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Two swimmers and one wrestler earn All-State honors at state meets.
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
BOYS SWIMMING
Schwartz, a junior, helped
Bloomfield Hills Andover win its
sixth consecutive state champi-
onship (the first three in Class A,
the last three in Class B-C-D) by
being a member of Andover's vic-
torious 200 medley relay team
and finishing fifth in the 100 but-
terfly in the meet at the Univer-
sity of Michigan.
The relay squad won in a Class
B-C-D record 1:37.17, which
also earned All-
American status.
Schwartz's time
in the butterfly
was 53.67. Just
before the state
meet, Schwartz
was bedridden
for two weeks
with mononu-
cleosis, and he
lost 8 pounds.
Andover
senior Aaron
Freilich placed
ninth in the
100 breast-
stroke in the
state meet in
1:02.48.
Galed was
a member
of Berkley's
All-State 200
medley relay
team in the
Class A
meet, which
was held at
Michigan
State Uni-
versity. The quartet finished
fifth in 1:38.38.
In addition to the relay,
Galed also had some impres-
sive swims in the 50 and 100
freestyle. Seeded 14th in the
50, he placed ninth in 22.00.
In the 100, Galed was seeded
23rd but he finished eighth in
47.78. Galed also competed
as a member of Berkley's 200
freestyle relay squad.
Berkley ended up in sixth
place in the team standings,
its best showing in school
history.
West Bloomfield's Dave
Stegman and Jeremy Hertza
also competed in the Class A
meet. Stegman, a junior, tied
for eighth in the 100 butter-
fly in 53.53. Hertza, the Oakland
County champion and school
record-holder, finished 10th in
diving with 387.30 points. He's a
senior.
WRESTLING
A sixth-place finish at 172
pounds earned Class A All-State
honors for Berkley junior Ben
Gitler, who split six matches in
his first state meet and finished
the season with a 37-12 record.
"Ben was hurt much of last
year and he didn't even make it
out of the districts, but I saw a lot
of promise in him because of his
work ethic," said Berkley coach
Bruce Burwitz.
"He was just fantastic in the
state meet. He wasn't that far
away from finishing a couple
places higher."
Gitler's first state-meet match
in Battle Creek was a 7-6 loss to
Nate Adams of Flint Carman-
Ainsworth, the eventual run-
nerup in the weight class.
Three consecutive victories
helped Gitler bounce back from
that defeat. He beat Ryan Bayer
of Livonia Franklin 9-2, Rob Al-
ston of Monroe 10-5 and Todd
Norris of Fraser 5-4. Alston took
a 35-2 record into the meet. Nor-
ris went on to finish seventh.
Chad Boyd of Rochester Adams
ended Gitler's winning streak by
pinning him in 3:57. Gitler had
defeated Boyd in both of their pre-
vious meetings this season, but
he couldn't make it three in a row
and Boyd went on to place fourth.
Above:
Kevin Schwartz:
All-American, too.
Right:
Simon Galed:
Relay member.
Left:
Ben Gitler:
Not so gentle.
In the match for
fifth place, Nick Tom-
linson of Clio defeated
Gitler 10-4.
Gitler had 12
matches in post-season
tournaments (districts,
regionals and state)
and he won seven of
them. Only Aaron
Hilgendorf of Hazel
Park, who didn't lose a
match all season and
won the state champi-
onship, defeated Gitler
in the districts and regionals. The
wrestlers who finished second,
fourth and fifth beat him at the
state meet.
Aaron Kobernick, another
Berkley junior competing in the
state meet for the first time, lost
both of his matches. But his final
season record was a fine 33-14.
Kobernick, a 112-pounder, fell
11-2 to Craig Trierwieler of How-
ell and 6-0 to Ryan Mick of Clark-
ston in the state meet. Trierwieler
went on to finish sixth.
"Aaron gave it everything he
had in the state meet," Burwitz
said. "It probably will be very dif-
PHOTO BY BILL GEMM ELL
wimmers
Kevin
Schwartz and Simon
Galed and wrestler
Ben Gitler have some-
thing in common:
They are All-State
high-school athletes.
The trio earned that prestigious
honor at state competitions held
March 10-11.
Top six finishes were needed
for All-State accolades at the state
boys swimming meets, while top
eight finishes did it in wrestling.
Here's a recap of what hap-
pened last weekend not just with
the All-State athletes, but others
who took part in post-season
high-school competition:
ficult for him to come back as a
112-pounder next year. If he
wrestles at 119 pounds, I see him
being an All-Stater."
Jeremy Lewin (275 pounds)
and Steve Simon (100 pounds) of
Birmingham Groves did not gain
All-State honors in the Class A
meet, but Coach Andrew Wilson
thinks the experience of compet-
ing in the big show for the first
time will pay dividends in the fu-
ture.
"These boys now have a
tremendous idea of what they're
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