COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – In Branch County high school sports, a total of 17 wrestlers from the county have advanced to the MHSAA Individual Regionals after each placed in the top four of their weight class in the Districts that were held on Saturday. Bronson led the way with ten Regional qualifiers with 3 from Union City, 2 from Coldwater and 2 from Quincy.
In the Vicksburg Division Two District, Coldwater’s Sam DeMeester won his weight class and Jesse Miller earned a second place finish.
In Division 4 at Cassopolis, placing first for Bronson were David Erwin and Nathan Caudill. Runner-up finishers were Chase Gibson and Cole Houtz while placing third were Brendan Withington and Jacob Butters. Also advancing for Bronson with fourth place medals were Eion DePaz, Tommy Littlefield, Gavin Alger and Joey Losinski. For Quincy, Jared Brown placed third and Joel Rousch fourth.
At the Lawton Division 4 District, Union City’s Regional qualifiers were Brandon Powell, who placed third, and Jacob Todd and Colton Johns, who finished fourth. Following the Regionals coming up on Saturday, it’s on to the Individual finals March 3-5 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
In gymnastics on Saturday, Coldwater hosted its 7th annual Stick it For a Cure Invitational. The event for cancer awareness and prevention raised a record total of over $9,600 to donate towards the CHC Oncology Center. For the Invitational, the Cardinals fielded two teams while hosting state ranked Plymouth High School, Saline, and Angola with both Coldwater teams earning Regional qualifying scores while placing fourth and fifth. It’s the first time ever for the Cardinals program that it had the depth to field two teams capable of scoring qualifiers. Plymouth won the tournament followed by Saline.
The competition opened with the vault and seven Cardinals earned qualifying scores led by Amanda Daoud at 8.3. Freshman Claire Sheppard posted a personal best at 8.05 in picking up her final score needed to qualify for the post season. Other qualifiers included Erica Rodgers, Shelby Kahler, Madison Hedstrom, Brooke Neitzert, and Darien Dyer. Next on the uneven bars, Daoud was just shy of her own personal best scoring an impressive 8.25 on the event, good enough to make the awards stand in 9th place.
The Cardinals hit their stride on the balance beam with both teams scoring over thirty points and stuck 6 routines with 8 qualifying scores and 5 personal records. Daoud posted an 8.75 for a personal record and a 5th place finish. Dyer and Sheppard also collected personal bests while earning their right to compete at Regionals on the beam were Kahler and Abigail Swick. Coldwater capped off their competition with 6 qualifying scores on the floor exercise. Daoud finished in 8th place with her performance at 8.475.
Daoud also tallied a personal best in the all-around, earning a 5th place finish. Hedstrom and Sarah Odom also collected personal records in their all-around scores. Coldwater travels to Tecumseh on Saturday for the South Central Gymnastics Conference meet.
Tonight in non-conference boys basketball, Coldwater plays at home against Sturgis. Live coverage on AM 1590 and FM 95.5 WTVB begins at 7 p.m. The evening tips off with the junior varsity action beginning at 6 p.m. with the varsity scheduled for around 7:30 p.m. There’s no freshman game.
In another non-league boys contest, Bronson is at Olivet. This afternoon in boys bowling, it’s Bronson on the road against Parchment in Kalamazoo at the Eastland Bowl.
