Glen Lake wrestling advanced to its first MHSAA D 4 Regional final championship match after defeating Mancelona 41-39 in the semifinal, before falling to Roscommon 70-12 in the regional final Wednesday.
“We were preparing for Mancelona all week, and we knew we could beat them,” Glen Lake senior Caden Sheehan said. “We had to get the right matchups. Everyone showed up to wrestle.”
Glen Lake jumped out to a quick 12-6 lead, then took a commanding 30-12 advantage before Mancelona won several matches to cut the deficit. One of the deciding factors was Glen Lake senior Jacob Peplinski avoiding a pin and giving up only three Mancelona points to keep a nine-point lead (30-21).
Glen Lake welcomed Roscommon in the regional final. The Lakers would jump out to a 12-0 start before the Bucks won every remaining match to win the regional title 70-12.
“Our kids continue to work hard and continue to make progress,” Glen Lake coach Luke Moeggenberg said. “Mancelona’s got a great team. They’ve got a great program.
They’ve got numbers; they’ve got a history of success. We were hesitantly optimistic coming in tonight that we could go out and compete with them, and sure enough, we had kids show up and wrestle and leave it all on the mat.”
Mancelona’s Theodore Parzych is one win away from breaking the all-time wins record at Mancelona after tying the milestone with a first-period pin.
The Lakers and Ironmen travel to the MHSAA boys individual regional Saturday, before the girls battle Sunday in Cadillac.
“To say that we had finished top 16 in the state coming to the season, I would say you’re crazy,” Moeggenberg said. “These kids earned it, and I feel like they belong in the top 16.”
