BRIGHTON — It was a long time coming, but the Brighton competitive cheer team is heading to the Division 1 state meet this week.
The Bulldogs finished third at a regional at Brighton High School on Saturday. The top four teams earned berths at the meet.
Brighton missed qualifying last year by a fraction (.92) of a point, a result that spurred the team this season.
“We waited 365 days for this opportunity,” Brighton coach Christina Wilson said in a press release. Our motto all year was “.92 just won’t do.'”
The Bulldogs were third after the first round of competition and stayed there the rest of the day.
“We knew coming in that we had a good shot at one of the top four spots,” Wilson said. “It was going to come down to who had the best day. Thankfully, we were one of the four.”
Grandville won the regional with 786.20 points, with Hudsonville second (783.74) and Brighton a very close third (763.60). Lake Orion (780.98) was fourth. Hartland (769.66) finished eighth.
The Bulldogs advanced to Friday’s Division 1 state meet at the Delta Plex in Grand Rapids.
Wrestling
Division 1 state meet
MOUNT PLEASANT — Hartland’s bid to repeat as state champion ended in the semifinals, when the Eagles lost to eventual champion Detroit Catholic Central 54-10. Catholic Central beat Davison 35-22 in the championship match.
Bowling
Individual regionals
Three county bowlers qualified for the Division 1 state individual meet by finishing in the top 10 at regionals on Saturday.
Junior Natalie Klein of Brighton, who was sixth with a score of 1,130, and senior Lexie Cruse of Howell (eighth, 1,111) both qualified. Emily Manetz of Howell missed qualifying by nine pins in a regional at Royal Scot in Lansing.
Rachel Kuczajda of Pinckney qualified at Super Bowl in Canton, finishing fourth at 1,097.
The state individual meet will be held Saturday at Sterling Lanes in Sterling Heights.
