo courtesy Emma Woods.