Rochester Wrestlers Dean Vettese and Kaelan Richards Take 3rd

AUBURN HILLS – wrestlers Kaelan Richards and Dean Vettese celebrated wins in their final matches of the weekend at the individual state wrestling finals.

The teammates both earned third place finishes at The Palace of Auburn Hills in their respective Division 1 weight classes.   

Vettese Bloodied, Not Broken

A bloodied and battered Dean Vettese could barely breathe after his third-place match (140 pound) against Plymouth senior Said Youssef; and for good reason.

The junior from Rochester High School literally had tape wrapped around his whole head, over his nose, to try and stop it from bleeding.

Teammate Kaelan Richards injured Vettese's nose warming up for their consolation finals matches. With Vettese up 3-0, Youssef bloodied it during their match in the final minute of the third round.

The match stopped multiple times when Vettese's nose started gushing blood.

"It's not a bloody nose, it's a crime scene," the referee said to Rochester coach Frank Lafferty. 

First the trainers tried plugging it, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. The tape around his head didn't even work until the second try. When it finally did, he scored a late takedown to win on a 5-0 decision.

"That was the hardest match of my life trying to breathe with that thing around my nose," Vettese said. "It felt like I was suffocating the whole time."

The win gave Vettese a third place finish in the 140-pound weight class.

Richards Stands Tall

Kaelan Richards had a game plan going into his third-place match (135 pounds) against Macomb Dakota sophomore Jake Johnson.

With a one-minute first round, Richards wanted to come out of the gate aggressive; and that plan worked.

Richards scored a takedown in the first 10 seconds of the match and kept control of the whole first round.

"Since it was a one first period, I wanted to get the first takedown and ride him out quick and then take it from there," Richards said.

He scored again in the second and third to take a 6-0 lead. Johnson hit a takedown in the final minute of the match, but it wasn't enough.

Richards finished in third place for the second straight year. As a freshman, he placed seventh.

"The best part is running down to the match," Richards said. "It's like the greatest feeling ever."

Competing in the finals Saturday evening is , who seeks a state title after losing in the championship bout last year.