Northwest High School senior A. J. Benn walks out with his parents Joe and Kristi Benn during senior night on Wednesday at NWHS. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.
By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
Like the movie “The Blues Brothers,” Northwest High School is getting the band back together in its wrestling program.
Only the “band” is a group of former wrestlers who now have student-athletes on the squad and former coaches coming back to help the program.
It appears to be working.
The Mounties defeated Battle Creek Pennfield 72-9 at home on Wednesday to remain undefeated in Interstate-8 Conference action as the regular season comes to a close.
Northwest can claim its first conference championship in 11 years during the I-8 final at Hastings High School on Feb. 8. The Mounties are 24-4 this season and ranked No. 10 in Division 2 by MichiganGrappler.com.
“A lot of the former wrestlers are back coaching and they have kids in the program,” NWHS head Coach Bruce Gumbert said. “We also have good coaching at the middle school level.
“There is a lot of good energy back at Northwest.”
Northwest won 13 conference championship during a 23-year stretch between 1974 and 1996. The Mounties dominated district competition winning eight district titles in 12 years between 1989 and 2000.
But except for an occasional flare up, the Mounties have been quiet. They last won a conference title in 2009 and a district title in 2005.
They have never won a regional wrestling title – allowing the team to advance to the Division 2 team championships. That could change this season as the Mounties’ only losses were to state ranked opponents.
Junior Bryce Graham is nearing the 30-win mark for the Mounties this season. He believes Northwest has a good shot to get to Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo at the end of February.
“This new freshman class has helped out a lot,” Graham said. “They are all competitive and good teammates.
“If everyone puts in the work we are supposed to the next three weeks, it will be fun to see if we can make it that far.”
The Mounties earned eight pins in the easy win against B.C. Pennfield. Cameron Beach (103), Graham (112), Payne Boulter (125), Roy Guy (140), Zach Jacobs (145), Dominick Louagie (160), Keegin Noon (189), and Kenny Nastally (215) all won by pins for Northwest.
The Mounties honored seniors A.J. Benn, Kamrin Noon, Nastally, and Piper Boulter prior to the match.
Northwest will compete at the Clio Invitational on Saturday; travel to Hastings High School on Saturday, Feb. 8 for the I-8 Conference final; and host Division 2 team districts on Thursday Feb. 13.
