Wrestling Wins Tournament; Cheer Finishes Second at Brighton's Best

WRESTLING — The Hartland Wrestling team swept all four competitors it faced Saturday to capture first in the tournament it hosted at the high school.

The Eagles defeated Bay City Western 70-5; Romeo, which it beat in the state quarter-finals last season, 64-10; Lake Orion 63-6; and Holly 46-22.

"We wrestled amazing," said Hartland head coach Todd Cheney. "We're 22-2 now, and we're way past our expectations."

Nate Hughes (103), Keith Boldt (119), Chase Snider (145), John Julien (152), Chad Hunt (160), Matt Ostermiller (189), and Nick Long (215) all went 4-0, while 125 Ross Kantola finished 3-0. Julien won his second Outstanding Wrestler Award in the upper weights, which is his second of the season.

Hartland faces an unbeaten Brighton for the Kensington Lakes Athletic Association championship Wednesday at beginning at 5:30 p.m. Both squads are 4-0 in the West Division.

COMPETITIVE CHEER — Hartland finished second to East Kentwood in the Brighton's Best Cheer Invitational on Saturday, according to results posted on the Michigan High School Competitive Cheer Web site.

The team did top Rochester, which it finished behind in a tournament last week. Here are the Division 1 results:

Hartland's next competition is 7 p.m. Wednesday at Brighton High School against the Bulldogs.

BOYS HOCKEY — The Eagles defeated Sault Area High School 6-3 on Saturday to win a two-day tournament.

Hartland's Zach Bodziak scored two goals to open Eagle scoring. Austin Kinzel got the starting nod in goal and had 22 saves. Kinzel, Zach Parks, and Max Biggings were all named to the all-tournament team. For the full story, click .

Friday

BOYS BASKETBALL — Height may not be everything in basketball, but having it can’t hurt.

Milo Petrovich, a 6-foot-10 junior from Howell, caused fits for the Hartland defense all night. The Highlanders defeated the Eagles 59-45 at Howell High School.

“We we were undersized. They have a 6-foot-10 player (Petrovich). No one could even come close to stopping him,” Hartland head coach Frank Leppek said. “We did a zone, we did a man. We didn’t keep him away from the basket. Their size got to us. We were at a disadvantage.”

Petrovich finished with 12 points.

“We tried to collapse on him. The other guys from Howell were able to penetrate the basket,” Leppek added.

Howell was led by Brandon Naizone. He had a game-high 22 points.

The Eagles were without their senior point-guard Kevin Hughes, who was injured in the team's loss to Brighton. Filling in for Hughes was freshman Nelson Cagle, who attempted just one shot.

“We started Nelson at point guard, and he was mostly trying to lead the charges. He didn’t shoot much as he was trying to set guys up,” Leppek said.

Hartland struggled heavily with fouls and they racked up 20 in the contest. Matt Poches, who leads all Eagles in points this season, fouled out late in the third quarter.

“When your leading scorer goes out and missed two-thirds of the final half, you’re going to struggle,” Leppek added.

Poches had four fouls at the half, two of them were on the offensive end.

The Eagles (5-5, 1-4) play at home 7 p.m. Tuesday against Walled Lake Central.

Hartland, who is already missing two key players, will be without a third. Late in the game, one player from Hartland and one from Howell were ejected drawing automatic one-game suspensions following a shoving incident in which both benches cleared.

"Kids got tangled up and started pushing each other," said Leppek, who supports the suspensions. "Spontaneous happens and kids want to protect their buddies."

BOYS HOCKEY — The Eagles won 3-1 over Hancock on Friday in the first of two games in Sault Ste. Marie, according to Hartland coach Dan Copeland. The win sets up a 5 p.m. match-up Saturday in the tournament's final against Sault Area High School.

GIRLS BASKETBALL — Hartland beat Howell 44-37 at home to improve to 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the division. The Eagles play against Walled Lake Central on Tuesday. For our full story, including photos, videos and a box score, click .

Thursday

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING — Hartland dominated Milford winning 11 out of 12 events 134-36 at , according to head coach Adam Wohl.

The Eagles took 1-2-3 in four events: the 50-, 200- and 500-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly, Wohl said. For specific event results, click here.

With the win, Hartland improves to 5-2 on the season.

The Eagles next swim 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 against Howell at .

BOYS AND GIRLS BOWLING — Walled Lake Central defeated both the boys and girls teams at the Howell Bowl-E-Drome, boys head coach Ron Heck said.

