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"We can't feel good about this game, because we had good looks at the basket and still missed shots and free throws," lamented Ram coach Rick Ustishen after the game. "We should have been ahead by six or seven points at halftime and we committed a lot of unforced turnovers."

Montrose suffered through a miserable shooting night as it launched 18 three-point attempts and converted just one. Overall, the Rams connected on 16 of 62 shots from the floor for a lowly 26% average while also struggling at the line, where they missed all but 8 of 18 charity tosses.

Meanwhile, Montrose was having trouble taking care of the basketball as it committed 21 turnovers against a not-especially aggressive O-E defense.

Despite their problems, the Rams were only down by an 18-16 margin at halftime. But Ovid-Elsie caught fire offensively in the third quarter, sparked by O-E guard Nick Gunthorpe, who poured in 11 of his team's 23 points in the stanza.

Trailing 41-30 heading into the final quarter, Montrose was unable to get back to within striking range as the Marauders outscored them by a 17-11 margin over the final eight minutes of play.

Preston Taylor was the only Ram to reach double digits in the scoring column, canning 16 markers to go with five steals, three rebounds and three assists. Cory Hargraves finished with nine points and eight boards while fellow senior Cody Groulx tallied 6 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Rose chipped in with three points and a pair of assists. No other player scored more than two points for Montrose, which finishes its season with a 10-11 overall record.

"Despite the disappointment of this game tonight, the team can take pride in finishing in second place in the GAC," concluded Ustishen. "Overall, the guys worked hard this season and they were a fun group to coach."

Hornet guys cruise to district opening win over MSD

NEW LOTHROP - Four players scored in double figures last Monday as New Lothrop's varsity boys basketball team cruised to an easy 83-31 triumph over Michigan School for the Deaf in a district opening game on the Hornets' own court.

"This was a great team win, everyone scored and we played hard right up until the final buzzer," commented Hornet coach Joe Corkran. "This gets us one step closer to reaching our goal of winning our district."

Brandon Baryo, Brian Sheridan and Anthony Griffin each scored a dozen points for New Lothrop. Sheridan also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds. Ryan Praski recorded 11 points and 6 assists while Jason Henige orchestrated the Hornet offense by dishing out seven assists.

The Hornets sank a whopping 36 two-point field goals as they advanced to Wednesday's district semi-finals. Look elsewhere in this issue of the Citizen for coverage of that contest.

Hornet grapplers advance to semis

BATTLE CREEK -- New Lothrop's wrestling team advanced to the Division 4 semifinals Friday afternoon with a convincing 36-23 win over Bronson.

Opening at 135 lbs., it was a 6-6 contest after four bouts when New Lothrop's Kyle Trent posted an 8-0 major decision at 160 lbs. to make it 10-6. The Hornets never trailed again.

The win set up a meeting with 29-1 Hesperia in the semifinals on Saturday morning. Hesperia was sa 36-28 winner over Hudson. Watch next week's Citizen results.

New Lothrop 36, Bronson 23

WT NL B MATCH RESULT

135 3 0 Taylor Copes (NL) dec Brandon Philson (B), 6-2

140 3 3 T.C. Ransbottom (B) dec Luke Dawes (NL), 9-2

145 3 6 Shaydon Weaver (B) dec Jacob Emmendorfer (NL), 5-3

152 6 6 Tom Wenzlick (NL) dec Chris Swift (B), 6-4 OT

160 10 6 Kyle Trent (NL) maj dec Travis Gump (B), 8-0

171 16 6 Marc Confer (NL) fall Kenny Hemker (B), :59

189 16 10 Neil Hyska (B) maj dec Travis Timmons (NL), 10-0

215 16 16 Bryant Byler (B) fall Donny Dawes (NL), 1:49

275 20 16 Ethan Bishop (NL) maj dec Jon Milliman (B), 9-1

103 25 16 Justin Krupp (NL) tech fall 2:09 Mitchell Klingler (B), 16-0

112 31 16 Blake Birchmeier (NL) fall Chance Dules (B), :35

119 36 16 Allen Krupp (NL) tech fall 3:33 Brad Losinski (B), 17-2

125 36 19 Preston Lucas (B) dec Jesse Lorencz (NL), 11-4

130 36 23 Josh Czajkowski (B) maj dec Kelly Krupp (NL), 8-0

New Lothrop (20-7), Bronson (27-5)

Fifteen area wrestlers headed to the Palace

With individual wrestling regionals over, 15 area grapplers will be heading to the state finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills this weekend, March 6-8.

New Lothrop advances eight wrestlers, while Montrose is sending five and Chesaning two.

The action begins on Thursday with the Grand March at 2:30 p.m., followed by the championship first round at 2:45 p.m.

