Berkley Bears Send 3 Wrestlers to Regionals

Coach David Roche is excited about the future of Berkley Bears wrestling.

Roche had three wrestlers place at the individual districts meet at Birmingham Groves on Saturday, and all three will return next season.

"They wrestled awesome today," Roche said. "We have been reeling from injuries recently and we are a very young team."

This year's team features seven freshman and not a single senior, which means the whole team will return next year.

"The team is peaking at the right time. We always aim for the end of the season to be at our best and the guys look really good right now," Roche said.

The Berkley program is on the right track with both junior high and youth wrestling programs reinstated this year. Roche is looking forward to eight eighth-grade wrestlers coming to the program next year.

On the mat Saturday

Sophomore Aaron Par-Besemer reached the finals in the 112 pound weight class, losing to senior Doug Zundell of Roseville with a first period fall. Par-Besemer got to the finals by defeating Garrett Struby of Warren Mott in one of the most exciting matches of the day, registering a 4-2 decision.

Junior Miles Brown, at 119 pounds, won three matches during the day, two of them by fall. His final victory came in the consolation finals when he pinned Jonathan Hill of Fraser to take the bronze medal.

At 140 pounds, junior Austen Brantley finished third while compiling four victories during the day, his only loss coming to Paul Menth of Grosse Pointe North in the semi-finals.