Cros-Lex senior Adam Palleschi had little trouble whipping his opponent in this match against Imlay City last Thursday in Team Districts. The 215-pounder, now 43-1 this season, went to the Individual Districts on Saturday at Goodrich and came away with a championship in his weight class. Photo by Joe Crawford

At the Division 3 District at Goodrich, unbeaten Donnie Corby and once-beaten Adam Palleschi of Cros-Lex claimed individual titles. Meanwhile, at the Division 4 meet at New Lothrop, Marlette's Jordan Hayward and Joel Swenson and Brown City's Andre Sanson had first place finishes in their respective weight classes.

Div. 3 District at Goodrich

Corby, a senior, ran his record to 50-0 on Saturday to capture his second straight District title. Breezing through his competition at 140 pounds, he pinned John Osborn of Millington in 3:29 in the finals. Corby is ranked No. 1 in Div. 3 in the 140 pound weight class.

"He looked real sharp," said C-L coach Joe Lilly. "His focus and work ethic all year showed. He got after it all day."

Palleschi, now 43-1 and ranked No. 7 at 215, mauled Nick Lovell (No. 9) of Goodrich, in the championship match, 10-0.

Coach Lilly commented, "With the kid from Goodrich, I thought it would be a lot tighter match. But, he took it right to him."

The Pioneers also had a second and third place finishes at 160 pounds from Zach Fabian (44-9) and Josh Torrez (36-16). The two met each other in the opening round and Fabian squeezed out a 4-3 decision in double overtime. Fabian, a senior, went on to reach the finals where he fell, 5-3, to Roger Crump of Richmond. Torrez, a junior, meanwhile, had a dramatic run to his third place finish. He defied elimination in his next round, using a takedown in the final eight seconds to win a 3-2 decision. Torrez then won his next two matches, 8-7, and 6-5.

"The bad thing is we couldn't seed them differently," said Lilly on the first round pairing of his two wrestlers.

The Pioneers will now go to the Division 3 Individual Regional at Goodrich this Saturday. The top four places in each weight class will advance to the State Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Mar. 6-8.

In Team District play at Yale last Thursday, Cros-Lex was eliminated in the semifinals, 42-26, by Imlay City. Corby, Fabian, Torrez, Palleschi and Zach Maxfield (103) won matches for the Pioneers. Capac captured the District title.

Div. 3 District at New Lothrop

The Marlette Red Raiders will send five wrestlers back to New Lothrop this Saturday for Individual Regionals, including their two District champs.

Hayward, a junior 140 pounder, became a three-time District champion when he defeated No. 4 ranked Tony Goss of Bendle, 7-2, in the finals. His three wins on the day raised his record to 46-4.

"He took care of that match (with Goss) in pretty good control," said Marlette coach Cal Hayward. "That kid was a short, strong kid he wrestled.

Meanwhile, Swenson, a senior, won his first-ever District championship with a win by injury default over John Jones of Valley Lutheran in the finals of the 145 pound weight class. Swenson, now 32-11, proved to be the best wrestler in the class despite getting a lower seed.

Coach Hayward noted, "He had a very good wrestling day. After I saw the No. 1 seed struggle with guys he shouldn't have, I knew Joel was in the driver's seat." Swenson won his first two matches by 12-2 and 11-4 decisions.

Jon Hayward, the 119 pound State champ a year, ago, made one mistake Saturday that proved costly. In the championship match, he lost a 3-2 decision to New Lothrop's Allen Krupp (46-2, No. 2), the 112 pound champion a year ago.

"He should have never lost it," explained Coach Hayward. "He tried a move he shouldn't have and it cost him three points. He was ahead 2-0 going into the third period."

Hayward, ranked No. 4 at 119, is now 42-4 on the season.

Two others qualifying for Regionals are Travis Noble and Justin Harms, both 103 pounders. Noble, finishing third, met Harms in the consolation finals and won on a technical fall, 18-2.

The other area champ at New Lothrop this past Saturday was Sanson, who has also now won three District crowns. The Green Devil senior scored a 6-4 decision over Alex Dalton of Carrollton in the 135 pound finals. Now 38-5 overall, this season, Sanson earlier won by a pin and a major decision.

Sanson's teammate, Andrew Bennett, will also go on to Regionals. The BC senior placed fourth at 152 pounds.

Sandusky's Bernie Marx and Eric Maitland qualified for Regionals. Marx, a junior, was runner-up at 152 pounds, losing to New Lothrop's Tom Wenzlick in the title match, 8-2. Marx, now 38-2, will go to his third straight Regional competition.

Maitland, just a sophomore, came off a disappointing performance at the GTC Meet the week before to earn a third place in the 285 pound class. He bounced back from a first round loss to win three straight matches by pins, including the consolation final in 1:58 over Jon Archambeau of Valley Lutheran.

Division 4 Team Districts

Marlette picked up its second straight Team District title at home with a win over Memphis in the championship match last Wednesday. The Raiders face Michigan Lutheran Seminary in the Regional semifinals tonight (Wednesday) at Mayville.

In District action at Lakers, Sandusky lost in the finals to Mayville, 72-6. Mayville was the GTC champion this winter.