Sophmore, Emma Hernandez turning her opponent in an arm bar during the quarterfinal round of the MHSA Eastern Class “A” Girls Divisional Wrestling Tournament at Lockwood Highschool (Aramis Rivera)
On February 13th and 14th, Rams Wrestling travelled to Lockwood to kick off the postseason, with the Eastern A Divisional tournament. The Rams had ten wrestlers punch their tickets to state, with eight boys and two girls. Beginning on the girls’ side, undefeated freshman, Ashlyn McCann, wrestled a total of eighteen seconds, en route to a divisional title and the number one overall seed at state. She earned a bye in the first round, an eighteen second pin in the semifinals, and a medical forfeit victory in the finals. McCann is 30-0 this season with twenty-nine pins and one technical fall. Returning state finalist, Emma Hernandez, spent a little more time on the mat, with two technical falls and a twelve-second pin in the finals to earn the third overall seed in the state bracket.
Junior, Owen Wegner turning his opponent to their back in the quarterfinal round of the MHSA Eastern Class “A” Divisional Wrestling Tournament at Lockwood Highschool (Aramis Rivera)
On the boys side, the Rams had two wrestlers reach the finals, with junior, Owen Wegner, defeating Havre’s, Tucker Stygles, in the semifinals before medically forfeiting the finals to Lockwood’s William Alves. Alves is 45-0 in his sophomore season and looks to make up for his loss in the finals at state last year. Senior, Aramis Rivera, also reached the finals, before dropping a tough match against Hardin’s freshman phenom, Jesse Grossman. Grossman is 37-3 this season and defeated Alves in the state finals in 2025 to become one of the first eighth graders to win a state championship.
Juniors Xander McCann and Djay Wipf, along with senior Trystan Knight, each took third in their respective brackets. McCann with a major decision over Miles City’s Jonah Casterline, Wipf with a major decision over Laurel’s Michael Moorman, and Knight with a pin over Laurel’s Sawyer Pallett. Pallett defeated Knight earlier in the tournament, with a 6-1 decision. Freshman, Johnny Foster wrestled one of his best tournaments this season but lost in the semifinals and the third-place match, which led to Foster taking fourth. Defending state champion, Kaius Rivera, took sixth due to an injury sustained in his match against Lockwood’s Philip Bryant. Rivera lost by major decision and medically forfeited to sixth. He still plans on wrestling in the state tournament. Senior, Jordan Harrell also took sixth, and he will take on Dillon’s Taiven Perkins in the first round at state.
Sidney captured the Eastern A team title, sending seventeen wrestlers to the state tournament. Hardin sent fourteen to state, including junior Chris Grossman. Grossman has been the topic of much discussion as he made the decision to bump up two weight classes from 132 pounds to 144. Grossman captured the number one seed from the Eastern A at 144.
