2020 Dundee Stakes Claim as Vikings' Best
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 29, 2020
KALMAZOO – Nobody was quite ready Saturday to definitively call this Dundee wrestling team the best in program history.
But simply being in the conversation says enough.
The Vikings put an exclamation point on a dominant season by defeating rival Richmond 44-18 in the Division 3 championship match at Wings Event Center. It was the third-straight title for Dundee, and the program’s 12th overall.
“It’s hard to say; I’ve been on two really good teams,” Dundee senior Christian Killion said, when asked if this was the best Dundee team. “If I have to say one thing, this was the funnest. I can’t say if it’s the best or not.”
The Vikings finished the season 23-1, won the Lenawee County Athletic Association title, qualified 13 of 14 wrestlers who entered the individual postseason for the MHSAA Individual Finals, and walked into Saturday’s Team Final not having given up more than nine points in a postseason dual.
To further their claim to the top spot in the program’s illustrious history, seven wrestlers are currently ranked No. 1 in the Division in their weight class.
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Killion said when reminded of the last point. “It’s a special team.”
Dundee showed off its power early in its dual against Richmond, which went up 3-0 after one match when Josh Barton won a 5-4 decision at 119 pounds.
The Vikings won the next eight matches to put the dual out of reach.
“You don’t control what weight you start at, but where we did, we knew they had a couple tough competitors there,” Dundee coach Tim Roberts said. “They had Austin Kilburn, who is very good, and Austin Fietz steps up and gets the victory there (at 130). Even Aiden Davis getting that major decision at 125. A lot of guys stepped up and made that run of eight straight there. Then it was important to keep working for bonus points. (Richmond does) such a good job of making it hard to get bonus points on them. They’re always very hard to score on, they’re very stingy giving up bonus points. I was really proud of the effort our boys were able to put in to do that.”
Davis started the run with an 11-3 major decision at 125, followed by Fietz’s 6-4 overtime win at 130. Dundee then put the top-ranked wrestler in the Division on the mat in five of the next six weight classes, getting pins from Casey Swiderski (135) and Tyler Swiderski (152), and major decisions from Kyle Yuhas (140), Killion (145), Dominic Lomazzo (160) and Stoney Buell (171).
By the time the strongest part of Richmond’s lineup stepped on the mat in the upper weights, the Vikings had clinched the title.
“We knew we were going to have an advantage up top,” Richmond co-coach Preston Treend said. “We actually got great matches from our kids through the middle. Gavin (Resk), Caleb (Scalachtowicz), (Austin) Bergeon for a bit. We got great matches against their studs through the middle. We were hoping to just save enough points to get something to happen at the end. We needed to flip one or two of those.”
Noah Montanari gave Richmond (26-6) a win at 189 with a 4-2 decision, and Luke Davis (215) and Dan McKiernan (285) followed that up with pins.
Dundee closed out the dual with a pin from Braeden Davis at 103 and a 6-3 decision from Kaden Chinavare at 112.
The Finals meeting was the ninth in 11 years between the two programs, which have accounted for every Division 3 title since 2010 (Dundee winning six, Richmond five).
“They’re certainly loaded, they’ve got seven No. 1 guys, but we’ve wrestled teams they’ve had before that have been just as tough,” Treend said. “That team we beat in 2015 was loaded. In 2010, they had four guys that ended up being high school All-Americans. It’s kind of the way this has gone – we're the scrappy guys that find a way to get it done, and they have these big guns. When there’s a lot of big guns, that’s tough to beat.”
While the season didn’t end with a title for Richmond, Treend was plenty happy with how his team performed.
“This group of kids overachieved,” he said. “Our lineup, we wrestled most of the year without Austin Kilburn. We wrestled most of the year without a true (140)-pounder. We were able to win duals different ways and put it all together at the end to make a run.”
Roberts, meanwhile, couldn’t have asked for much more out of his group.
“This team has been fantastic this year with the level they can compete at, and the level of teams that we’ve competed with,” Roberts said. “They had big goals. A lot of our teams, they like to compare themselves, ‘Who is the best Dundee team ever?’ It’s impossible to compare. They’re all my favorite team. But when the guys talk to each other, they all want to leave their legacy of, ‘No, we were the greatest team.’ These guys definitely wanted to do that, and they did a lot of things this year to have staked their claim.”
Dundee defeated Montrose 65-9 in the Semifinal, while Richmond defeated Alma 40-25.
Aiden Davis, Fietz, Casey Swiderski, Kyle Yuhas, Killion, Tyler Swiderski, Lomazzo, Buell, Braeden Davis and Chinavare all won three matches on the weekend for Dundee.
