Millington High sophomore Jared Roehl, left, and his older brother, Joe Roehl, 20, pose inside The Palace of Auburn Hills where Jared Roehl won a Division 3 state championship Saturday, March 7, in the 189-pound weight class.
By Tom Gilchrist
Sports Editor
MILLINGTON — You could say Millington High’s state champion wrestler, Jared Roehl, is a smalltown kid, though his brother, Joe Roehl, is more specific.
“We live in Silverwood,” Joe Roehl said. “That’s even more deserted. It’s super-small.”
Jared Roehl, a sophomore from the hamlet along the Tuscola-Lapeer county border, captured a state title for Millington on Saturday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills, defeating Chase Beard of Allegan in the championship match.
His final season record is 49-0.
Roehl, wrestling in the 189-pound weight class in Division 3, becomes the second state champion wrestler for Millington. Jason Holmes won a state title in 1996 at 160 pounds.
Millington wrestling coach Greg Hudie said Joe Roehl, 20, Jared’s older brother, “is what’s made Jared as great as he is — I’m just lucky to stand in the corner with the kid.”
Joe Roehl, who wrestles for Mott Community College, said he took his sophomore year of college off to help his brother improve as a wrestler.
“He’s been able to keep up with me since I was a senior in high school, and he was a 12- or 13-year-old kid in seventh grade,” Joe Roehl said.
Jared Roehl gives his brother credit.
“He’s helped me since I’ve been little,” Jared Roehl said. “We’ve wrestled in practice together, and I go up to his college practices, and he comes up to our practices and goes around with me and coach (Hudie).”
The new state champion, though, benefits from long, strong arms attached to a 6-foot-1 frame, keeping opponents at a distance.
“It helps for sure, whether I’m shootin’ in (on an opponent) or on top,” Jared said.
Joe Roehl offers another explanation for his brother’s success.
“Besides all the hours we’ve spent together, it’s his heart,” Joe Roehl said. “He never gives up.”
While Jared Roehl won a state championship, Millington wrestler Brady Payne placed eighth at the state finals at 140 pounds.
The top eight wrestlers in each weight class receive medals and receive all-state status.
“Both of them are sophomores, so we’re very excited about having them back in the future,” Hudie said.
While Jared Roehl is a state champ, his older brother said Jared hasn’t beaten him yet.
“He doesn’t beat me,” Joe Roehl said. “He’s come close. He’s one step behind me.”
Hudie said the brothers haven’t battled officially, anyway.
“They’ve never wrestled in a real match before,” Hudie explained. “They’ve wrestled in our (school) wrestling room but never in a real match, with referees.”