Senior Andy Ruhstorfer achieved one of his major goals — earning a spot on the Kearsley athletics Wall of Fame.

Ruhstorfer placed sixth in the 125-pound weight class of the MHSAA Division 2 individual wrestling state final at Ford Field on Saturday, March 3, earning him All-State honors.

Ruhstorfer is happy with his performance at the final, winning his first two matches and losing his next three.

“I wrestled my first two matches very well,” Ruhstorfer said. “I competed at my best ability.”

This was the first time the state final was hosted at Ford Field. In the past, the final took place at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Ruhstorfer said the change in arena was different because Ford Field is much bigger than The Palace.

Ruhstorfer sustained an injury to his chest in his semifinal match and believes that if that didn’t happen his place in the state would have been better.

Although he believes he could’ve placed higher, Ruhstorfer is still thrilled about making it to the Wall of Fame.

“It feels great,” Ruhstorfer said. “This was one of my goals since I was a little kid, and it finally happened.”

Wrestling in such a big tournament, there’s bound to be some struggles. Ruhstorfer said his biggest hardship of the final was losing in the semifinal match.

“I didn’t wrestle as good as I planned and took the hard loss,” Ruhstorfer said.

Ruhstorfer has advanced to the state final all four years of his high school career and is proud of himself for completing his goal.

“I’m satisfied with my high school career (in wrestling),” Ruhstorfer said. “I always wanted to be on the wall, and now I am.”

Ruhstorfer believes he will be wrestling in college, but he isn’t positive yet. He plans to wrestle Division 3 with Rochester College.

Ruhstorfer leaves the wrestling team with this quote for his fellow underclassmen teammates: “The hungriest dog gets the bone.”

Ruhstorfer’s girlfriend, senior Marysa Gatica is pleased with his performance.

“He qualified for states all four years, and I’m so happy that his senior year he placed and achieved his goal he was trying to reach his entire high school career,” Gatica said. “I’m glad that I was able to be by his side these past two years and watch him do what he loves to do.”

Kearsley had another wrestler compete in the state final.

Sophomore Trenton DiGenova won his first match but lost his next two and did not advance. Although he did not place in the top eight, he is satisfied with his performance.

“I feel like I wrestled good,” DiGenova said, “but I came up short.”

DiGenova described wrestling at Ford Field as “a great experience.”

Last season, DiGenova did not advance out of the district tournament, so he put in many hours of work to get where he is this season. He plans to continue to train in the off season and put more time and effort into his wrestling.

In the next two years, DiGenova wants to see himself “ranked high and place at states.”