Two Manchester wrestlers come up short in state championship bouts
Ryan Abrigo of Manchester suffered his first loss of the season in a Division 4 state championship bout Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
AUBURN HILLS -- There is no perfect end to a perfect season for Manchester High School's Ryan Abrigo.
The 119-pound senior wrestler, 63-0 before Saturday’s championship bouts at the individual state finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills, lost 5-1 to Matt Mata of Marlette.
Manchester's Johnny Woollams wears his second-place medal.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Abrigo and 145-pound Flying Dutchmen teammate Johnny Woollams both finished as runners up Saturday, giving Manchester five individual finalists in the past two seasons, but no champions.
Abrigo finishes his career with 182 wins and was a four-time state medalist.
Woollams, also a senior, nearly brought home a state title in his first trip to the medal rounds, but his comeback attempt fell just short in a 7-5 loss to Hudson’s Joel Varney in the finals.
Milan's Tim Sims pinned Dexter's Drew Barnes in the third place match of the Division 2 152-pound division, setting the Big Reds record for career wins with 183.
Three other Washtenaw County wrestlers ended their seasons on winning notes: Manchester’s Austin Deacons (third place, 125 pounds, Division 4), Ypsilanti’s Trey Sweeney (fifth place, 215 pounds, Division 2) and Dexter's Steve Bleise (fifth place, 103 pounds, Division 2).
Milan’s Dillon Farrell (145) and Manchester’s Austin Hamilton (215) both won their first matches on Saturday, but lost their next two to take sixth place, respectively. Lincoln’s Eddie Nuttall (Division 1, 140) was 0-2 on the day and finished in eighth place.
Angela J. Cesere is a photographer for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at angelacesere@annarbor.com. Follow AnnArbor.com photography on Facebook at AnnArbor.com Photo and on Twitter at @AnnArborPhoto.