Ten Washtenaw county wrestlers advance to quarterfinals on Day 1 of state championships

By Pete Cunningham Sports Director

Posted on Thu, Feb 28, 2013 : 11:59 p.m.

Ypsilanti's Kyle Abdellatif, left, and Lincoln's Jordan Markey, left - pictured above during a match in January - both advanced to championship quarterfinals of their respective weight classes on Thursday at the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com file photo

Saline, Lincoln and Pioneer high school wrestlers competing in the Division 1 MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Thursday excelled, Manchester High School wrestlers struggled in Division 3 and it was a mixed bag for wrestlers from Ypsilanti, Chelsea, Dexter and Milan competing in Division 2.

Overall, Washtenaw County wrestlers went 10-9 in opening round matches on Day 1 of the three-day event, with wrestlers from the area going 5-1 in Division 1, 4-3 in Division 2 and 1-5 in Division 3.

Ypsilanti's Kyle Abdellatif, competing at 125, was among the area's ten wrestlers to advance to Friday's championship quarterfinals after securing a 7-6 win over Fremont's Luke Spotts.

"Kyle had a close match, and was able to hold off his opponent at the end," Ypsilanti coach Claudell Ruffin said. "I think he has a great shot to make it to the semifinals, but it is the first time he will see this wrestler so it will be a challenge."

Kyle's brother Zaid Abdellatif, dropped down to the consolation bracket after losing his opening round match, 7-2.

Pioneer's Billy Cobb-Gulley, above, won his first round match at Thursday's state championships.

Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com file photo

Dexter junior Zeke Breuninger (112) recorded a 7-2 decision over New Boston Huron's Brandon Brooks to advance and Chelsea's returning All-State wrestlers Michael Hovater (189) and Steve Bleise (135) improved on their undefeated records with wins. Chelsea's Avery Osentoski and Milan's Ben Fick lost decisions in their first matches.

Pioneer's Billy Cobb-Gulley (103) and Jahi Hilliard (215), both seniors competing in their first state finals, won their opening round matches as did Lincoln's Jordan Markey (130), himself a returning state placer. Saline seniors Taylor Ticknor (112) and Alex Cornelius (152) also won their matches, but Nate O'Sullivan (135) dropped an 8-4 decision to Davison's Matt Miller.

Manchester, competing in Division 3 for the first time, saw its wrestlers struggle with Eric Coval's 14-2 win over Boyne City's Conner Mills the only victory for the school's six competitors.

Consolation matches begin at 8:30 a.m. on Friday with championship quarterfinals scheduled for 11 a.m. The MHSAA will continue to live-stream every match on it's website through Saturday's championship finals.

Check out championship brackets for all of Washtenaw County's wrestlers at MLive.com:

Division 1

103
Billy Cobb-Gulley, Pioneer
112
Taylor Ticknor, Saline
130
Jordan Markey, Lincoln
135
Nate O'Sullivan, Saline
152
Alex Cornelius, Saline
215
Jahi Hilliard, Pioneer

Division 2

112
Zeke Breuninger, Dexter
125
Kyle Abdellatif, Ypsilanti
135
Steven Bleis, Chelsea
145
Avery Osentoski, Chelsea
171
Ben Fick, Milan
189
Michael Hovater, Chelsea
285
Zaid Abdellatif, Ypsilanti

Division 3

103
Brendan Abrigo, Manchester
112
Charlie Steffens, Manchester
135
Ben Heuser, Manchester
145
Eric Coval, Manchester
160
Michael Golding, Manchester
285
Brian Robert, Manchester