Brother's Memory Sparks Kent City Champ
March 7, 2015
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
AUBURN HILLS – For Kent City senior Shane Rodenburg, winning this year’s MHSAA Finals title was not something he was doing just for himself.
He also was taking the mat with his younger brother Brendon in his heart.
Brendon, only 16, died unexpectedly Sept. 22. Bringing a 58-0 record into his 171-pound Division 4 title match against Nick Cooper of Springport, Shane Rodenburg capped off a year of wrestling that he will never forget by outlasting Cooper for a 3-0 decision.
“I don’t know what to say,” Rodenburg said, “just that this is the greatest day of my life so far. I’ve went through a lot of adversity this year, and it is such a great feeling to win it.”
Rodenburg was a three-time Finals placer coming into this weekend, having finished fifth as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second last year. Last year’s second-place finish was a special one for Rodenburg as Brendon also made it to the medal stand, finishing sixth at 140 pounds as a sophomore.
“This title was for him,” Shane said. “I’ve always wanted to be a state champion. This one was just not for me. He was with me, and it’s for him too. This is pretty special. It feels real good.”
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Champion: Seth Harvey, Addison, Soph. (49-7)
Decision, 5-2, over Anthony Mack, Dansville, Fr. (49-3)
An early takedown paved the way for Harvey, who took the early lead and made it hold for the victory.
“It feels like I’m on cloud nine,” Harvey said, “maybe even higher than that. Getting that first takedown was big.”
After securing the takedown, Harvey built on the lead with a three-point near-fall as he utilized a cradle to get the three points.
“I’ve been working on my cradle a lot in practice,” Harvey said. “I’ve had a lot of help from my coaches and teammates. I’ve had some problems with it and the extra work paid off.”
112
Champion: Alex Baker, Carson City-Crystal, Sr. (30-5)
Fall, 6:45, over Robert LeFevre, Erie-Mason, Soph. (26-3)
For Baker, a senior, winning an MHSAA title came with other benefits. Like a 2014 Chevy Cruze.
“At the start of the season my grandpa (Joseph Nagel) told me he would buy me a car if I won a state title,” Baker said. “My grandpa is my idol. He is a person who has come from nothing and has proven you can accomplish anything in life. I want to be just like my grandpa.”
Baker’s grandpa couldn’t be prouder of what his grandson accomplished. Not only did he win a title, but he did it in thrilling fashion with a fall in overtime.
Like his grandfather, Baker also proved that you can accomplish anything with hard work and desire. While he has qualified for the Finals the last two years, he had yet to win a match at the tournament prior to this year.
“I’ve come a long way,” Baker said. “I just worked real hard, and I got stronger. This last two weeks I worked my butt off getting ready for this. Winning the state title is pretty wild.”’
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Champion: Logan Griffin, Erie-Mason, Sr. (42-0)
Decision, 8-2, over Ethan Woods, Manchester, Soph. (43-9)
For Griffin, it was the perfect way to wrap up a season. Not only did the Erie-Mason senior win a third MHSAA title, but he also finished the season with a perfect record.
“It’s just amazing,” Griffin said. “It’s a great feeling to win it three times.”
Griffin jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as he won his final high school match to finish his career with a 157-7 record. Griffin will continue his wrestling career at Michigan State University next season.
“This is one of the happiest moments in my life,” Griffin said. “It was a little more pressure winning it this year. My first year winning it I had a shoulder injury. This year I was healthy, and if felt great.”
125
Champion: Dallas O’Green, Carson City-Crystal, Jr. (58-1)
Decision, 2-0, over Clay Ragon, Dansville, Jr. (53-5)
O’Green scored a pair of points in the second period, and that was all he needed.
“My key was not to let him get out of bounds,” O’Green said. “I just tried to keep him in the middle of the mat.”
O’Green won the first of three titles earned by Carson City-Crystal wrestlers on the day.
“We just work so hard in practice,” O’Green said. “Every practice we just go in there and work hard. It feels great to see all that hard work pay off.”
130
Champion: Dresden Simon, Dansville, Jr. (58-0)
Decision, 3-2, over Lamont Cannon, Highland Park, Sr. (26-2)
Simon was pushed to the brink but held on to not only win a championship but finish the season with an undefeated record. Up 3-2, Simon survived a late takedown attempt by Cannon to clinch the title.
