BRONSON – The Bronson Vikings and the Union City Chargers stepped on the mats at Bronson High School on Saturday looking for individual wrestling glory as the two teams competed in the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) District 31 Division 4 individual wrestling tournament.
Of the local Branch County athletes in attendance a total of 18 moved on to the regional round with a top four finish, including 10 District champions.
(Based on the sheer number of qualifiers from Branch County, we here at The Daily Reporter feel that each team deserves their own story. This story details the results of Union City’s efforts at the district level.)
Union City qualified nine for the regional round of competition with a top four finish, including six district champions in Blayne Crance (106), Mitchell Graham (113), Logan Mears (132), Landyn Crance (138), Aidan Taylor (144), and Maddox Miller (165).
One of the biggest story lines of the day involved junior Logan Mears and his run to the 132-pound district championship. Mears had to wait until early Friday morning to discover if he was even going to be able to compete, as Mears and his family awaited an appeal sent to the MHSAA after Wednesday’s Division 4 Team District finals versus Bronson. Late in Mears’ match versus Owen Kimmons in the team tournament, Mears was called for a flagrant misconduct after the official said he saw two punches thrown by the Union City junior. If the flagrant misconduct were to stand, Mears would be forced to sit out his next competition, which in this instance would have been the district tournament. The Union City coaching staff, administration, and Mears’ parents appealed to the MHSAA and sent video refuting the call made by the official. The MHSAA agreed, overturning the flagrant misconduct call, thereby allowing Mears to compete in Saturday’s individual district. Mears, a two-time all-state wrestler, did not waste his opportunity, winning the district title at 132 pounds. Mears made his way to the gold medal with a pin fall win over Cole Everett of Bellevue in the quarterfinals, a 7-2 decision over Carson Playford of Jonesville in the semifinals, and over teammate and close friend Alex Boyer of Union City in the championship finale by a 4-3 decision.