Barton, Montanari, Luke Davis and Dan McKiernan won three for Richmond.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dundee’s Casey Swiderski works toward a pin during his 135-pound match Saturday against Richmond. (Middle) The Vikings won 10 of 14 matches in the Division 3 Final. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Preview: Dundee Again Paces Powerful D3 Contenders
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 29, 2021
Forget for a minute that Dundee on Tuesday will attempt to win a fourth-straight MHSAA Finals championship for the second time in the program’s illustrious history.
Consider first the relative strength of the Division 3 field as this season comes to a close.
Four of seven competing teams are undefeated or have lost only once during this abbreviated season. Combined those seven have 67 qualifiers for the Individual Finals – or nearly 10 per team.
Back to Dundee. The Vikings will travel to Kalamazoo looking to match the 1995-98 teams’ string of four Finals titles, the first of that of that run coming in Class C-D followed by three in Division 4.
Division 3 Quarterfinals – matchups below – begin at 12:30 p.m. at Wings Event Center’s Valley, with Semifinals at 3 p.m. and the championship match at 6.
Division 3 - 12:30 pm - The Valley
#1 Dundee - BYE - Mat 3
#4 Richmond vs. #5 Montrose - Mat 4
#3 Alma vs. #6 Freeland - Mat 1
#2 Whitehall vs. #7 Hart - Mat 2
(Constantine opted out.)
Spectator limits remain in effect, but all matches will be broadcast live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv. Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 3, listed by seed.
#1 DUNDEE
Record/rank: 17-1, No. 1
League finish: First in Lenawee County Athletic Association
Coach: Tim Roberts, 22nd season (555-76-1)
Championship history: Twelve MHSAA championships (most recent 2020), seven runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Kade Kluce (12-2) fr., 112 Braeden Davis (21-0) soph., 119 Kaden Chinavare (18-0) soph., 119 Kyle Smith (12-2) jr., 125 Logan Sander (13-1) jr., 130 Trey Parker (14-3) fr., 135 Aiden Davis (21-1) soph., 140 Austin Fietz (20-2) sr., 145 Casey Swiderski (22-0) jr., 160 Tyler Swiderski (21-1) sr., 171 Nic Bellaire (7-4) sr., 171 Dominick Lomazzo (17-3) sr., 189 Stoney Buell (21-0) sr.
Outlook: Dundee is favored to extend its Division 3 championship streak to four, and returns with nine starters from last season’s lineup leading the way. Buell this weekend will attempt to become the 29th four-time Individual Finals champion in MHSAA history after winning at 160 a year ago. He’s one of six returning individual champions, along with Braeden Davis (103), Fietz (130), Casey Swiderski (135), Tyler Swiderski (145) and Lomazzo (152), while Chinavare (112) earned a third place and Aiden Davis (125) was a runner-up. Among Dundee’s dual wins this season were bouts over Division 4 top seed Clinton and Division 2 top seed Lowell.
#2 WHITEHALL
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 3
League finish: First in West Michigan Conference
Co-coaches: Justin Zeerip, third season; Collin Zeerip, third season (72-6)
Championship history: Class C runner-up 1984.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Ty Whalen (20-3) sr., 119 Matthew Goodrich (23-6) sr., 140 Max Brown (29-1) jr., 145 Marco Moore (28-3) sr., 152 Nicholas Blanchard (25-5) jr., 152 Alec Pruett (11-4) jr., 160 Jacob Haynes (25-4) sr., 171 Connor Young (25-5) sr., 189 Kris Dowdell (190-8) sr., 215 Ira Jenkins (31-0) jr., 285 Shane Cook (27-2) soph.
Outlook: After missing the Quarterfinals last season in Division 2, Whitehall is back in Division 3 and headed to the Quarterfinals for the fifth time in six years and seeking at least a fourth Semifinal berth during this run. The Vikings will bring an experienced lineup, with 12 of 14 expected starters upperclassmen. Brown finished third in Division 2 at 130 last season, and Jenkins was fifth at 171.
#3 ALMA
Record/rank: 21-3, No. 2
League finish: First in Tri-Valley Conference
Coach: Randy Miniard, 10th season (233-98)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Dominic Anguiano (24-3) sr., 125 Gianni Tripp (24-6) soph., 140 Solomon Rosales (23-5) sr., Dametrius Castillo (24-4) sr., 160 Jacob Munger (22-4) jr., 171 Cole O’Boyle (22-4) fr.