The boys lost a close match 16-14 with the Eagles losing a key game by five pins after one of Walled Lake Central bowler's struck out, Heck said.

"Everybody bowled pretty well," Heck said.

For the boys, Trevor Buswell rolled a 234 and a 217 and Josh Blanchard scored a 220 and a 214, he said.

The girls, who lost 25-5, ran into a high-scoring team, Heck said, that averaged more than 200 in one game. Leading the Eagles were Sam Moesta who bowled a 173 and 201 and Jessica Armstrong who rolled a 155 and 169.

With the losses, the boys record dropped to 1-7 and the girls fell to 4-4. The teams next compete Tuesday against Pinckney at Century Bowl.

Wednesday

BOYS AND GIRLS SKIING — Both Hartland teams struggled in a double-header, losing three of four meets at Alpine Valley, according to head coach Glenn Makin.

The girls defeated Livonia Ladywood 12-24 (low score wins), but lost to Walled Lake Northern 11-34 while the boys lost to Orchard Lake St. Mary's 14-27 and to Walled Lake 10-37.

In the Eagles' lone win, Hartland captured the top two spots. Mallory Reader finished first with a combined time of 45.40 seconds, Makin said.  Rhianna Dilworth finished second with a combined time of 46.76. Both girls finished fourth and seventh respectively in their race vs. Walled Lake.

Despite losing to Orchard Lake St. Mary's, Colin David took first place overall with a combined time of 42.22 seconds.

The losses drop the boys team to 2-3 on the season while the split puts the girls record at 2-3. The teams next ski Jan. 31. The boys compete against Novi and Brother Rice while the girls take on Novi and Marian.

WRESTLING — The Eagles bested Howell 40-25 and Grand Blanc 74-0 during a quad meet at Brighton High School. Hartland next plays in a tournament 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Hartland High School. For our full story, click here.

Tuesday

GIRLS BASKETBALL — Hartland outlasted Brighton 37-21 in a gritty low-scoring battle that also was the first time the Eagles beat the Bulldogs in some 20 years.

“Ending a losing streak, especially one so long is a huge weight off a team’s shoulders," said Hartland athletic director Jason Reck in an e-mail to Hartland Patch on Wednesday. "Our athletes and coaches did a great job of keeping it all in perspective, recognizing that while it was a big win for our program, it is only one game in the grueling West Division schedule.”

While the score shows a large margin, Hartland head coach Don Palmer it was a competitive contest.

"They gave us all we wanted," Palmer said. "The league is going to be a grind and it's over we'll know. I don't think there's anyone in this league that can't beat each other."

Brighton starter Sarah Goodwin hurt her knee not long after the opening tip, hampering the Bulldogs, Brighton head coach Jason Piepho said, who added that Stephanie Pfeifer stepped up for the Bulldogs. She led Brighton with five points, according to one of the game's scorers.

Leading the way for the Eagles was junior Jaymie Dyer who scored 10 points. Kelly Holda and Hailey Pleshakov also scored seven each.

The fact that the win was Hartland's first against Brighton in about two decades was first reported in a story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. The exact length is not known, the story said.

The victory also gives Hartland a 8-1 overall record and a 3-1 in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West Division. The Eagles plays 7 p.m. Friday against Howell at .

With the loss, Brighton drops to 3-6 on the year and 1-3 in the KLAA West. The Bulldogs play a 7 p.m. against Pinckney at Brighton High School.

BOYS BASKETBALL — Hartland lost to Brighton 62-46. The Eagles next play 7 p.m. at Howell High School. For our full story, click .

BOYS AND GIRLS SKIING — The boys team defeated Lakeland 15-22 (low score wins) Tuesday while the girls lost 16-23 at Alpine Valley, according to Hartland head coach Glenn Makin.

Leading the Eagles was senior Graham Janssen who posted the meet's fastest combined time in his first competition of the year with a 51.83. Hartland's boys record is now 2-1 on the year.

"Graham has always been a good racer," Makin said.

Hartland’s Mallory Reader took second place with a combined time of 58.48 seconds, he said. With the loss, the girls drop to 1-2 for the season.

Both Hartland squads play Tuesday against Walled Lake Northern while the boys will also take on Orchard Lake Saint Mary’s while the girls battle Ladywood. The competition begins 4 p.m. at Alpine Valley.