Caledonia High School Athletics

It was a 4-1 day for the Fighting Scots at the Northview Team Tournament Sat­urday, Dec. 20. The Caledonia varsity wrestling team defeated Allendale 51-23, Northview 56-22, Muskegon 42-38 and East Kent­wood 54-21. Howell was the only team to down the Fighting Scots, scoring a 47-25 win in the first dual of the day. Caledonia head coach Shawn Veitch said he wasn’t surprised his Scots weren’t at their best in that opener. They hadn’t wrestled in a while after having a Wednesday evening competition canceled due to scheduling issues. “Your rhythm gets thrown off,” Veitch said. “And don’t get me wrong – that’s a good Howell team. But my captains called the team out for their effort and I thought the team really responded well. We kept wrestling better as the day went on and wrestled very tough against Al­lendale to end the day.Again, my captains did a great job keeping the team into every match and fully engaged. “It’s been a strong start to the season with the best yet to come. We haven’t been full strength yet, but we are getting really close to being healthy with everyone at their weights.” Caledonia had 18 different guys cred­ited with at least one victory throughout the day, whether it was out on the mat or a forfeit win. Cayden Nostrant at 175 pounds, Max Schnurstein at 126 and Xavier Stewart at 215 were all 5-0. Caleb VanLaan had four wins and Koleson Reeder, Robert Restau and Ben Moss had three victories apiece. Howell was a perfect 5-0 as a team and the dual with Caledonia was its closest one of the tournament. Howell clinched the win with a technical fall from Thomas Preston in the 190-pound bout, 12 matches into the dual. VanLaan at 106 pounds and Schnurstein at 126 had the Fighting Scots off to an okay start leading 12-11 after four flights, but back-to-back pins by Howell at 132 pounds and 138 put the Highlanders in front. In the tightest match of the dual, Moss pulled out a 4-3 win over Howell’s Silas Zack at 144 pounds. The other Caledonia victories in that one were a 13-2 major decision from Nostrant over Lucas McMillin at 175 pounds and a pin by Stewart at 215. The Caledonia team is off now until a trip to Hastings’ annual LH Lamb Tournament Jan. 3. The OK Green Con­ference season gets fired up with a visit from Reeths-Puffer Jan. 7.