AUBURN HILLS -- Perfection.
Forest Area's Justin Gordon capped an undefeated senior season Saturday by winning the Division 4 171-pound state title at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Gordon finished his senior season 49-0.
In Saturday's championship bout, Gordon defeated Iron Mountain's Bruce Romagnoli 7-4.
Previously, Gordon was a state qualifier as a junior, but struggled to a 1-2 record at The Palace.
This year was a different story.
After a narrow 6-5 decision over New Lothrop's
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Marc Confer in the opening round Thursday, Gordon came back with a 11-4 win over Blissfield's Eric Ford before downing Dansville's Grant Cook in the semifinals with a 3-2 victory.
Six other area wrestlers earned medalist honors Saturday.
In Division 4, Traverse City St. Francis freshman Isaiah Schaub placed third at 112 pounds with a 11-6 victory over Ryan Teunissen from Watervliet. Schaub -- a first-year wrestler -- also beat New Lothrop's Justin Krupp 16-7 Saturday for his second win over Krupp in the state finals.
Also in Division 4, Kalkaska's Luke Gillespie suffered a pair of losses Saturday to finish sixth at 140 pounds.. Zac Chantrenne from Bronson pinned him in 3:47 while Manchester's Coyle Render won 7-0 in the fifth-place final.
In Division 2, Gaylord's Danny Sharrard scored a pair of narrow wins Saturday to take third place at 130 pounds. Sharrard first beat Mason's Tony Burge 2-0 before getting a 5-1 overtime win over Lowell's Dan Fleet in the consolation final.
Petoskey's Kegan Arthur was fifth at 130 pounds. After losing a 2-1 overtime decision to Fleet Saturday, he came back with a 5-1 win over Burge in the fifth-place bout.
Gaylord heavyweight Brian Bliss placed sixth after getting pinned in 5:53 by Justin Walters from Warren Fitzgerald in the fifth-place match. He also suffered a 1-0 loss to Tecumseh's Kyle Conners in the morning session.
In Division 3, Kingsley senior Cary Tompkins placed fifth at 189 pounds with a 3-1 win over Drake Renas from Big Rapids.


