Rob Goulette earned a key win for Ogemaw Heights in its defeat of John Glenn on Thursday.
The Bobcats' Chris Pappas came from behind to edge W-P's Adam Javor in Glenn's victory over the Cardinals.
Brent Baker
Chance Rattie was one of the few W-P wrestlers to earn two wins on what Cardinal coach Brian Cunningham admitted was probably his toughest night as the Cards' head coach.

OGEMAW HEIGHTS - Feb. 1, 2007 - Ogemaw Heights didn't want only to wrap up the dual meet portion of the NEMC title on Thursday, even though it gives the Falcons an advantage heading into next Saturday's league finals.

The Falcons wanted to make a statement.

Ogemaw considered it "Mission Accomplished" after defeating John Glenn 46-18 and Whittemore-Prescott 53-24. Both the Bobcats and Cardinals came into the meet unbeaten in league duals. Glenn opened the night by beating a shorthanded W-P squad 48-21,

"We weren't really sure what we'd see with Glenn," said Ogemaw coach Darryl Keeton. "We knew they were tough in the middle (weights).

"I think what really set the tone were the wins by Bruce (Vermillion) and Robbie (Goulette). When they didn't catch either of them it really set the pace of the match."

The two teams were tied a 9-9 after four matches when Vermilion earned a 14-8 decision over Don Prather at 135, and Goulette, leading 2-0, caught Kyle Buda on his back with two seconds remaining in their match to make it 18-9. Zach Jameson (145) and Josh Taylor (152) followed with decisions and Matt Franklin (160) won by technical fall to give the Falcons a 29-9 lead.

"That was a real turning point," Keeton said. "(Buda) is a good wrestler and very strong, but it just showed that we're in great shape. I thought that showed in the third period on both of those matches."

Also winning on the mat or the Falcons against Glenn were Kyle Scott (112), Andrew Funsch (125), Scott Kimball (189) Carl Worthy (215) and Kyle James (285).

Glenn, which moved to 23-14 (5-1) with the split, had two wins apiece from Herb Bieszke (103), Ryan LaFlure (130) and Brandon Wrzeskinsk (171).

For W-P it was a tough night, wrestling without four starters who had to miss the meet for a variety of reasons. That said, the Cards weren't likely to beat Ogemaw and would have had a tough go of it against Glenn as well.

"We knew coming in it would be rough," said W-P coach Brian Cunningham. "After the week of practice we had we knew it could go bad.

"We had a couple of guys wrestle well, but overall it was probably the ugliest night in my three years (as W-P's head coach). Even some of the guys that usually win easily were just eking things out."

Double-winners for the Cards were Kyle Hucul (112), Chance Rattie (119), and Hugh Jenkins (152 / 160). The Cards fell to 14-14 (4-2 NEMC).