Harrison's Sanders, Hubbard Both Finish 7th in State Wrestling Finals

Auburn Hills – Farmington Harrison's Andre Sanders and Sultan Hubbard both closed out their seasons with wins Saturday in the consolation bracket medal rounds at the state individual wrestling finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

In seventh places matches, Sanders beat Collin Lesko of Tecumseh on a 4-2 decision and Hubbard pinned (1:54) Wade Schlosser from Lowell. The wrestlers were part of the award presentation Saturday evening at the Palace, where they received their seventh-place medals. 

12 p.m. – Harrison has two wrestlers going for medals this afternoon. Sultan Hubbard will wrestle for seventh place against Wade Schlosser of Lowell. Hubbard lost to Jacob Haddad on a 9-7 decision this morning to set up the match.

Andre Sanders will also wrestle for seventh place when he faces Collin Lesko of Tecumseh. Sanders lost this morning to Colin Burandt of Niles on a 5-4 decision to drop down in the consolation brackets.

The Hawks only had two wrestlers in the individual state finals and both of them made it to the medal rounds. 

Farmington's weekend ended last night when Kevin Kennerly lost to Cody Korpus of Salem on a 4-1 decision. It wrapped up a solid year for the Falcons, they had four wrestlers qualify for the tournament and while none of them are going home with medals, coaches were happy with their team's season.

Friday

5:15 – Andre Sanders joined his Harrison teammate Sultan Hubbard in the consolation quarterfinals. Sanders moved on in the Division 2 125-pound weight class with a 6-4 win over Bryan Jones from Warren Lincoln.

The Hawks wrestler hit a takedown in the final minute of the match to make it 6-3 and then played defense to secure the win.

Earlier in the day, Sanders lost to Brant Schafer of St. Johns in the winner’s bracket. Schafer is 43-0 this season, but Sanders put him to the test in an 8-5 decision. Sanders scored the last four points in the third round with two takedowns.

5:00 – Farmington’s Justin Roe is out in the 215-pound weight class. The senior's run in the state finals ended with a technical fall (17-2; 4:55) to Bryan Smith of Temperance Bedford in the Division 1 consolation bracket.

Harrison’s Sultan Hubbard picked up his second win of the day in the 171-pound weight class in the Division 2 consolation bracket. Hubbard seems to be getting better as the tournanment goes along. The junior won a major decision 14-2 over Brandon Schultes of Warren Woods-Tower. He will face Jacob Haddad of South Lyon East in the consolation quarterfinals.

3:15 – Tough blow for Farmington. Nick Tomski’s 4-3 loss to Avery Hasanauer of West Bloomfield in the consolation bracket ended his run in the individual state finals.

Hasanauer and Tomski were very evenly matched and traded takedowns in the second and third rounds. A late point by Hasanauer in the third gave him the lead and Tomski was unable to turn him over on a late takedown attempt to retake the lead.

Tomski limped of the mat after the match and was obviously in a lot of pain. The senior has a torn MCL that will require surgery in his left leg. The Farmington senior showed a lot of toughness this weekend and gutted it out in three matches.

“It was his dream (to win a title),” Farmington’s assistant coach Dave Hall said. “He worked hard all week, it was terrible to see the injury cost him.”

But Tomski’s loss is Hasanauer’s gain. If the West Bloomfield senior can win out, he can finish as high as third in the standings. Tomski falls short of placing with the loss.

12:15 – Nick Tomski’s first trip to the state individual finals won’t end with a title.
The senior lost his match to Matt Frisch from Oxford on an 8-1 decision. His opponent kept him grounded for nearly the entire match. Frisch used his legs to wrap up Tomski and completely prevent the Farmington wrestler from hitting any offensive maneuvers.

Tomski isn’t done yet; he drops down to the consolation bracket for a match against Avery Hasanaeur of West Bloomfield later this afternoon.

11:15 – Harrison’s Sultan Hubbard rebounded in the Division 2 171-pound weight class. In the consolation bracket, the junior pinned Chance Gorby of Allegan in the first round (1:54). The Hawks Andre Sanders wrestlers later today in the winners bracket against the undefeated (41-0) Brant Schafer from St. Johns. Look for coverage of that match later this afternoon.

Thursday

Wrap-up: Farmington’s Kevin Kennerly lost a 7-1 decision in the opening round to Eric Rybarz from New Baltimore Anchor Bay. Kennerly was the only Falcons wrestler to lose in the opening round. He will face A.J. Presley of Holt in the consolation rounds.

The last Farmington area wrestler to compete on Thursday was Andre Sanders of Harrison. Sanders, a senior in the 125-pound weight class, looked strong against his opponent Collin Tomkins of Byron Center. Sanders controlled the pace of the match and won 7-2.

The only mistake the Hawks wrestler made was an accident. He had Tomkins down on the mat and thought he heard the whistle for the end of the second round. Sanders stood up and started walking to the center of the mat as his coaches yelled at him there was still 30 seconds on the clock.

The match was 5-1 and it could have been costly. Luckily, Tomkins wasn’t facing the clock either and assumed it was the end of the round as well, so he just stayed on the mat. When Sanders realized what happened, he jumped back down and didn’t allow Tomkins back on his feet.

On Friday, Sanders faces Brant Schafer, an undefeated wrestler out of St. Johns. Schafer is only a sophomore, but is the top seed in the Division 2 125 pound weight class.

5:45 – Upset alert! Dillon Schmitt of Caledonia (ranked ninth in the 215 pound weight class) was in control against Farmington senior Justin Roe in their Division 1 match. Schmitt had a 5-1 lead with 15 seconds left in the second round of the match. Then in a blink of an eye he found himself pinned. Roe scored the win with eight seconds left on the clock in the second using a kick over move.

“He literally just learned that move yesterday,” Farmington assistant coach Dave Hall said, after high-fiving his wrestler. “The key is to turn your hips. You kick over and then end up on top for the pin, just like that (pointing to the mat).”

It was a beautifully executed move and Schmitt left the mat shocked. This is Roe’s first appearance in the state finals and the senior will move on to the second round of the winner’s bracket Friday morning.

4:55 – Harrison junior Sultan Hubbard (36-14) lost his opening-round match to Tom Carney of Tecumsuh in the 171-pound division.  Hubbard had an early 2-1 lead in the first round. He lost control of the match late in the second round. Carney hit a takedown and then went at Hubbard aggressively as time was ticking down in the round. Carney put Hubbard on his back and ended up pinning him just as time expired. 

4:10 - Nick Tomski (46-5) won his first round match in the 145-pound weight class over Travis Vanderveen of Portage Central in a 9-6 decision. The Falcons senior racked up an early 6-1 points lead and then was able to hold on for the victory. 

More wrestling coverage: 

: More than a dozen Rochester-area wrestlers compete from four schools, looking for state titles. 

Two Lakers lose in opening matches; both move on to consolation rounds. 

Ferndale: Chavez Farris wins, Donovan Jackson loses in opening matches. 

Birmingham Brother Rice: Shon Powell loses to Rochester Adams wrestler in opening match.