Hudson's Beal voted The Daily Telegram Sunny Skies Athlete of the Week

HUDSON – The three toughest tournaments in the state of Michigan in regard to high school wrestling every year are the Grappler Gold Invitational held in Lowell, the Catholic Central Invitational held at Detroit Catholic Central, and this past weekend’s Hudson Super 16.

At this year’s Hudson Super 16 there were 55 returning state placers and an astounding 119 wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of their respective weight class by Michigan Grappler. In addition, there were 10 ranked teams in attendance, including D4 No. 1 Hudson and D3 No. 1 Dundee, just to name a few.

Of the 14 weight classes it was claimed by MIGrappler.com that the 113-pound weight class was “ridiculously loaded” with the top ranked wrestler in their power rankings, Braxton Shaffer of Ida, ranked number one in the bracket. Also, in the 113-pound weight class were state placers Jase Sensor of Hartland and Jack Reyes of Algonac, in addition to Henry Golembiewski of Fenton who has been putting together an amazing season. On the opposite side of the bracket was returning state champion Cyrus Woodberry of Cass Tech, along with additional state placers Brody Ashley of Coloma and Mason Thurber of Springport.

When the smoke had cleared on a long day of grappling, only one wrestler stood atop the podium however, and it was not the top ranked wrestler in the power rankings or the returning state champion, no, it was Hudson freshman Royce Beal who promptly put his emphatic stamp on the 113 pound weight class with his gold medal win.

Because of this effort, the Daily Telegram is proud to announce that Hudson’s Royce Beal has been named this week’s The Daily Telegram Sunny Skies Athlete of the Week.

Beal’s trek to the gold medal was not an easy one by any stretch of the imagination, a run that began with a 19-3 tech fall win over Ryan Williams of Dundee in round one. In the quarterfinal matchup it was Beal taking an epic 3-1 tie breaker-1 win over the third seeded Ashley of Coloma. In the semifinals Beal met the only defending state champion in the bracket, Woodberry of Cass Tech. While leading 1-0 late in the third period Beal was able to turn the second seeded Woodberry to secure the pin fall win, setting up a championship bout with Golembiewski of Fenton who had just upset the top seeded Shaffer via a 5-3 decision. Beal had little trouble with his Fenton counterpart, dominating from the opening whistle to take the 10-1 major decision and the 113-pound championship.

Also earning recognition in this week’s vote for The Daily Telegram Sunny Skies Athlete of the Week were fellow Hudson wrestlers Nick Sorrow and Beckett Campbell who also brought home gold from the Hudson Super 16.

Tune in next Monday for our poll asking you, the readers, who the Daily Telegram Sunny Skies Athlete of the Week should be. To nominate an athlete please email the athletes name and school to sports editor Troy Tennyson via email at [email protected].

Congratulations goes out to Hudson freshman Royce Beal, this week’s The Daily Telegram Sunny Skies Athlete of the Week.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Hudson's Beal voted The Daily Telegram Sunny Skies Athlete of the Week