Two wrestlers take titles; Cheerleaders second in state

Zeb Hilyard Winning a Title at 171 lbs. for Hudson    
                                   Submitted photo

Hudson Cheerleaders with their State second place trophy.

Hudson's Cheerleading Team at the State Finals

Zeb Hilyard Working Hard for his 112 lb. Class Win   

Coach Scott Marry Cheers Wrestlers on

By Bill Mullaly

The winter sports at Hudson High School are now over but what an exciting finish it was. Two wrestlers claimed individual state championships as senior Kyle Hillard and sophomore Zeb Hilyard both were champions at 171 pounds for Hillard and at 112 pounds for Hilyard. So if someone says "Hilliyard" won a state title for Hudson you will have to say, which one. Then the answer will be both. If you aren't from Hudson then this could get confusing but it's a nice type of confusion to have at this time of the year. Hudson also had four other wrestlers earn medals and finish as all-state wrestlers. It was quite a spectacular showing for these six Tigers. And in a creative system of scoring the Tigers finished second to Hesperia for the mythical wrestling state championship falling by just one point using the old system of scoring. I will explain that later.

Then there was the girl's competitive cheerleading team. Oh so close, as they fell by just 4.4 points to chief nemesis Pewamo-Westphalia by a score of 730 to 725.6. Hudson finished as the division 4 state runner-up for competitive cheer in what was the closest finish ever for a Hudson team in its long and continual fight for an elusive state championship. Hudson's two teams put on quite a show over the weekend with the wrestlers at The Palace of Auburn Hills and the girls up at Grand Rapids competing at the Delta Plex. Congratulations to both squads and the members that did so well bringing great success to Hudson Tiger athletics!

Hillard and Hilyard are champions

State champions were hard to find at The Palace but Hudson had two of them. Senior Kyle Hillard went 4-0 as he won the final match 14-10 over Justin Pickford of Athens at 171 pounds on Saturday evening. Hillard began on Thursday with an 11-0 major decision and then won twice on Friday. He won 6-5 in what would be his closest match of the weekend. Then in the semis he won 8-0 to reach the last match. Hillard ends the season at 54-9 and as a state champion. The other champion was the lighter one as Hilyard won at 112 pounds also going 4-0. He won the finals match 5-0 over Jimmy Hamilton of Manchester. He began with a 7-0 win on Thursday and then won twice on Friday as well. His first win was a pin in 3:03 and then he won 2-0 in the semis in his closest match of the tourney. He ended the year at 56-6 and he also is a state champion. Hudson also had success from several others as two Tigers were third and one was fourth and another was seventh.

Sophomore standout Derrik Marry had a target on his back all weekend as he was a defending state champion. Marry began with a win 8-4 and then he won 8-6 before falling in the semis 4-2 to end his bid for two consecutive titles. He bounced back on Saturday and won both matches claiming the first win 5-3 and in the bout for third place he won 4-3 over a foe from Kent City. Marry at 130 pounds ends the season with the second most wins for a Tiger with a 55-7 mark. The next Tiger that was third was senior Taylor Smith at 125 pounds. He started with a win by an 8-3 decision and then gained a technical fall 15-0 on Friday before falling in the semis by a count of 6-2. On Saturday he roared back winning 9-1 and then held off a Dutch foe from Manchester to take third winning 1-0. Smith was a runner-up last year. He ends his last season at 46-14.

Gabe Elliott at 189 was fourth as the junior had a 4-2 record for the weekend. He began with a win 14-0 in a major decision. Then he lost 8-6 and won by a pin in 4:15. Then on Saturday he won by a fall in 4:42 and won 8-4. In the bout for third he fell 2-1 in overtime to the same foe from Rogers City that beat him the day before. Elliott ends the year at 54-7. Dakota Kelley a 103-pound freshman was seventh going 3-2 for the three days. He lost his first match 7-3 and then won by a pin in 4:19 and had a 16-0 technical fall win on Friday. He then lost Saturday 7-2 but in the bout for seventh he won 2-0. He winds up the year at 47-13.

