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.)
Sandusky's Ryan Repeats, Aims for 4
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2020
Logan Ryan had to learn how to handle losing.
After a youth career that saw her win multiple national wrestling honors, including the NUWAY Nationals in 2017, Ryan’s freshman year competing at 140 and 145 pounds proved to be difficult.
“I got destroyed that year,” the Sandusky sophomore said.
Now the losses are much less frequent, but she has figured out how to turn them into positives.
“When I get beat, I just feel like that’s an opportunity for me to fix what I do wrong in a match,” she said. “I think it does really good for me to fix my mistakes and see what happens. Honestly, I feel like wrestling the boys in high school makes me tougher. The boys are stronger than me, it roughs me up and it makes me more aggressive and prepared for everything else.”
Ryan is 25-5 on the year, and while the MHSAA postseason is about to begin, she’s already claimed a state championship this season. Ryan won the 145-pound title at the Michigan Wrestling Association High School Girls State Championship on Feb. 2 in Adrian. It was her second straight title at the event, which was in its second year.
“It was pretty awesome,” she said. “I was super happy to win it again and wrestle really good. I still feel like there’s more room to improve.”
Ryan defeated Shelbi Daniels of Chesaning 8-2 in the championship match. She was the second seed entering the tournament and won by pin and technical fall in her first two matches before winning a 3-0 decision in the semifinals.
She could have made weight at 138 pounds, but her dad, Jeff, who is the assistant coach at Sandusky, said they decided to enter at 145 because of the depth of that weight class.
“We wrestle the best; that’s our whole idea of it,” Jeff Ryan said. “She went after the best and beat all the ones she wanted to.”
A year ago, Ryan won the title at 160 pounds. She was one of three freshmen to win a title last year, and this year, only she and Eliana Bommarito of Hartland (235 and 270) were able to repeat.
That leaves them both with an opportunity to become the state’s first four-time girls state champions.
“I don’t know who my opponents are going to be, which freshmen are coming in, but I definitely thought about that after I won the second one,” Ryan said. “I definitely think about becoming a four-time state champion. That would be awesome.”
There were four other repeat champions, including Ryan’s cousin, Kendra Ryan of Fenton, who won at 107 pounds. Sparta’s Rayan Sahagun (102), Southgate Anderson’s JoJo Palshan (117) and Lowell’s Reese Gonzales (132) also won their second title in as many years.
Sandusky coach Adam Filkins was excited with how much the meet grew from its first year to its second and noted that it follows a trend around the state with girls in wrestling.
“Last year, we started our first girls division at our tournament, and we more than doubled that this year,” he said. “They’ve doubled the amount of girls at the state finals. There has been a crazy amount of growth, way more than I would have expected. There’s a great push behind it, and there seems to be no resistance.”
Opportunities are also growing at the next level, as there are about 60 colleges which now have a women’s wrestling program.
“I think it’s amazing – I think it’s awesome,” said Ryan, who added her ultimate goal is to make the United States Olympic team. “I think more girls that have never experienced anything like wrestling should definitely try.”
As the postseason gets underway with Team District tournaments Wednesday and Thursday, and the Individual Districts on Saturday, Logan Ryan said her goal is to qualify for the Regional. She said she plans to move down to 135 pounds for the individual tournament.
“I lost in the blood round last year,” she said. “We have a tough region and district.”
As she looks further into the future, however, the goal is to be wrestling at Ford Field – along with the rest of the girls who have been competing at Adrian.
“Girls wrestling is coming,” Ryan said. “It’s big, and it’s growing.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sandusky’s Logan Ryan, top, maintains control over her opponent. (Middle) Ryan’s arm is raised in victory. (Photos courtesy of the Sandusky wrestling program.)
MWA Girls State Championship finals results
97 pounds
Champion: Emme Hicks, Saline, Fr.
Fall, 4:56, over MaKenzie German, Jr., Clinton
102
Champion: Rayana Sahagun, Sparta, Sr.
Fall, 3:20, over Makayla Wiltse, Mio, Sr.
107
Champion: Kendra Ryan, Fenton, Jr.
Fall, 0:51, over Hannah Becker, Forest Hills Central, Sr.
112
Champion: Hannah Arledge-Teran, Fowlerville, Soph.
Decision, 6-4, over Casey Boni, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, Soph.
117
Champion: Jojo Palshan, Southgate Anderson, Sr.
Decision, 6-0, over Alana Nuorala, Ishpeming Westwood, Jr.
122
Champion: Autumn Teague, Holly, Sr.
Decision, 6-1, over Lydia Roope, Bay City Western, Fr.
127
Champion: Sylvia Pierce, Temperance Bedford, Jr.
Fall, 2:41, over Taylor Randolph, Clinton, Soph.
132
Champion: Reese Gonzales, Lowell, Jr.
Fall, 2:20, over Ellyana Kuzma, Gibraltar Carlson, Sr.
138
Champion: Alicia Pieper, Waterford Kettering, Jr.
Decision, 5-1, over Bella Wazny, Hemlock, Soph.
155
Champion: Maritza Gallegos, Salem, Jr.
Decision, 9-5, over Brynn Green, Howell, Fr.
168
Champion: Khloe Williams, Clio, Fr.
Major decision, 12-3, over Bo Geibe, Constantine, Soph.
184
Champion: Kailyn Garrett, South Lyon, Soph.
Fall, 1:33, over Grace Middleton, Mayville, Sr.
270
Champion: Eliana Bommarito, Hartland, Soph.
Fall, 0:40, over Teresa Rodriguez, Parchment, Jr.