Tigers are all winners!

By Bill Mullaly

What a week it was for the winter sports at Hudson High School! First, of all where do I start? Let's try wrestling where the Tigers won the annual league meet and in doing so beat Dundee to gain a share of first place. How about those cheerleaders going all the way to Grand Rapids to the Delta Plex to win first place beating the number one ranked Pewamo-Westphalia team? Or perhaps, the boys hoop team that won a thriller over Blissfield 50-49 and this was a team that beat Hudson the first time by 22 points. Oops! I almost forget about our girl's basketball team that won two huge games over Ida and on the road at Blissfield to win the LCAA crown for the second straight year. The happiest guy in Hudson or the Hudson area had to be athletic director Jeremy Beal who couldn't have been prouder of his winter sports teams. What a week it was!

Here is a closer look at the unbelievable success the four teams had over the past week.

Wrestling Wins LCAA

Hudson gained a tie for first in the overall standings by beating Dundee 248-212 on Saturday. The win over the Vikings in the league meet gives the Tigers a share of the LCAA crown for the first time in six years. Dundee won the regular season dual meet portion of the title but Hudson gained the other half by winning the league meet. "Things went our way and the boys wrestled very well," said a very pleased Tiger coach Scott "Scooter" Marry. "It was just a phenomenal team effort and everybody came through for us."

Winning league titles for Hudson were Zeb Hilyard (112), Eric Wolf (140), Caleb Ely (152), Kyle Benschoter (160) and Gabe Elliott (189). Ely won all of his matches by pins. These five were individual league champions!

Taking second were Dakota Kelley (103), Taylor Smith (125) Derrik Marry (130), Keith Walworth (145) and freshman Matt Smith (285). Getting third were Kevin Vanderpool (119), Kyle Hillard (171) and Joey Beaubien (215). "We had a total team effort and it was just a meet where things really came together and I am quite proud of the boys," said coach Marry. Marry was happy with all of his wrestlers but nobody received the praise that freshman Smith did. All he did was take second against a junior wrestler who last year qualified for the state meet and Smith lost just 7-4. He actually had the Onsted kid on his back in period two and almost pinned him. "Matthew was phenomenal," said Marry, who is not one to just throw out adjectives about anyone. "Smitty gave up 85 pounds and never backed down. It was an unbelievable effort by Smith."

Coach Marry also couldn't talk enough about his staff of helpers. So here they are: assistant coaches led by Richie Frees who has been a huge help to Marry. Also, Chad Baker, Justin Butts and Jimmy Atkinson. Add in middle schools coaches John Mattison and Dan Sholl. Marry also didn't want to forget strength and conditioning coach Wendy Towne. "We have the best conditioned team in the state," said Marry thanking Towne for her work. Marry also wanted to mention his two girls that help out doing all the dirty work behind the scenes and they are Megan Baker and Jessica Wollam. Don't forget Barb Williams who is chief statistician. With all these great people helping him Marry is like a top level CEO and all he does is give orders and it all comes perfectly together. Now it is on to districts, regionals and perhaps a shot at it all at Battle Creek on March 1st!

Girls Win LCAA Hoop Crown

Hudson beat Blissfield on Friday night 50-49 to win the LCAA title for the second year in a row! The win came less than 24 hours after beating Ida at home 63-59 on Thursday. What a miraculous two days or 26 hours it was. Beating Ida was the huge win and knocking off Blissfield on their court was also huge. A large and boisterous crowd was on hand at home on Thursday for the Ida win. Aubrey Laughlin led the Tigers with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Rachel Pawson had 13 points and Sheila Komarynski 11 ithe win. Ashley Boies added six. "This was a big win with a district tournament type atmosphere," said Hudson coach Tom Romanowski about beating the Bluestreaks. "We knew it would be a battle and it was. I was very pleased with the play off the bench from Ashley and she really stepped it up in a big game."

Then after that huge win Hudson went on the road to Blissfield and escaped with a win. Pawson made the winning shot in the lane with just eight seconds left and then she forced a jump ball with two ticks left. The Royals missed a potential winning shot at the buzzer and Hudson had the win. The back-to-back league crowns are the first for the girls hoop team since the early 1970's. In 1972-73 the team won the LCAA and then the next fall the sport was played and Hudson won it all again. "We are very proud to win two titles in a row and the girls really earned this," said Romanowski. "It was just a great two games back-to-back that we played. The girls really reached back for something extra to beat Blissfield the next night after beating Ida at home in such a huge game. I am very proud of all of these girls."

Laughlin had 30 points against the Royals. Pawson had 10 and Komarynski six. Hudson is now 13-4 overall and 8-1 in the LCAA. A win over Dundee this week will give the Tigers the outright crown after sharing it with Ida last year.

Cheerleaders beat P-W

Hudson went to Grand Rapids and knocked off the number one rated P-W squad at an invitational on Saturday. It was Hudson 697 and P-W 689. Colon was third. This was a very big win for the girls who will return to the same place in just four weeks for the state title meet. Hudson was ranked second in Division IV behind P-W but that could change now. Beating Colon was nice also as last week the Magi were second at Michigan Center when Hudson was third behind the host Cardinals and Magi.

Boys Stun Royals

Hudson coach Wayne Perry was thrilled with the win over Blissfield by one point a week ago Tuesday. After losing two games a couple of weeks ago by one point this time Hudson won by the slimmest of margins. This avenged an earlier 22-point loss at Blissfield. "It was a nice win for the boys and things finally went our way this time," said Perry, who noted it was nice to be on the other end of the score this time. "We have lost some close ones but this time we did things the right way and we got a win to show for it."

It was just the third win of the season but it felt great coming at home against the Royals. Blake Woodward had 12 points, while Garrett Schooonover had 10 and Jeremy Busscher nine. Luke Milligan had nine, Brandon Hephner had six and both Nick Hart and Nate Burlew had two each. "It was a team win and we are playing pretty well right now," said Perry.

Ida beat Hudson last Friday 60-39. Woodward had 12 points, while Luke Milligan had eight and Taylor Milligan had six. Ida is now 9-0 and unbeaten in the LCAA. Hudson falls to 3-14 overall and 2-7 in the LCAA. Check the local schedule for all of the action this week.
 

THE HUDSON CHEERLEADERS have a reason to have big smiles on their faces since they managed to be perennial rival Pewamo-Westphalia at the Grand Rapids Deltaplex meet last weekend. If they can do it again in the state finals in a few weeks there are going to be some really big smiles!

VARSITY WRESTLERS: Front row, left to right, Managers Jessica Wolham and Kelsey Karr; Taylor Smith, Dakota Kelley, Meiko McDaniel, Grant Benschoter, Zeb Hilyard, Kevin Vanderpool, Manager Megan Baker. Second row, James Williams, Juan Alba, Eric Walt, Caleb Ely, Kyle Benschoter, Johnnie Monahan, Coach Chad Baker. Third Row, Coach Scott Merillatt, Gabe Elliott, Keith Walworth, Kyle Walworth, Matt Smith, Joe Beaubien, Kyle Hillard, Coach Butts.

VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL: Front row, left to right, Manager Erin Wonders, Janet Verdon, Mykahla Frayer, Aubrey Laughlin, Ashley Boies, Megan Gunn, Rachel Pawson. Back row, Kellee Wonders, Sheila Komarynski. 

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