Junior 119-pound Kevin Vanderpool won 8-6 on Thursday but he fell twice on Friday by a pin in 5:22 and then he was eliminated losing 1-0. He ends the year 43-18. Senior Eric Wolf lost twice falling 12-10 the first day and then bowing out with a 16-0 loss to end the year at 37-24. The final Tiger qualifier was junior Joey Beaubien at 285 pounds. He had an injured shoulder and couldn't compete and didn't get to wrestle forfeiting twice. He ends the year at 38-18. Hopefully, he will be fully recovered in time for football season!

Now comparing Hudson's nine wrestlers to Hesperia's nine here is how it breaks down. Using a scoring system of eight points for first, seven for second and so on down to one for eighth the Tigers totaled 35 points on two firsts-16 points, two thirds-12 points, one fourth-five points and one seventh-two points for 35 total points. Hesperia ended up with three firsts for 24 points, a third-six points, a fourth-five points and an eighth for one point for a total of 36 points. So, Hudson was truly the division 4 runner-up not Manchester as they had nine wrestlers just like Hudson and Hesperia. The Dutch did have seven placers compared to six for both the Tigers and the Panthers. Manchester ended with 31 total points. In the old days the state champion was decided by the scores of individuals at the finals meet but now with the team tournament the team champion is decided the weekend before. Thus, Hudson had the second best team in division 4! "We had a very good year and it was great to have two individual champions," said coach Marry.

"Kyle worked so hard and had this as his goal all season long. He kept with things and overcame a lot to be a champion." The other champion also impressed his coach. "Zeb really set himself up for this title by winning the regional and getting a good seed as a number one. He wrestled really well and he earned his title." In looking back at the entire season Marry was also pleased. "We had a great year and we lose only four kids who we will really miss. I think the future looks bright with the success of our team and the success at the middle school level. I think we will be strong again next year but this year was very good with no regrets. We did all we could."

Congratulations to the wrestling team and head coach Scott "Scooter" Marry and all of his assistants on a truly great season!

Cheerleaders Denied

Hudson came so close it is almost heartbreaking. What more can they do to win a state title? They fell by the slimmest of margins but did bring home the silver trophy settling for second place and a runner-up finish. P-W had scores of 219.5 for round one to Hudson's 212. Then in round two P-W scored 221 to Hudson's 213.6. Thus, the score was 440.5 to 425.6 heading into round three. Hudson really excelled in this round and out-scored the champions 300 to 289.5 to close the gap but it wasn't quite enough. The final scoring was P-W with 730 points to Hudson's 725.6. Just 4.4 points separated the Lady Tigers from their rivals the Lady Pirates. Hudson did beat Michigan Center the team that had beaten them the Saturday before to win the regional. The Cardinals actually were fourth with 679 points far behind Colon in third at 693. So, another great year and another close call but no championship but that doesn't mean that the Lady Tigers didn't have a great season because they did. Nobody expected this young team to compete for a state title but they did and they almost won the big prize! Congratulations to head coach Kelly Bailey and her entire squad of cheerleaders and to her assistants for what was certainly a very special season!

It was a spectacular and ultra successful winter sports season at Hudson High School and one the fans won't forget for years to come. Spring sports practice began this past Monday, March 10th and in a couple of weeks the games and meets will begin. Well, that is if it warms up and the snow melts!

We would like to congratulate the Lady Tigers and their coaches on winning the Waldron Tournament last weekend.  Coach Trina Romanowski and Mindy Valdez,  Page Darr (Not Shown), Lauren Lake, Courtney Luma, Destiny Marry, Seryna Martindale, Tea Romanowski, Alex Smith, Lauren Valdez, Tea Woody

Hudson 4th Grade Tiger Hoopsters Champs at Waldron Tournament March 1st and 2nd Front Row: Gavin McCarty, Josh Heistem, Coach Bob Heisten, Sam Darr and Matt Osborn. Back Row, Coach Karl McCarty, Peter Vanderhoff, Brady Monahan, Mark Baker, Brady Perry, Will Amsdill and Coach Randy Darr.

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