The trio of Saline wrestlers at the Division 1 individual state finals last weekend got two medals, several big wins and a pair of top-four finishes.
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But for seniors Joey Everett and Bryce Rajabian, even that might not have been enough, said Saline wrestling coach Scott Marvin.
"Where they finished and what they did is a great achievement," he said, "but both of them would tell you that's not what they really wanted. They wanted a state championship."
The sting was made even worse by seeing the titles in both Everett's 285-pound class and Rajabian's 215-pound class won by wrestlers that they had defeated during the season.
Marvin said both Hornets wrestled well, but that a lack of state tournament experience may have hurt them. Both missed the state finals last season because of injury.
"It's different," Marvin said. "It really helps to have been there before. The guys they wrestled had that experience and unfortunately, they didn't."
Nonetheless Rajabian seemed at home Early in the tournament, which was held at the Palace of Auburn Hills last Thursday through Saturday. He won his first two matches with ease, earning a technical fall and pin to advance to the semifinal against Joe Fisher of Chipewa Valley.
Each wrestler posted one escape during the match to send it into overtime tied at one point each. Rajabian narrowly missed on a series of attempted takedowns as he was unable to keep Fisher in bounds.
Near the end of the first overtime, Fisher succeeded in taking Rajabian down for two points and the 3-1 win. Rajabian would go on to split his final two matches to finish in fourth place.
"It was heartbreaking," Marvin said of the overtime loss. "He had a hard time going forward after that. He wanted to be a state champion."
Everett's tournament was in some ways the opposite of his teammate's as he started slow and finished strong.
In his opening match against Paul Webb of Royal Oak, Everett was twice called for stalling, tying the match at four going into the third period despite Everett outscoring his opponent. Webb would grab two points to Everett's one in the final two minutes for a 6-5 win.
Despite having his state title dream shattered, Everett regrouped and won his next four matches, including a revenge match against Webb by a 6-2 total.
That win put Everett into the third-place match against Canton's Donnie Laramie. Everett pinned him at the 2:38 mark for his fifth straight win.
"The meet got better for him as it went along," Marvin said. "He got on a roll and kept it going. I'm glad it ended on a positive note for him."
The third Saline wrestler at state, junior Nick Barnett, wrestled well in two matches in the 215-pound bracket but lost both, 5-7 in the first round and 4-8 in an elimination match.
"He was in both matches. He battled," Marvin said. "I think it will be a real positive experience for him when coming back next season."
Rajabian ended his season with a 35-3 record. Everett finished at 42-5 and Barnett at 27-11.
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