Tim RobinsonHartland’s wrestling team has been counting down the matches to a state title the past few weeks.
For the Eagles, the magic number is now two.
Hartland rolled past Temperance Bedford Friday afternoon, 53-24, to reach the Division 1 semifinals for the eighth year in a row and 12th of the last 13 years.
The Eagles (33-1) trailed 12-3 after the first three matches, but Brandon Krol won in double overtime in his heavyweight match, 4-2.
Corey Cavanaugh then pinned his opponent at 103 pounds in just 19 seconds, and the Eagles were off and running, getting six pins in their next seven matches to take a 53-12 lead.
Here’s how Hartland wrestlers fared, along with the other matches
“You don’t see 50 straight points happen very often in the quarterfinals,” said Hartland coach Todd Cheney, who earned his 666th victory as coach of the Eagles. “We’re in good shape, the kids feel good. We’ll have a good dinner tonight and be ready to roll (Saturday).”
The final score was closer because Bedford got a pair of pins against Hartland JV wrestlers once the match was decided.
Hartland takes on Oxford, which beat Hudsonville 40-28, in Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal. The winner will meet either Detroit Catholic Central or Davison in the state championship match at 3:30 p.m.
Cheney and the Eagles will be looking to change a little bit of history when they hit the mat against the Wildcats.
“We’ve never lost to them in the regular season, and we’ve never beaten them in the tournament,” Cheney said. Oxford is 3-0 against Hartland in the tournament, the last time a 31-26 loss in the 2011 semifinals.
