Red Arrow Wrestlers Beat Warriors to Move On To Semifinals
Mason Saylor Wrestling Against Brother Rice in the Division 2 Quarterfinals
Justin Scott || Sports Reporter
2/23/2024 - Kalamazoo, MI
Three straight times, no problem. Lowell’s wrestling team continued their quest for 11 straight state championships by beating Brother Rice by a score of 56-15 in Friday’s state quarterfinal here at Wings West in Kalamazoo.
The Red Arrows started off the night at 106, where Jarrett Smith put Lowell on the board with a first period fall. LHS, the one-seed, had plenty to be excited about on Friday night.
Match highlights included LHS junior and top-ranked Jackson Blum, who came out with a dominant technical fall over Brother Rice’s lone top-ranked wrestler Rico Saenz.
Lowell was wrestling with heavy hearts as alumnus Beau Wilder passed away this past week. His sons Chase and Sawyer are on the wrestling team this year. In an emotional moment, Chase took the mat on Friday night, and though he lost by fall, it is amazing for him to even be out there competing.
“I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like,” Coach R.J. Boudro told the Ledger after the match. “It just goes to show there’s more to life than wrestling. To see the importance of being as part of something bigger than yourself, and seeing the program to rally around him. The strength for him to go out there tonight and compete was impressive.”
Kenny Kinyon closed the match for Lowell with a pin at heavyweight. The Red Arrow advance to take on Mason in tomorrow’s semifinal. The match starts at 12:00, and will be live at lowellradio.org
Our live match recap can be found below, along with a few photos from the match. A full Lowell Ledger album will be uploaded this weekend from all three matches.
8:00 - Last four duals were quick including a pin by Kenny Kinyon to close things off. Two voids in there as well. Final score, Lowell 56-15. We’ll see you tomorrow!
7:46 - Up here we have Weston McFarland at 175. With four matches left Lowell has clinched this dual and is on to tomorrow’s semifinal. Gives me a chance to get pictures on the other side of the arena, so I will be back soon!
7:43 - Wow big pin from Monroe Jefferson on mat 4 makes it 28-16 over Mason. Winner of this match gets that winner. Meanwhile here on mat 2, an 8-3 win for Jack. 32-9 Lowell with top-ranked Jared Boone stepping onto the mat for the Red Arrows. Quick cradle and pin. 38-9.
7:35 - Wilder falls by pinfall, but gets a standing ovation from the Lowell faithful in attendance. Jack Lamoreaux up against 16th ranked Alex Rabban. Now we are starting to see some of those Red Arrow B’s rotate in. This has been common in past quarterfinal matchup.
7:34 - Chase Wilder up now, and this will be an emotional match. Talked about this in the preview, but his father Beau passed away this past week. Wasn’t sure if we’d see him, obviously impressive he’s even out here competing. Lowell fans probably the only ones who recognized the situation. I’m seated by the Brother Rice bench and there was certainly some confusion on the initial standing ovation as he came onto the mat.
7:33 - Longer match let me walk around a bit, say hi to those on the other side of the arena. I’m also on picture duty tonight. Segorski wrestled Deacon MacNeill, ranked #9 in the state. Worked a major, 11-3. 29-3 Red Arrows now.
7:25pm - Next up for Lowell is Owen Segorski. It’s been mostly Lowell A so far, not a lot of rotation. We’re at 144.
7:18pm - Complete domination from Blum, 17- 7lead heading into the third period. Getting takedowns at will against the top-ranked wrestler at 126. He finishes off the tech fall. 19-3 Lowell. Next up Logan Dawson against Parker Glass. Some craziness to my left as Greenville gets a pin. Dawson also pins. 25-3 Lowell.
7:15pm - Jackson leads 4-1 after the first period. We’ve got a close one to our right, 12-7 Freeland in the early going.
7:13pm - Here we go! It’s showtime. Blum vs. Saenz. Two top ranked wrestlers. Blum jumps out to a 2-0 lead.
7:12pm - Foss wins 10-0 and that’s another sound match for Lowell, no points given up. Another bonus point. 14-3 Red Arrows.
7:08pm - All Foss so far, a couple near-falls and we’re at 8-0 midway through this bout. We’re seeing Jackson Blum warmup, could we see #1 Rico Saenz (BBR) against Blum next?
7:04pm - Mason Saylor wrestles a sound fundamental match and in between roars from Three Rivers and Freeland, Saylor gets a bonus point. 9-0 win, 10-3 Lowell. Cody Foss up next for Lowell against Mateo Pesaros.
6:55pm - Richie Davis gets a 5-3 win to put Brother Rice on the board. Red Arrows lead 6-3 heading into 120lb. Mason Saylor up for LHS, state qualifier last year against Warrior Sebastian Abro.
6:52pm - King trails 5-3 heading into the third period. We’re in Kalamazoo tonight at Wings West, one of my favorite cities as a WMU alum myself!
6:46pm - Smith with the first period pin. Lowell 6, Brother Rice 0. Two purple teams battling to Lowell’s left, that is Greenville and Three Rivers. Big matchup at 113, #2 Richie Davis of Brother Rice vs. Lowell #8 Braddock King.
6:41pm - We will start at the 106 lb weight class. Jackson Blum and Chase Wilder serving as captains tonight for Lowell. Jarrett Smith the first to come out for Lowell against Brother Rice freshman Christopher Eschrich.
6:36pm - Hello! We are live from Kalamazoo for the Division 2 State Quarterfinal between Lowell and Brother Rice. Teams walking out right now.