“It was a little too close for comfort at the end,” Simon said. “I thought I outwrestled him throughout the match, but he was able to keep it close.”
Winning for his school also was meaningful for Simon.
“Winning the state title is pretty special,” Simon said. “We don’t get many state champions coming through Dansville.”
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Champion: Kyle Barkovich, Lawton, Sr. (55-2)
Fall, 5:18, over Gerrit Yates, Hesperia, Fr. (51-4)
Time was running out for Barkovich, who needed some late dramatics to finish his high school career with a win in his final match.
Trailing Yates 8-4, Barkovich recorded a pin with less than a minute remaining.
“I was sweating it,” Barkovich said. “(Yates) was wrestling well, and I knew I was running out of time. I knew I had to do something fast. I got a left underhook to a headlock and took him down. It couldn’t be a better feeling (winning a title).”
140
Champion Cole Menck, Lawton, Sr. (53-2)
Decision, 3-2, over Trenton Roesly, Hesperia, Sr. (39-6)
Menck followed his teammate Barkovich on the mat and came away with a second straight title for Lawton. Like Barkovich, Menck also won a tight match over a Hesperia wrestler.
“That last escape won it,” Menck said. “There was about 30 seconds left in the match, and I knew I had to score.”
The win was extra special for Menck, one of three Lawton wrestlers who came away with championships.
“It means a lot to our program,” Menck said. “Hopefully this will pull some more kids into the program. We are graduating eight or nine seniors this year.”
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Champion: Steven Garza, New Lothrop, Jr. (42-0)
Decision, 7-2, over Mason Lopinski, Hudson, Jr. (39-7)
Garza and Lopinski were no strangers, having met in last weekend’s Division 4 Team Final in Battle Creek. Garza came out with a win last weekend, and he claimed the win again this weekend to earn his first individual title.
“Last week I was wrestling for the team,” Garza said. “I was trying to get bonus points to help our team. This week I was wrestling for myself. I didn’t have to try for bonus points, so I didn’t have to try anything crazy.”
Not only did Garza win team and individual MHSAA championships this season, he also ended the year with a perfect record.
“Winning the title by myself is nice,” Garza said, “but the team title was more important. We are all united like a family at the team state.”
152
Champion: Hunter Bell, Decatur, Sr. (58-1)
Decision, 10-4 over Darren Decker, Carson City-Crystal, Sr. (56-3)
Bell knew the question was coming, but this time it had to feel a little bit better.
Bell, whose older brother Luke won three MHSAA championships for Decatur from 2010-12, finally joined Luke with a title of his own.
“The first question was not what I wanted to answer,” Bell said. “Every time I win something, the first question is always about my brother winning also. This feels good. I’ve been working hard for this but have come up short the last couple of years.”
160
Champion: Dillen Decker, Carson City-Crystal, Sr. (58-0)
Decision, 15-6, over Joey Durham, Blanchard Montabella, Sr. (48-5)
After watching his twin brother Darren come up short in the previous match, Dillen Decker was on a mission when he hit the mat at 160 pounds.
“I was fired up a little bit,” Decker said. “We’ve been wrestling together since the third grade. We just fell in love with the sport. After seeing his match, I was just fired up to get out there.”
The win capped an undefeated season for Decker, who was one of three Carson City-Crystal wrestlers to claim MHSAA titles.
“This feels good,” Decker said. “I put a lot of hard work into this. I placed third as a sophomore and fourth as a junior, so I really wanted this.”
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Champion: Brody Conner, Lawton, Sr. (58-0)
Decision, 4-2, over Caleb Symons, New Lothrop, Jr. (49-2)
Conner gave Lawton its third individual title of the day when he held off Symons 4-2. Trailing 2-1 at the end of the first period, Conner scored three points during the second to claim the win.
Conner placed fifth as a sophomore and third as a junior. This season he had to overcome a midseason illness to make it back to The Palace.
“I had to work through a little adversity this year,” Conner said. “I had a throat condition that made it hard to breath around the middle of the season. It was a difficult season, but I pushed through it.”
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Champion: Jacob Cooper, Springport, Sr. (55-0)
Decision, 3-1, over Kevin Koenig, Laingsburg, Jr. (56-2)
It was a matchup of wrestlers who had won a combined three MHSAA titles and were both champions last year. The match was as close as one would expect, with Cooper claiming a 3-1 decision to finish his senior season with a perfect record.
