Kingsford senior Elizin Rouse gets his hand raised on after a forfeit victory at Kingsford High School. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

DETROIT — After a strong 2023-24 wrestling campaign, the Kingsford varsity wrestling team sent four wrestlers to the MHSAA Division 3 Individual State tournament on Friday, Elizin Rouse, Max Sundquist, Reed Degroot and Tegan Ray.

Rouse, a 2023 215-pound Division 3 state champion, ended his senior season with a second place finish at the state finals while Sundquist finished fourth in the 165-pound division. It was the first time Kingsford has had two wrestlers on the podium at the state finals.

“Overall it was a very successful season,” Flivvers head coach Darren Groleau said. “We had four state qualifiers with two placing in the top four and a finalist. I just wanna say thank you to Elizin Rouse for the 4 wonderful years. It’s been such an honor to coach him and I can’t wait to watch him at the next level. I also wanna thank my assistant coaches Chris Wilcox and Trend Ray.”

Rouse made it to the championship match after beating Dallas Smith of Napoleon on a 5-3 decision. Next, he toppled Ethan Hammond, ranked No. 6, from Otis Lakeview, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Rouse faced off against Joel Simon from Lakewood, ranked No. 2 at 215-pounds. Rouse ended up beating Simon, 4-1 to advance to the finals.

“Eli has had his eyes on this (Simon) match since the Escanaba Elks tournament,” Groleau added. “Eli was able to take him down twice in the first and that was the difference in the match. He fought not to get turned in that match and he ended up winning.”

After rolling through the competition, Rouse finally got the chance to defend his state title against Jack Ward of Belding. Rouse ended up losing 2-1.

He ends his high school career as a two-time U.P. champion, a two-time District champion, a two-time regional champion, a two-time state finalist and a one-time state champion.

“Eli left it all out there,” Groleau added. “Eli will go down as one of the best wrestlers to ever come out of our school if not the U.P. That is one heck of a resume for anyone. We are so proud of him and Northern Michigan University is lucky to have an amazing athlete like Eli to come in.”

Sundquist, a freshman, made it to the podium after dropping his quarterfinal match to Fred Hammond and fell to the consolation bracket.

Sundquist then strung together three wins, a pin, a technical fall and a decision, to set up a rematch with Hammond in the third place match. He ended up losing to Hammond, 3-0, in the second match to bring home a fourth-place medal.

“Max had an awesome run at the state finals,” Groleau said. “He wrestled his butt off after dropping a tough quarter final match. He had an amazing run as a freshman and was our highest freshman state placer. Max has a great future and we can’t wait to see what he can do.”

Degroot (126) and Ray (138) both qualified, but went 0-2 on the day.

“Both of their first round matchups would go on to take third,” Groleau added. “Their second round match ups were also placers as well. It might’ve not been the outcome they wanted but they got to see what the big show is like. They will gain valuable experience from this weekend and build off of it.”