LIVE: Brighton Wrestling Coverage at The Palace

AUBURN HILLS — Trailing by one point with :51 seconds left in the third-place finals, Brighton senior Brandon Hill (160) scored a takedown to gain the lead and he held on for a 3-2 win over Matt Roos of Livonia Franklin.

“I was just thinking to hold him down. I saw the clock and went as hard as I could,” Hill said. “This feels amazing. Last season I went two-and-out and now I’m placing in the top three.”

Brighton coach Sam Amine was named one of two Division 1 coaches of the year by the MHSAA.

With :32 left in his fifth-place match against Evan Guffey, Evan Hoshaw of Brighton tried to escape being tripped and fell out of bounds with Guffey on his back. Unfortunately for Hoshwaw Guffey tip-toed the out of bounds marker and kept his feet in bounds, giving him a 5-3 lead.

Hoshaw had his chances, though. He led 3-0 toward the end of the second period, however, was taken down late. Guffey started the final period on bottom and escaped. Hoshaw had a single leg take down that he tried to convert into a double leg but was turned away by a sprawling Guffey.

With the loss Hoshaw finishes in sixth place.

Brighton's Vince Tkac was defeated, 6-5, with just :04 left after being taken down by Adam Gros of Lake Orion in the consolation semifinals.

The loss pitted Tkac against Justin Charmeski of Hartland for fifth place. 

Despite wrestling for rival schools, Tkac hadn’t wrestled Charneski all season until the MHSAA state tournament. Tkac defeated him twice, the second time, 9-4, en route to a fifth-place finish in the tournament.

 “My goal was to make it to the finals or upset as many people as I could,” Tkac said.

 Tkac, a senior, took an early 5-0 lead after taking a shot with :18 seconds left in the first period. He got the two for the takedown then got three near-fall points to close out the period. Tkac was unable to get off the bottom in the second and Charneski chose neutral to start the third period.

 Charneski  came out firing in the final period, shooting on Tkac’s legs just nine seconds in. Charneski completed the takedown 20 seconds later to cut the lead to two, however Tkac escaped just nine seconds later.

 “I was hoping to be able to to a peterson roll, that’s my best move,” Tkac added. “I scored it on him the first time we wrestled and I knew he was waiting for it. … This feels amazing.”

Hill earned a 12-0 win over Mike Henige of Clarkston to reach the third-place match.

Hoshaw was defeated 7-0 by Kaelen Richards of Rochester in the consolation semifinals.

Friday

Tkac struggled against Clarkston's Matt Vandermeer in the championship semifinals, losing 11-1. 

Tkac can still finish as high as third place in Saturday's consolation finals.

"I'm a little disappointed," Tkac said. "I wrestled him in regionals last year and he's improved. He's a tough kid. I gave it my all. To make it to the state finals and finish in the top six is a wonderful feeling."

Brighton's Evan Hoshaw, at 125 pounds, and Brandon Hill (160) advanced to the third round of the consolation bracket which begins Saturday morning. 

Below are more of Friday's results:

• Hoshaw broke a two-all tie in the third period and won a hard-fought bout, 5-2, over Mitch Hymak of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central. Hoshaw started the third period on bottom and escaped just :20 into the period. Hoshaw grabbed the winning takedown inside :30 left in the bout.
• Chris Brish (130) lost in the consolation round to Macomb Dakota's Kenny Seelye and was eliminated from the tournament.
• Kurt Alder (189) battled back from a five-point deficit and had position on Mike Farrington, however, was thrown to the ground and was defeated, 7-3. Alder trailed by five at the start of the third. With the loss Alder is eliminated from the tournament and finishes the season with a 48-3 record. Farrinton took command early and took down Alder just three seconds into the match. 
• Hill moved on in the consolation round with a 7-0 win over Howell's Troy Root.

• Brighton's Andy White (152) lost to Trevor Dunham of Jenison in the consolation round and is out of the tournament. 
• Brish was defeated 16-0 by top-seeded Terry Turner. The score was knotted up at zero all at the end of the first period. Turner scored most of his points via near falls and the match was called with a minute remaining in the third period. The loss is the fifth of the year for Brish.

• Alder lost a close match, 5-4, to Jerry Westerman of Grand Haven. Alder tied the match at three all with a takedown at the 1:44 mark in the third period. However, after suffering an injury with 1:17 remaining, was unable to hold on. Alder is now 46-4 this season and was awarded the Manning Veau Invite wrestler of the tournament.
• Following an impressive win over a top-seeded opponent, Hartland wrestler Justin Charneski eventually fell to Tkac, 6-0. Tkac (55-7) scored his first points with a minute left in the first period after taking down Charneski. He extended that lead in the second after starting on top and grabbing four near fall points. “This was a touch match, he (Charneski) is a tough kid,” Brighton coach Sam Amine said. “We’re proud of him. He’s worked hard. 
• Despite an injured leg that's lingered for two weeks, Hill held his own against top-seeded Ben Ralston until the end and fell 11-4. All of Hill’s points came by way of reversal. Ralston carried a 8-2 lead going into the final minute of the bout. 
• Hartland's Keith Boldt (119) defeated Brighton’s Daniel Koenig via pin in the second period. Boldt is now 2-0 this season against Koenig.
• Brighton's Keith Kooperman (135) was defeated Riley Hanson of Detroit Catholic Central, 12-4, in the consolation round of the MHSAA wrestling state tournament. This is the second time in two weeks that Hanson has defeated Kooperman. With the loss Kooperman is out of the tournament.
• Aaron Calderon (140) lost a close 1-0 decision to Austin Merryweather of Grandville in the consolation round and is out of the tournament.
• White defeated Jonathan Montgomery of Northville 8-2.