Monday, January 05, 2009

Sports

Corunna wrestlers upset No. 1 Swan Valley

By The Argus-Press

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 11:51 PM EST

CORUNNA - The host Cavaliers served notice Thursday that they will be players in the statewide wrestling scene once again this season with a 34-32 victory over No. 1 Swan Valley.

Corunna defeated the No. 1-ranked team in Division 3 in both the coaches' poll and by michigangrapplers.com in a non-conference meet at CHS. Corunna entered the meet ranked No. 5 in the online poll and No. 6 in the coaches' poll - and both teams showed they were deserving of such recognition.

“Our kids were fired up and theirs were too,” Robertson said. “When you get two of the best teams in the state, you're going to have a good dual meet.”

And while most of the 14 matches were highly competitive, the biggest of the meet was at the 152-pound division where Corunna's Trevor Cortez was pitted against former teammate Matt Beebe, who transfered to Swan Valley.

With Corunna holding a 31-26 lead, Cortez claimed the 7-2 win over Beebe to push the lead to 34-26. Swan Valley won the final two matches, but the damage was already done.

Robertson said the win was huge for his team.

Corunna also beat Flint Kearsley 70-0 to improve its overall record to 3-1.

“We wrestled really well against them,” Robertson said.

And although the day was a big boost to the Cavaliers, Robertson cautioned that the win over Swan Valley means nothing if Corunna doesn't ultimately meet its goal of reaching the state finals.

“If we don't get to the state meet and follow up, it doesn't mean much,” he said. “But it's definitely a confidence builder.”

Luke Perrin, wrestling at 140, continued his dominance for Corunna, winning both his matches to improve to 11-0 on the season. Scott Robbins improved to 10-0 at 215 and Matt Raysin and Tyler Rosser both improved to 8-2.