Brighton Wrestler's Upset Provides Thriller at State Finals

AUBURN HILLS – The MHSAA individual state wrestling finals is the largest single tournament in the entire country. It features nearly 900 wrestlers wrestling across four divisions over three days at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Out of the hundreds of matches wrestled over the weekend, the most exciting may have been Brighton junior Aaron Calderon’s win over

“It’s amazing, the best feeling,” Calderon said. “I can’t explain it.”

Calderon (58-2) fended off Mooradian’s moves in the final 20 seconds to win a 3-2 decision and bring home an individual state title.

The wild finish had Detroit Catholic Central fans in a frenzy. Mooradian swung around Calderon to get points for a takedown, but never fully gained control. Calderon kept moving all the way throughout and they went back-and-forth until the final whistle.

When the match finally ended, the Brighton cheering section overwhelmed the Catholic Central contingent that was unhappy with the referee's non-call. The Bulldogs fans went wild as Calderon ran into his coach’s arms.

Calderon The Bulldogs qualified eight grapplers to the finals.

Junior Jordan Amine lost in the 119-pound semifinals on a 7-2 decision to Hartland sophomore Austin Eicher, but bounced back with a 13-3 major decision win in the consolation bracket over Hudsonville’s Zach Henderson.

A lose in the third-place match to Livonia Franklin’s Gabe Martinez put Amine in fourth.

Bulldogs senior Evan Hoshaw finished in fifth place in the 135-pound weight class. He wrestled well throughout the weekend. After falling in the opening round to Macomb Dakota sophomore Jake Johnson, Hoshaw bounced back with three straight wins.

Johnson beat Hoshaw again in the consolation semifinals. Hoshaw bounced back with a 4-3 win over Wyandotte-Roosevelt’s Quentin Santiago in their fifth place match on Saturday.

Complete Patch Coverage

• Thursday's opening round
• Friday's consolation, championship quarterfinals and semifinals
• Saturday's consolation rounds and finals, and championship finals
• Day 3 early action
• Do you have photos to add? We have 150 already; we'd love to have more

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