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It’s all in the finish

Alpena grapplers finish second in Gillespie Invite

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Fabian Phillips, right, wrestles Sault Ste. Marie's Brendin C during a 171-pound match at the Gillespie Invitational on Saturday at Alpena High School

The Alpena High wrestling team didn’t get off to the best of starts on Saturday.

But after an opening round defeat at the Gillespie Invitational, the Wildcats kept working and made sure they finished strong. Their efforts paid off as the Wildcats finished in second place in their annual tournament at Alpena High School.

Alpena lost to Ogemaw Heights in the opening round 56-21, but went on to defeat Sault Ste, Marie 39-24 and Tawas 53-18.

It was a satisfying ending for the Wildcats, but it showed Alpena’s grapplers they still have some work to do.

“We wrestled pretty strong, pretty good. We had a tough one versus Ogemaw, they have some tough kids, so we came up a little short, but we fought back and wrestled hard the last two matches,” Alpena coach Matt Hepburn said. “It proves we have to work a little bit harder. I think we could have beaten Ogemaw, but we need to work harder, work on technique and I think we can get there.”

After struggling against the Falcons, Alpena seemed to find its footing against the Blue Devils, wrestling deeper into matches and picking up wins as a result. Alpena picked up wins from Dominique Agar (135), Jacob Barlow (145), Emry Zarins (160), Fabian Phillips (171) and Zach Auger (285). The Wildcats also won by void at 130 and 152.

Agar led things off with a pin in the second period and Zarins earned a bit of redemption with a pin in the third period. Phillips followed him with a pin with just 2.5 seconds remaining in the first period.

Phillips was later named the upper weight MVP of the invitational for his efforts on Saturday.

“Fabian Phillips, he wrestled really hard, really smart all day. He wrestled hard and he was the upper weight class MVP,” Hepburn said. “Zach Auger wrestled hard too and Emry had some good matches.”

Bolstered by their win over Sault, the Wildcats carried the momentum over against Tawas and dominated the Braves. Agar won by technical fall and Arthur Paad (152), Zarins and Auger each earned wins by pin. Zarins again worked his opponent deep into the match and earned the win with a pin with 1:30 left in the third period. Auger pinned his opponent with 20 seconds left in the first period and Paad earned a fall in 2:16.

“We definitely picked it up. We definitely carried the momentum from our second match to our third match,” Hepburn said. “It helps when you get a few wins because (the momentum) carries throughout (the lineup) as well.”

Alpena also picked up void wins at 171, 189, 215, 119 and 130.

The Wildcats struggled out of the gate against the Falcons and came out on the losing end of some tough matches. Alpena’s only wins came from Phillips, who pinned his opponent in 2:19 and Branden Zann (119) who won in a 9-2 decision. The Wildcats got wins by void at 171 and 285.

Alpena wrestles in Gaylord on Wednesday.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Jacob Barlow, front, wrestles Ogemaw's Levi Stoll in a 145-pound match.

News Photo by James Andersen
Alpena’s Jacob Barlow, front, wrestles Ogemaw’s Levi Stoll in a 145-pound match.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Darrin Lucaroni, right, wrestles Ogemaw Heights' Devon Lane in a 152-pound match.

News Photo by James Andersen
Alpena’s Darrin Lucaroni, right, wrestles Ogemaw Heights’ Devon Lane in a 152-pound match.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Izack Patterson, right, wrestles Ogemaw's Corbey Homan in a 140-pound match.

News Photo by James Andersen
Alpena’s Izack Patterson, right, wrestles Ogemaw’s Corbey Homan in a 140-pound match.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Fabian Phillips, right, wrestles Sault Ste. Marie's Brendin C during a 171-pound match at the Gillespie Invitational on Saturday at Alpena High School

News Photo by James Andersen
Alpena’s Fabian Phillips, right, wrestles Sault Ste. Marie’s Brendin C during a 171-pound match at the Gillespie Invitational on Saturday at Alpena High School

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Emry Zarins, front, wrestles Ogemaw's Garett Morris in a 160-pound match.

News Photo by James Andersen
Alpena’s Emry Zarins, front, wrestles Ogemaw’s Garett Morris in a 160-pound match.

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