Ferndale Wrestler Chevez Farris Wins Final Match for 3rd Place in State

AUBURN HILLS - Ferndale wrestler Chevez Farris finally had some calls go his way on Saturday, and the junion walked away with third place in the state for the 171-pound division at the state individual wrestling tournament at the Palace.

Saturday

12:50 p.m. –  Chevez Farris had close calls go against him in the semifinals Friday night and in the early round on Thursday.  On Saturday. in the 171-pound weight class consolation bracket finals against Eric Strickler of Lapeer East, everything came together for the junior from Ferndale and he earned a 6-5 win.

Farris grabbed a point lead in the final round and Strickler needed a takedown in the final 30 seconds to win. He went at Farris aggressively and two separate times nearly had it.
On the first he attempt he had Farris leg wrapped up and tried for a leg sweep. Farris bounced up and down positioning himself on the out of bounds line. As Strickler went for the sweep, they tumbled out of bounds and the referee didn’t award the Lapeer East wrestler any points.

“I thought the first takedown was very iffy in terms of the takedown out of bounds, he (Farris) was rolling through it,” Ferndale coach Charlie Morgan said.

Strickler battled the clock and the out of bounds line on the second attempt. With only five seconds left, Strickler drove his shoulders at Farris to knock him down. Farris went backward, but the clock hit zero. The match ended as Farris pointed to the sky.

For the second consecutive season, Farris finished with a medal. This year, he finished in third place – three spots above where he finished last year in Division 2.

“Sixth to third,” Morgan said. “That’s an improvement, not what we really wanted, but it’s an improvement.”

11:10 a.m. – Chevez Farris beat Jacob Haddad from South Lyon East for the second time this weekend to advance to the consolation bracket finals this morning. On the first day of the state finals Farris wrestled a close 4-3 match with Haddad, on Saturday it wasn’t that close. Farris beat Haddad 10-5.
The junior is now one win away from a third place finish. He will face Eric Strickler from Lapeer East later today.

Friday

8:15 p.m. – Ferndale’s Chevez Farris knew that he wasn’t going to be allowed to make a mistake in his Division 2 171-pound semifinal match against Jordan Thomas from Greenville. Thomas is undefeated this season and a state champion (he won the title in the 160-pound weight class).

With only five seconds left in the first round, Farris made a devastating five-point mistake and never recovered. Farris ultimately lost the decision 8-0.

Thomas had Farris up on his shoulders with only 15 seconds left in the first round. He flipped Farris to the ground for the takedown. Farris held onto to Thomas’ head with his legs to try and turn the hold around. The round ended and the referee signaled that Thomas earned three more points.

Ferndale coach Charlie Morgan was baffled.  

“They ruled an illegal head scissors or something,” Morgan said. “He gave him two points for a takedown, two points for a near fall and a point for what he called a head scissors.”

If the round ended 2-0, Farris would’ve been in good shape. Instead he faced a significant deficit to open the second.

“That whole sequence was the difference,” Morgan said. “A situation that typically ends up being a stalemate, ends up being a five points situation for him (Thomas).”

After that, Thomas spent most of his energy in the second and third fending off Farris’ takedown attempts to seal the win.

Farris still has a lot to fight for. Two more wins would give him a third-place finish in his division. He’s already improved on a seventh-place finish from last year. Morgan would like him to finish strong, despite the setback.

“That’s what I’ll tell him,” Morgan said. “He’s got to aim high.”

12:45 p.m. – Chevez Farris is in the semifinals of the Division 2 171 weight class. He won a close 4-3 decision over Wade Schlosser of Lowell in the quarters.

Farris maintained a 4-2 lead for most of the match. Late in the third round the referee almost swung momentum to Farris’ opponent on a questionable stalling call that made the score 4-3.

“The explanation the ref gave was that he (Farris) was holding him (Schlosser) in a double collar tie,” said Ferndale coach Charlie Morgan, who didn’t agree with the call. “It doesn’t matter, though. We won the match.”

Schlosser couldn’t take advantage and Farris was able to finish the last 30 seconds without giving up another point. In the semifinals Farris will have to unseat the defending state champion Jordan Thomas from Greenville. The junior is undefeated so far this season at 60-0.

“There’s no easy road,” Morgan said, smiling. “This is what it’s all about.”

Last year Farris finished sixth in the 171 pound division and was all-state. He’s looking to have an even better finish this year.

11:20 a.m. –  Donovan Jackson has been eliminated from the individual state wrestling finals in Divison 2 with his loss to Jordan Sullivan of Coopersville. The junior lost a hearbreaker, a 1-0 decision in the consolation bracket of the 145 pound weight class. Ferndale isn’t done just yet in the finals, Chevez Farris is still in the winner’s bracket and wrestles Wade Schlosser of Lowell later today. Check back for coverage and see if Farris makes it to the semifinals.

Thursday

Wrapup:  The only other Eagles wrestler in the state tournament was Donovan Jackson. The 145-pounder lost his match to Matt Galvan of Adrian on a 10-6 decision. The Ferndale junior actually had a 6-3 lead going into the third round of the match, but Galvan evened the score quickly and scored the last seven points in the final round.

Jackson isn’t done yet, he moves down to the consolation bracket to face Jordan Sullivan of Coopersville.

Chevez Farris, who won earlier in the day, will face Wade Schlosser from Lowell. If the Eagles junior advances it could set up a match with Zac Hall from St. Johns in the quarterfinals. Hall is 59-0 this season. 

5:10 – Chevez Farris (29-4) let Jacob Haddad  (45-12) from South Lyon East hang around in their match in the Division 2 171-pound weight class. Farris rode out a 4-3 lead in the third round to advance. The referee gave Farris a warning for stalling in the match and continually called for both wrestlers to go for takedowns. 

Farris' fingers needed to be taped after the second round, so that will be something to watch going into the second round on Friday. 

Expectations are high for Farris, who competed in the finals last year as a sophomore and is an all-state wrestler. 

More Patch wrestling coverage

Avery Hasenauer finishes sixth in stateBrother Rice freshman Shon Powell eliminated FridayStoney Creek’s Nick Gajdzik and Rochester’s Josh Wood both finish second in state Dakota’s Greg Day places third at 140 pounds Utica Eisenhower’s Charlie Myers finishes seventhThree Lake Fenton wrestlers bring home state titles Milan’s Tim Sims earns third in state John Julien captures third in state in Division 1 Athony Abro finishes season 60-0 and captures state title Ian Stirton takes seventh place Drew Barners takes fourth in Division 2 at 152 pounds Harrison’s Sanders, Hubbard both finish seventh in state Coach Sam Amine named one of two Division 1 coaches of the year Anchor Bay wrestlers Eric and Larry Rybarz both finish fourth in state Lake Shore’s JacQuan Moore places sixth Several wrestlers from North and South are eliminated in early rounds Roosevelt’s Joe Lombard finishes fourth Edsel Ford’s Lucas Luchonok takes seventh in finals