Dakota started their season off ranked 3rd overall in the state. In previous years they have won 11 district titles and 9 regional titles in the past 11 years. They have won Macomb county team of the year 9 years consecutively. Historically, Dakota also boasts an astounding 104 State qualifiers, 58 state placers, and 16 state finalists in its short lifespan under coach Edward Skowneski!
Recently, Dakota competed in the annual John Glenn Rocket Duels at John Glenn high school. Dakota competed against 5 other teams, 2 of which were similarly ranked in the state amongst Dakota. Dakota triumphantly dominated all teams at the annual tournament for the 2nd year in a row beating Southgate Anderson 66-15, Rochester Adams 58-3, Roosevelt HS 52-20, ranked #5 Clinton 42-33, and in the finals Dakota dominated John Glenn HS, ranked #6, 45-22.
In the matches against Clinton, there were a few matches that stood out. Ozia Wilson had a close match against Maurice Ames. He wrestled in the 138 weight class. He won 7-6. Connor Palazzolo won against Dylan Badge, 6-0. He wrestled in the 144 weight class. Logan Criteser went against Wyatt Hicks and pinned him in just under two minutes. He wrestled in the 215 weight class. Carl Nihranz went against Hudson Miller and pinned him in a minute and 30. He wrestled in the 113 weight class.
The matches against Southgate were impressive with almost everyone on Dakota Varsity winning their matches. These are just a few of the boys that won. Landon Smith pinned Sam Cowan at 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He wrestled in the 120 weight class. Payton Karpinsky pinned Bret Quick at 51 seconds. He wrestled in the 126 weight class. Jake Gawlowski pinned Christian Audette at 55 seconds. He wrestled in the 132 weightclass. Dom deMesa pinned Isaac Norsica at 5 minutes and 34 seconds. He wrestled in the 157 weight class. Troy Weiand won over Conner Delleva with a pin in 36 seconds. He wrestled in the 165 weight class. Brady Hamby won over Valentine Rush with a pin in 38 seconds. He wrestled in the 215 weight class.
The team also did well against Roosevelt. William Yang won over Romeo Jenisonn by pinning him in 2 minutes and 32 seconds. He wrestled in the 106 weightclass. Carl Nihranz won over Kaiss Badwi by pinning him in a minute. Connor Palazzolo won over Desmond King by pinning him in a minute and 38 seconds. Michael Belmonte won over Ben Demmer with a pin at 2 minutes and 31 seconds. He wrestled in the 190 weight class. Brad Haver won over Zach Allman with a pin in a minute and 42 seconds. He wrestled in the 285 weight class.
The team wrestled against two other schools at this meet and had impressive results in those as well. They also had six people on the team win all five of their matches throughout the meet. Overall, this is a very successful team and they show a lot of dedication. Their next meet will be the Macomb County Invitational. This will take place at Macomb Community college on Wednesday the 20th at 2:00 and Thursday the 21st at 5:00.
All stats came from trackingwrestling.com or the Dakota Wrestling page.
