Brighton Wrestling Advances to State Semifinals

BATTLE CREEK — All eyes were on the fourth-seeded Brighton wrestling team at the Division 1 team state quarterfinals Friday afternoon as it narrowly defeated fifth-seeded Hudsonville 36-30.

“I was never comfortable,” said Brighton head coach Sam Amine.  “I could never close my eyes.”

The Bulldogs take on defending state champion Detroit Catholic Central at 9:30 a.m. Saturday for a spot in the state championship dual vs. either Hartland or Oxford. The championship is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Kellogg Arena.

“We have a lot of opportunities and chances to do good things,” said Kurt Alder Brighton’s 189-pounder. “We just want to get it done for Brighton.”

But the Bulldogs, whose last appearance in the state tournament was in 1992, faced a tough fight to get to the semis. The team was projected to beat the Eagles by 15 points, according to michigangrappler.com., and it had a jumped out to 20-3 lead.

But then in the 140-pound match when Hudsonville’s Carl Nystrom pinned Brighton’s Aaron Calderon in two minutes, 14 seconds, the Bulldogs found themselves in an unexpected nail biter.

Going into 189-pound match, the dual was tied at 24-24 with three matches left.  In a clutch match, Brighton’s Vince Tkac pinned Hudsonville’s Todd Holstege in 28 seconds, followed by a quick pin by Alder, securing the win for the Bulldogs.

“I knew we were in good hands going down to the end,” said Amine. “Two captains and seniors – they knew what they had to do to get it done.”

Adler said the team kept positive, and that helped the Bulldogs pull out the win.

“It was a great energy with everyone rooting us on,” Adler said.