On Friday, the schedule is: Round 2 -- Consolation first round -- 8:30 a.m.; Round 3 -- Championship Quarterfinals -- 11 a.m.; Round 4--Consolation second round -- 2 p.m.; Round 5--Championship Semifinals -- 7 p.m.

The Saturday schedule is: Round 6--Consolation third round -- 8:30 a.m.; Round 7--Consolation Semifinals -- 10:10 a.m.; Round 8--Consolation Finals (seventh, fifth, third place matches) -- Noon; Grand March Assembly -- 4:15 p.m.; Grand March -- 4:30 p.m.; Round 9--Finals -- 4:45 p.m.

DIVISION 3 -- BATTLE CREEK PENNFIELD

At the Division 3 regionals at Battle Creek Pennfield, Montrose was led by Brad Smith and Cody Wray.

Smith was the runner-up at 112 lbs., getting pinned by Durand's Roger Wildmo in 2:43 of the championship match. A junior, Smith advanced with a pin and a 7-6 decision. He is 45-9 on the season.

At 125 lbs., Wray dropped a 9-6 decision to Durand's Eric Telford in his championship bout. Wray, a sophomore, also advanced with a pin and 9-7 decision. He is 49-6 on the year.

The Rams also had two third place finishers in Corey Madden and Brad Boone.

Madded defeated Corunna's Luke Perrin, 7-3 in the consolation finals at 130 lbs. He was pinned in the opening round, then battled back to advance with a 16-5 decision and a 3-1 decision. The junior is 45-12 on the season.

In the 189 consolation finals, Brad Boone pinned Matt Ritchie of Comstock in 2:39. He was pinned by Ritchie in the opening round, then wrestled back with a pair of pin victories. The senior is 38-6 for the season.

Montrose's fifth qualifier was Brandon Boone, who finished fourth to James Riddell of Corunna by injury default at 171 lbs. He opened with a 13-4 decision, was pinned by the runner-up, then advanced to the consolation finals with a 13-7 decision. He is 34-16 on the year.

Chesaning was led by Chad Reiber who won the title at 135 lbs. Reiber had a pin victory and an 8-0 decision before pinning Glen Sible of Williamston in 4:36 of the finals. The senior is 48-1 on the season.

At 160 lbs., Jaxon Wirgau finished fourth for the Indians, dropping a 4-2 decision to Levi Davis of Perry in the consolation finals. Wirgau opened with an 8-3 loss, then battled back with a 5-2 decision and a pin. He is 39-11 on the year.

DIVISION 4 -- NEW LOTHROP

In the Division 4 regionals at New Lothrop, the host Hornets dominated. New Lothrop was led by three champions -- Blake Birchmeier, Allen Krupp and Kyle Trent.

At 112 lbs., Birchmeier defeated Ithaca's Chris Lyon 12-0 in the finals. He also had a pin victory and a 14-1 decision on the day. The sophomore is 42-10 thus far this year.

At 119 lbs., A. Krupp edged Springport's Jacob Eagen 2-1 in the finals. He had a 17-1 technical fall and a pin to advance. The junior is a stellar 51-2 on the season.

In the 160 lb. finals, Trent edged Grant Cook of Dansville 4-3. He advanced with a 16-2 major decision and a 7-4 decision. The senior is 41-13 on the season.

At 103 lbs., Justin Krupp finished second, dropping a 10-1 major decision to James Carey of Ithaca in the finals. J. Krupp advanced with a pin and an 8-5 decision. The freshman is 43-14 on the year.

The Hornets received third place finishes from Tom Wenzlick, Marc Confer and Ethan Bishop.

Wenzlick earned a 7-2 decision over Bernie Marx of Sandusky in the consolation finals at 152 lbs. Wenzlick opened with a 15-9 decision, then dropped a 2-1 decision to the eventual champion, and rebounded with a pin victory. The senior is 43-14 on the year.

At 171 lbs., Confer earned an 8-4 decision over Erik Lawrence of Valley Lutheran in the consolation finals. He opened with a pin win, dropped a 2-1 decision, and wrestled back with an 8-5 decision. The junior is 43-15 on the year.

At 215 lbs., Bishop pinned Leslie's Ryan Kemplin in 2:59 of the consolation finals. He opened with a DQ win, then dropped an 8-6 decision before wrestling back with a 5-1 decision. The senior is 48-7 on the year.

Also placing for the Hornets was Kelly Krupp at 130 lbs. He finished fourth, losing an 11-0 major decision to Ben Breslin of Dansville in the consolation finals. He opened with an 11-8 win, lost 5-2, then worked his way back with a 4-0 decision. The junior is 40-19 on the season.