Six Raider Wrestlers Advance to States

Eight Portland Raider wrestlers entered the MHSAA regionals today at Belding High School and six of them were able to advance to states.

Results from the first round of regional matches were:

Jared Thelen (130 lbs) 1-0 Hunter Hoppes (152 lbs) 1-0 Kyle Hinds (160 lbs) 1-0 Owen Guilford (171 lbs) 1-0 Doak Manshum (215 lbs) 0-1 Zac Fedewa (285 lbs) 1-0 Caiden Pelc (112 lbs) 1-0 Trent Trierweiler (125 lbs) 0-1

In MHSAA regionals, it is double elimination tournament. A wrestler must win two matches before losing two matches in order to move on to states.

Results after the second round of matches were: Jared Thelen 2-0 Hunter Hoppes 1-1 Kyle Hinds 1-1 Owen Guilford 2-0 Doak Manshum 0-2 Zac Fedewa 1-1 Caiden Pelc 2-0 Trent Trierweiler 1-1

The six wrestlers to move on to states are:

Jared Thelen 2nd Caiden Pelc 2nd Owen Guilford 1st Trent Trierweiler 4th Kyle Hinds 4th Zac Fedewa 3rd

After the action, Coach Mark Holdren said, “We had a great tournament qualifying six wrestlers to the state meet. It has been about twenty years since we had such a day.”

Regarding senior Owen Guilford, Holdren said, “Owen was unchallenged for the day. He just looks better and better.”

He also said, “The freshman were represented with two qualifiers. Caiden Pelc beat the one seed from the other district in the first round and continued through the finals.”

Holdren added, “I am proud of our Portland wrestlers they have worked hard this season and they will be ready for the state meet.”

The six state qualifiers will travel to Ford Field in Detroit on March 1st and 2nd.

Pictured above from left to right are Jared Thelen, Caiden Pelc, Owen Guilford, Trent Trierweiler, Kyle Hinds and Zac Fedewa. Photo courtesy of AJ Guilford.

Update: After the piece was originally posted, Coach Mark Holdren confirmed that six wrestlers making states is the best the program has ever done. The previous best was five wrestlers in the 1996-1997 season.