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.)
Hudson Wins D4 Rematch, 6th Team Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 25, 2017
MOUNT PLEASANT – Scott Marry’s emotional celebrations had become a staple at the MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals.
The Hudson coach had nervously watched his team win a handful of Division 4 titles, each time exploding with energy after a clinching late victory. On Saturday, however, Marry was able to reflect a bit as his team locked up the championship a little more than halfway through its title match against rival New Lothrop.
“It is so fun to win them at the last second, but it’s also fun to watch these kids as they came off the mat one at a time to get to experience them experiencing a state title as a team,” said Marry, who was still plenty excited. “So I slowed it down, and I got to take in some really cool moments with some kids one on one. It was kind of neat.”
Hudson defeated New Lothrop 51-13 at McGuirk Arena on the campus of Central Michigan University, claiming the school’s sixth Division 4 wrestling title, and first since 2013. The Tigers had finished runners-up to New Lothrop in each of the previous three seasons after winning five straight titles from 2009-13.
“It’s great. It’s amazing. It’s breathtaking,” Hudson senior 215-pounder Zack Bailey said. “It’s hard to explain unless you do it. We wanted it to be (New Lothrop). We wanted a little bit of revenge.”
Bailey and Tylor Grames are the only two seniors on the Hudson roster. While they’re certainly key pieces, they know they’re leaving behind a team that’s capable of making a 10th straight appearance in an MHSAA Finals title match.
“It makes me feel like the next couple years are going to be very strong,” Grames said. “Very strong.”
It was Grames and Bailey who started out the dual with a bang for the Tigers, staking their team to a 9-0 lead.
Grames, who is ranked No. 2 at 189 pounds in Division 4 by Michigan Grappler, opened the match with a 5-1 win against the top-ranked wrestler at his weight, Erik Birchmeier. Takedowns in the second and third periods were enough to give him the mini upset and give his team momentum early on.
“I think the tone set us up for victory, I honestly do,” Grames said. “I was No. 2, he was No. 1; I had to stay focused. I came out on top and the team kept it up. It was positive.”
Bailey wasted little time in building on the momentum, getting a pin in 19 seconds at 215 pounds.
“I felt really good about (starting the dual at 189 pounds),” Marry said. “With my Grames kid being ranked second in the state wrestling their No. 1 kid, we knew it was going to be close enough for us to win. We had a really good matchup at 215 and heavy, and we were really solid from 112 to 135. I thought that could be almost too much for their lineup to come back from. I think that kind of did them in. I think we got the momentum, and I think you start losing doubt.”
It indeed was too much for New Lothrop to come back from, as Hudson won six of the next seven matches after their seniors set the tone, building a 36-4 lead and clinching the title with five matches remaining.
“I felt like I’m on top of the world,” Grames said. “For the last half hour, I’ve been sitting here happy.”
Isiah Krizek won a 7-0 decision at 285 for Hudson, and after Logan Wolford put New Lothrop on the board with a 9-1 major decision at 103 pounds, Hudson got three straight pins from Tucker Sholl (112), Tyler Curtis (119) and Jordan Hamdan (125). Scotty Torres won 4-0 at 130 pounds for the Tigers, and Carson Price clinched the team victory with an 8-6 decision over second-ranked Austin Wolford at 135.
Malik Ray won 7-2 at 152 for Hudson, while John Betz (160) and Spencer Blanco (171) closed out the dual with back-to-back pins.
Justin Carnahan won by pin at 140 pounds for New Lothrop, while Zack Riley won a 5-2 decision at 152.
“Part of coaching at New Lothrop is that’s our goal – to get here each year and give ourselves a chance to win it,” New Lothrop coach Jeff Campbell said. “I absolutely think we’ll have a shot in the future, we’ll be stronger and we’ll learn something from what happened today.”
Like Hudson, New Lothrop is remarkably young. Twelve wrestlers who took the mat Saturday for the Hornets could be back next season, meaning the Division 4 titans who have claimed the last nine titles (six for Hudson, three for New Lothrop) will likely be the teams to beat again in 2018.
Hudson entered the weekend as the top seed and top-ranked by Michigan Grappler. New Lothrop, unranked at the end of the regular season, was seeded sixth this weekend but downed third seed Carson City-Crystal and second seed Leroy Pine River to reach the Final.
“When you’re wrestling against Jeff Campbell’s group, it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose,” Marry said. “They’re going to bring it, we’re going to bring it; we’re not counting wins and losses against these guys. It’s really not that type of rivalry. It’s a classy rivalry; it’s a rivalry of respect. We just said to each other out there, we hope to see each other again next year out there.”
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudson's Isiah Krizek takes control against Cameron Dusenberry during their match at 285 pounds. (Middle) New Lothrop's Logan Wolford works toward his 9-1 major decision win at 103. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)