Outlook: The Panthers earned the third seed of the second-straight season, and eliminated No. 7 Portland in the Regional Final to advance. Alma is graduating only three after this season and could another valuable building block with a nice run Tuesday. Castillo, the Division 3 champion at 119 as a freshman, also was runner-up last season at 135, while Rosales was fourth at 130 in 2020.
#4 RICHMOND
Record/rank: 9-0, No. 4
League finish: First in Blue Water Area Conference
Co-coaches: Brandon Day, 17th season (487-99), Preston Treend, fifth season (105-15)
Championship history: Eight MHSAA championships (most recent 2017), eight runner-up finishes
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Emmet Kettel (10-1) sr., 112 Noah Harris (11-1) soph., 119 Hunter Keller (10-1) sr., 140 Austin Bergeon (7-3) jr., 160 Gavin Resk (5-1) sr., 171 Kevin McKiernan (8-1) jr., 189 Regan Rewalt (5-2) sr., 189 Wesley Peters (11-1) jr., 215 Eddie Olson (22-2) soph., 285 Dan McKiernan (10-0) sr.
Outlook: Richmond has wrestled in 10 of the last 11 Division 3 Finals and finished runner-up the last three seasons. The Blue Devils have more freshman (five) than seniors (four) in Tuesday’s expected starting lineup, but have continued to roll including downing No. 8 Algonac during this postseason run. Keller is a two-time individual runner-up, including at 112 last season. Also placing last season were Harris (eighth at 103), Peters (third at 171) and McKiernan (fifth at 285).
#5 MONTROSE
Record/rank: 12-1, No. 5
League finish: No league title awarded this season.
Coach: Jason Perrin, fourth season (62-35)
Championship history: Nine MHSAA championships (most recent 2005), five runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Thor Robbins (11-3) jr., 112 Hunter Coxon (14-4) soph., 119 Seth Coffin (13-3) jr., 125 Aidan Bernard (14-1) jr., 130 Jake Elasivich (15-1) sr., 145 Blake Greenman (14-4) jr., 152 Ty Emmendorfer (15-4) jr., 189 Cody Smith (14-3) jr., 285 Levi Harber (15-1) jr., 285 Aden Viar (7-2) jr.
Outlook: After what had been more than a decade away from the Quarterfinals, Montrose these days is making a third-straight trip and reached the Semifinals a year ago. A young lineup last season now boasts 11 upperclassmen among the expected 14 starters. Harber was third at 215 last season, while Bernard was third at 125 and senior Bobby Skinner (135, 14-2) was seventh at 152.
#6 FREELAND
Record/rank: 19-3, unranked
League finish: Second in Tri-Valley Conference
Coach: Ryan Fournier, first season (19-3)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Noah Graham (19-2) fr., 112 Gibby Shepard (16-6) fr., 130 Tyler Tomasek (21-4) sr., 135 Wilson Longnecker (15-5) jr., 135 Cayden Remainder (15-6) soph., 140 Cole Fourier (21-3) jr., 160 Nolan VanLoo (22-4) sr.
Outlook: Freeland is making its second appearance at the Quarterfinals – the first was in 2004 – and possibly setting itself up for a quicker return next time with seven freshmen and only two seniors among Tuesday’s projected starters. Another noticeable stride for the program will be noticed more this weekend; VanLoo was Freeland’s only Individual Finals qualifier in 2020 but will be joined by six teammates this time. The Falcons downed No. 10 Remus Chippewa Hills in the Regional Final.
#7 HART
Record/rank: 26-4, No. 6
League finish: Second in West Michigan Conference
Coach: Brad Altland, ninth season (247-90)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Bryce Jorissen (22-12) soph., 112 Trenton Swihart (29-7) soph., 119 Trayce Tate (23-4) soph., 125 Austin Martinez (18-11) fr., 130 Spencer Vanderzwaaag (29-3) sr., 135 Chance Alvesteffer (30-4) jr., 145 Mason Cantu (30-2) jr., 160 Thomas Tanner (29-5) sr., 189 Leo Guadarrama (32-2) jr., 285 Braeden Carskadon (26-10) sr.
Outlook: After making the Quarterfinals last season for just the second time, in Division 4, Hart has equaled the feat despite facing larger opponents in Division 3. The Pirates defeated No. 9 Kingsley in the Regional Semifinal to highlight this trip. Cantu finished individual runner-up at 135 in Division 4 last season, while Tate was fourth at 112, Alvesteffer was fifth at 130 and Tanner was eighth at 152.
PHOTO: Dundee’s Aiden Davis (right) and Montrose’s Aidan Bernard face off during last season’s Division 3 Semifinals. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)