It’s been a long time since Belding’s wrestling team claimed a team regional title. But the Redskins did just that Wednesday night, winning the Division 3 regional at Lake Odessa Lakewood High School with wins over Chesaning and Leslie.

Every wrestling team begins winter practice in November dreaming of the chance to reach Battle Creek for the team state championship. Just eight teams in each of the four divisions get to realize this dream. Tonight, five area teams will have the chance to claim a regional title and a spot in the final eight, which will take place Feb. 22 and 23 at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.

It was a pretty successful night on Wednesday for area wrestling teams. In addition to Central Montcalm, the Belding Redskins and Tri County Vikings took home district championships.

Belding’s girls basketball team was having trouble with their offense and it showed Tuesday night. The Redskins made only nine field goals and was 3-for-21 from the free throw line in a 61-23 loss to the Ionia Bulldogs Tuesday night.

While Greenville’s wrestling team kept rolling on Wednesday night, Belding hit a speed bump. The Yellow Jackets picked up a pair of wins in a home quadrangular, beating Cedar Springs 71-9 and the Redskins 49-24.

What was supposed to be an eight-team invitational turned into a regular quadrangular. Regardless, the Belding Redskins put forth a dominating performance by winning all three matches at home on Saturday. Earlier this week, two schools canceled coming to the Redskins Invitational and another was a no-show Saturday morning, leaving the invitational with just four teams.

The Belding Redskins nailed 10 three-pointers on Friday night. It was the final one that sealed the game. Trailing 46-41 to start the fourth quarter, Belding’s Brendan Zuver started the comeback with five consecutive points, while Kole Hart finished the comeback with a three-pointer with just seven seconds remaining.

The boys basketball game between Carson City-Crystal and Belding wasn’t an offensive gem, but the two coaches saw something else in that game. It was defense. The Eagles got enough defense of their own to beat the Redskins 39-34 Tuesday night.

After wrestling at the Central Montcalm Hornet Invitational Saturday, a pair of local wrestling teams came out near the top of the 10-team tournament. Carson City-Crystal was the highest-finishing local team, ending up third in the tournament. Central Montcalm was fifth after beating sixth-place Belding.

It was supposed to be a perimeter battle between two of the area’s top point guards. Belding’s McKenzie Breimayer and Carson City-Crystal’s Mikayla Duflo went head-to-head on Monday night with the Eagles coming out on top 44-37 in a game that was played mostly inside.