The title was the third in a row for Cooper, who will be wrestling for Michigan State next season.
“The first state title was the most memorable,” Cooper said. “I knew I had to stay in control in this match. This was just a great way to go out.”
With a couple of MHSAA titles under his belt, Cooper did not have as many nerves to battle this time.
“It really helps having been here before,” Cooper said. “You are still a little nervous because at the state finals anything can happen.”
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Champion: Ryan Prescott, Whittemore-Prescott, Sr. (31-0)
Decision, 9-0, over David Robertson, New Lothrop, Sr. (45-6)
Prescott capped a glittering high school career with his third straight MHSAA championship. He has not tasted defeat since his sophomore season and finished his career with a 151-4 record, having been an MHSAA runner-up as a freshman before his title run.
“This one is a relief,” Prescott said. “When the match was over and I finally won, it was such a relief. I was so glad to make my family happy and proud and make my community happy and proud.”
A three-sport athlete at Whittemore-Prescott, Ryan will be continuing his wrestling career at Northern Illinois University.
“I will be celebrating this with my mom and dad (Dennis and Elizabeth),” Prescott said. “They have been through this all the way with me. This is my last high school match and it’s a little tear-jerker at times. All of my hopes and dreams that I’ve had since a young child have come true.”
PHOTO: Kent City’s Shane Rodenburg (gray singlet) works toward his MHSAA championship victory at 171 pounds Saturday. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Team Wrestling Finals Take Flight at Wings
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
February 22, 2019
KALAMAZOO — Thirty-two teams, more than 9,000 spectators and 60 to 75 volunteers will converge at Wings Event Center this weekend for the MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals.
Volunteers gathered at the venue Thursday, setting up two of the three arenas and making sure everything was in working order in preparation for Friday’s Quarterfinals and Saturday’s Semifinals and Finals.
And tournament director Mike Garvey – who before retiring last year served as an athletic director for more than two decades at four area high schools, plus led Lawton to the Class D wrestling title in 1990 – can rattle off the details like a tour guide.
“There are 10 warm-up mats in ‘The Valley,’” Garvey pointed out Thursday. “That’s where the teams also weigh in.
“We have four registered MHSAA referees who are going to inspect the kids for skin diseases, which they always do for wrestlers, and weigh them in.
“There’s a doctor who has volunteered because if a referee says no … we say ‘Go see the doc,’ which is nice.”
And that's just the start of the setup that comes with hosting one of the MHSAA’s most popular championship showcases.
The tournament is a collaboration of the MHSAA, Wings Event Center and Discover Kalamazoo, and the event is in its second year of a four-year contract with the facility. Saturday's 3:45 p.m. championship matches will close a three-week team tournament with champions celebrated in four divisions.
Last year’s Finals drew a championship-record attendance of 9,469.
"There’s no way you can miss Wings Event Center right off I-94,” said Dan Hutcheson, assistant director of the MHSAA. “Parking, the facilities. In general, this is a great place for us. Probably the most important thing for us is the people who work here. They’ve been so good to us, especially Rob (Underwood, Wings Event Center general manager) and Melissa (Janecke, special events coordinator).”
Garvey started planning this year’s event the day after last year’s championships finished. He started getting commitments from volunteers in the fall.
Providing memorable experiences for wrestlers, officials and fans are main priorities, and that means covering every detail from weigh-ins to concessions to where teams will stay and parents will park.
Garvey has volunteers who act as liaisons for each team, greeting them, distributing their packets and familiarizing them with the venue.
How does he get so many volunteers?
“I beg,” he said, laughing. “I say that in jest because people are thrilled to be part of this. I emailed all the ADs and wrestling coaches in the area, and they’ve just jumped in.
“Also the Kalamazoo wrestling officials association has jumped in as well, not as referees (but) as volunteers. Chris Furlong, the wrestling coach at Portage Northern, has been invaluable.”
The main action will take place in the stadium, where four mats are showcased on risers.
“It’s like the movie ‘Hoosiers’ when the guy opened the door at Butler and the kids walked in and were awestruck,” Garvey said. “That’s how these kids look, especially for the first time.”
There is more to the tournament than the wrestlers.
