By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
KALAMAZOO — Constantine’s second straight final four appearance in team wrestling came to an end Saturday afternoon at the hands of a familiar foe.
The Falcons lost their Division 3 state semifinals matchup against Dundee, the defending six-time state champs, by a final of 49-22, ending with a 27-3 record on the year. Dundee would go on to defeat Whitehall in the state finals later that afternoon 49-20 to notch their seventh straight Division 3 state title.
Despite the loss, Constantine head coach Dale Davidhizar said the improvement throughout the season and over the past several years showed they are getting closer to being considered one of the elite wrestling programs in the state.
“I’m so proud of these kids and the way they fought this year. This dual against Dundee kinda proved to the kids a little bit that we’re getting closer to being able to hang with the top dogs,” Davidhizar said. “I’m so proud of the way they responded all year.”
Constantine got off to a good start in Saturday’s semifinal, beginning with a big third-period pin at 165 pounds from the Falcons’ Carter Godfey over Dundee’s Rocco Redmon after trailing in the match to take a 6-0 lead. Dundee would then get a major decision at 175 with Kole Katschor winning over Constantine’s Dathan Smith 11-3 to bring it back to 6-4. However, Constantine would get a quick pin at 190 when the Falcons’ Gregg Reed defeated Dundee’s Cooper Buhl in just 40 seconds to take a 12-4 lead.
After Dundee’s Landon King won an 8-4 decision over Constantine’s Greg Crawford at 215 to make it 12-7, Constantine got a 9-0 major decision at heavyweight with Bennett VandenBerg defeating Aiden Massingill to make it 16-7.
Following that win, though, in what was an analog to their 2023 semifinals matchup, Dundee took control of the match through the lightweights and middleweights, winning by pin at 106 and 113 to take a 19-16 lead, and then winning by technical fall at 120 and major decision at 126 before scoring a pin at 132, putting them in control of the match, 34-16.
Needing pins in the final four matchups to pull off an upset, the Falcons got one in their next match at 138 when Koltin Gross scored a pin on Dundee’s Jeremy Amrhein in the second period to get it back to 34-22, but Dundee would put away the match with pins at 144 and 150 and a 3-2 decision at 157 to take home the victory and advance to the finals against Whitehall.
Davidhizar said the pins by Gross and Godfrey were two of the big highlights of the day.
“Gross got a big one in there, and then Godfrey to start the dual, that really set the tone,” Davidhizar said. “That Godfrey match really set a tone on what we could do the rest of the dual.”
Overall, Davidhizar said he was proud of how his team competed throughout the year and looks forward to the future of the program.
“The kids put endless hours in during the summer, spring, fall. We wrestle year-round, we do camps and we do everything possible to give the kids the opportunity, and the kids are starting to really grasp it and take a hold of it,” Davidhizar said. “This is where we want to be.
“I think we will be back, and if we see Dundee again, we’re going to bring it to them again.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@acnccrtest.c1.biz.