Brighton, Fowlerville learn their team state wrestling draws
Brighton hopes the success of No. 2 seeds continues, while Fowlerville hopes to buck history when the state team wrestling tournament begins Friday at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.
Brighton was given the No. 2 seed in Division 1 when seedings were announced Sunday by the Michigan High School Athletic Association. The Bulldogs will face No. 7 Macomb Dakota in the quarterfinals at 2:15 p.m. Friday.
Fowlerville is the No. 7 seed in Division 2. The Gladiators will take on second-seeded Freeland at 6:45 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 seeds are 30-1 against No. 7 seeds in the quarterfinals over the past eight seasons, the only exception being Allendale's 36-26 victory over Stevensville Lakeshore in a 2021 Division 2 quarterfinal. There was a double forfeit in Division 4 in 2021 because of COVID policies at the time.
RELATED: 'It's a tough feeling': Fowlerville freshman reaches state wrestling finals at teammate's expense
Brighton had a close call as a No. 2 seed in 2018, beating rival Hartland 30-29 on its way to a berth in the state championship match.
Brighton is 27-0, beating three of the eight teams in the Division 1 quarterfinals, but the top seed went to Detroit Catholic Central. The Shamrocks have won the last two Division 1 championships and six of the last eight.
The Brighton-Dakota winner will face the Davison-Rockford winner in the Division 1 semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, with the state championship matches in all divisions taking place at 3:45 p.m. Saturday.
Detroit Catholic Central takes on Romeo and Clarkston faces Temperance Bedford on the other side of the bracket.
Dakota's only notable victory over a Division 1 team was a 38-36 decision over Romeo.
Fowlerville will face a Freeland team that reached the state championship match last season before losing 49-21 to a Lowell team that won its 11th straight Division 2 title.
Freeland has no victories over top-10 Division 2 opponents and lost 48-16 to Brighton. Fowlerville beat third-ranked Mason in the district championship match.
The Freeland-Fowlerville winner will face the New Boston Huron-Linden winner at noon Saturday in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Lowell takes on Warren Woods-Tower and Three Rivers faces Greenville.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton, Fowlerville learn their team state wrestling draws
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