Portage Northern softball players are selling programs, and the concession stands in the arena are open.
“Teams can bring in their own food, and we have a place for them to eat (in the area above the third rink),” Garvey said.
Referees have their own space in the ECHL Kalamazoo Wings locker room, and “Portage Northern wrestling moms are setting up something for the refs in the locker room so they can just go back there for their food,” Garvey said.
Taco John’s will cater lunches for the volunteers, which Garvey calls “Garv’s Guys.”
Garvey also selects singers of the national anthem before each round.
South Haven’s Jim McCloughan, who received the Medal of Honor in 2017 for his service in Vietnam, will sing before the Division 2 and 3 Quarterfinals.
Martin junior Aleyca Morey and Loy Norrix sophomore Sierra Ward will perform before the other two divisions on Friday. Saturday’s anthem singers will be Portage Central junior Ciara Williams, Mattawan junior Thomas Lamb and St. Augustine fifth grader Marissa Toweson.
Discover Kalamazoo, a tourist information center, also is involved in the tournament playing a key role in many behind-the-scenes necessities.
“Our office is very engaged with helping place the participating teams and coaches into hotels,” said Greg Ayers, president/CEO of Discover Kalamazoo. “Of the 32 teams, most all of them will have at least one night (and some two nights) in our local hotels.
“While we don't have any specific number(s) regarding the economic impact of the event, we know 32 teams, their fans and others will have impact on area hotels, restaurants, retail, gas stations, etc.”
Ayers anticipates another large crowd this weekend.
“(With) three teams (Schoolcraft, Dowagiac and Niles) in our backyard, we anticipate big crowds to be in attendance supporting their teams,” he said.
Hutcheson, who wrestled at Ferris State University and spent three years at the Olympic training center, can look at the tournament from several vantage points
“When I look at an event like this, I look at it as a past wrestler, as a past coach, as an AD, and as a spectator,” he said.
“I try to think of all the different lenses you have to look through at an event, then we try to do the best we can.”
Wings Event Center has become a “Home of Wrestling,” Underwood said. “They like it, and we like it.
“The convenience off I-94, the great hotels we have around here with more opening, the seats in this venue, the concessions and bathrooms have made it a great location.”
Wings Event Center hosts five MYWAY youth wrestling events a year, and it was through Dave Dean, that organization’s president, that the MHSAA Finals began looking to Kalamazoo.
“My relationship with Dave Dean in MYWAY led me to Dan Hutcheson, and we started our conversations a couple years ago and here we are,” Underwood said. “It’s a great event, and we love having it here.”
Underwood has become a fan and spectator of the event.
“Once you start watching, it’s hard to walk away from it,” he said. “The team event is really neat because of the camaraderie with the wrestlers and the coaches and their following. When you look in the stands and just see color blocking for that team and the support, that’s cool to see.”
“(The MHSAA) does one (tournament) here and (individual championships) at Ford Field, so I guess we’re in good company.”
Garvey said he always wanted to run an MHSAA Finals tournament and jumped at the job when it went to Kalamazoo.
This year is especially special for Garvey.
“One of the neat things for me this year is that Schoolcraft has qualified,” he said “Their coach, Rob Ling, was a Lawton wrestler (with Garvey as coach), and he’s one of my boys.
“It makes me feel very proud. That’s a bonus for me.”
Ayers said more than half the teams are returning to Kalamazoo this year and “those teams and their fans are gaining familiarity with our community (hotels, restaurants, etc.)
“Having high school-aged students in our community provides excellent opportunities to introduce Kalamazoo. It can lead to prospective students for WMU, Kalamazoo College and Kalamazoo Valley Community College.”
Garvey said his team is always trying to improve.
“Last year everybody who came to this tournament as participants said it was the best Team Finals ever,” he said. “Being competitors, we want it to be better every year.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) By Thursday evening, Wings Event Center awaited this weekend's MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals. (Middle) Clockwise from left: Lowell's Curt Cummings sets up the clocks. Portage Northern junior Shane Lisk, left, and senior Cameron Migliaccio clean the mats. Wings Event Center special events coordinator Melissa Janecke tapes the mats. Portage Northern senior wrestler Quinten Baughman continues the process of mat cleaning. (Below) Mike Garvey, left, and Rob Underwood. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)