NORTH BRANCH - Feb. 17, 2007 - Ogemaw Heights had six wrestlers earn regional berths with top-four finishes at the individual district tournament at North Branch on Saturday, with two earning district championships and two finishing as runners-up.

Rob Goulette swept through the 140-pound bracket to take a district title, and Matt Franklin, with only one loss all year, took first at 160.

"Franklin and Goulette winning their weight classes was not really a surprise to me," said Ogemaw coach Darryl Keeton. "They have been working their tails off all season to prepare themselves, and it shows in their performance. (Franklin) obviously had high expectations since he placed seventh at State last year. Rob was a No. 2 seed, but his hard work and determination showed that he can wrestle with the best of them. He really wears kids out with his ability on his feet, great balance and solid riding technique."

Zach Jameson (145) and Scott Kimball (189) both advanced to championship matches before losing, with Kimball's a 5-4 heartbreaker.

"I was really glad to see Zach do as well as he did," Keeton said. "He has worked hard at his conditioning all season and he outlasts most of the wrestlers he faces. He really deserves the shot this year.

"Scott, also a No. 2 seed, came up just short in his finals match. I am sure he will work hard to be at the top of his game next week."

The two fourth-place finishers were a bit surprising for different reasons. Andrew Funsch (125) came in as the top seed, while Drake Killinger (145) was stuck behind Goulette for most of the season and wrestled a mostly JV schedule.

"I'm sure Andrew was disappointed with his fourth-place finish," Keeton said. "He has been plagued a little lately with some minor injuries and illness. Everyone hopes he is back to 100 percent next week. He is truly fun to watch when he is at his best.

"Drake was somewhat of a sleeper going in. Most people didn't know anything about him. He has worked hard this season to improve and really did his best at North Branch to beat some tough competition. It was exciting to watch him compete and succeed at this level."

Keeton said he'd hoped that more of his wrestlers would have gotten through to next week's regional at Clio, but that the level of competition at the North Branch district was fierce.

"This was a very tough district," he said. "There are many very good wrestlers that just could not make it through the brackets. I am proud of all my kids and look forward to building a new lineup to compete with next season, but for now we will concentrate on trying to get these six regional qualifiers through to the Palace (of Auburn Hills)."

Last season, five Falcons advanced to regionals, with Franklin, Funsch and Kimball advancing to the state finals with then-senior Joe Evans.

NEMC partner John Glenn, wrestling at the same district, had Kyle Buda (135, district champ) and Brandon Wrzesinski (171, 3rd place) also advance to regionals.