Three Northville Wrestlers Compete at State Meet

’s three state-qualifying wrestlers got started in the MHSAA individual finals at The Palace today.

Senior Ian Stirton (125 pounds) defeated Midland-Dow’s Aaron Mathews by decison, 6-4; senior Jonathan Montgomery (152) lost to Romeo’s Zach Schafer by decision, 9-5; and junior Trevor Maresh (171) lost to Kalamazoo Central’s William Royster by decision, 7-3.

Northville athletic director Bryan Masi said this was the first time at the state meet for any of the wrestlers.

Prior to the start of the tournament, Northville wrestling coach Bob Boshoven said he was proud of all three of his wrestlers. He attributed their success partially to doing hard work like extra training in the offseason, or trying out other wrestling styles they weren't as familiar with such as freestyle or Greco-Roman. He said he hoped they would go deep at the meet but added that no matter what happened they had done well for themselves.

"For the seniors it's a great way to cap off their careers," he said.

The three young wrestlers all said they worked very hard to get to this point.

Stirton said he worked especially hard last summer when he went to the J. Robinson wrestling camp in Edinboro, Pa., for a 14-day intensive training session. He said it was a grueling two weeks of running and lifting.

Maresh also went to the same wrestling camp last summer and did a lot of running and wrestling practice. He also worked with his dad, Ed, an ex-wrestler and coach, to get in shape for this year’s season.

Montgomery said he simply stayed in shape by working hard in practice.

Besides going to the state meet, all of them can name other impressive athletic achievements.

Stirton was a member of the Michigan Junior Olympic team last summer and won seven matches at a competition in Iowa. He also lost eight matches, but because they were in freestyle wrestling, a style Stirton was not familiar with, he thought he did well under the circumstances.

"Having never wrestled freestyle it was a big accomplishment for me," he said.

For Maresh, it was playing linebacker for the Northville High School football team last fall. The team won its first division championship in 49 years and managed  to win one playoff game against Livonia Franklin High School before being eliminated by Detroit Catholic Central.

For Montgomery it was competing in the Michigan Youth Wrestling Association's state championship in 2010.

For Stirton and Montgomery, their high school days are soon coming to a close, and junior Maresh isn't far behind. And they are all making plans for their futures – and the role wrestling may play in it.

Stirton said he's thought about going to Grand Valley State to wrestle in college,  but he's also thinking about going to MSU to study film, a field in which he's very interested.

Montgomery said he doesn't think he'll continue wrestling after high school. Instead, he plans on going to Schoolcraft College to study business.

Maresh said he would like to keep wrestling after high school and is even thinking about becoming a wrestling coach some day.  

Patch.com will have live coverage Friday and Saturday to follow the Northville wrestlers.