Cushman: Good to Great to 101 Straight
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 14, 2018
Flushing’s Ben Cushman wanted to be better than good on the wrestling mat.
After his sophomore season ended in at the MHSAA Finals, one win shy of the podium and all-state honors, Cushman decided to do everything he could to become great – to be able to compete with the state’s elite.
One hundred and one straight victories, one Division 1 individual title and a signed letter of intent to Central Michigan University later, it’s safe to say he’s accomplished that.
“I think a lot of it was just getting beat,” Cushman said. “I got beat by Brendan McRill (a former MHSAA champion from Davison), and just always got beat by guys like him. I just changed up my whole technique. Before I was just always shooting double legs. I didn’t really have a good takedown that was effective against other wrestlers.
“I really looked at a lot of film, looked at all the mistakes I made and what I could have done better.”
Cushman won the Division 1 title at 215 pounds as a junior, becoming Flushing’s first Finals champion since 2000. He’s 45-0 as a senior this winter, and he recently won a District title to keep alive his opportunity for a run at a repeat championship, although this season he’s back at 189 pounds.
He has yet to be taken down this season, allowing only escape points to his opponents through those 45 matches. He’s only been taken down once in the past two years. It’s a stunning run of dominance, and to those looking in from the outside, it appeared to come out of nowhere.
“He’s been around (wrestling) for a long time, so most people in Michigan knew who he was,” Flushing coach Andy Rishmawi said. “I think he surprised people in the way he went about it. He wrestled a lot of good kids, and last year we put him up against everybody, and he went undefeated and had one offensive point scored on him all year. So to me, I think the way he went about it, I think that surprised some people.”
It wasn’t a surprise to Rishmawi and Cushman, however, as they saw what he went through each day to get there.
“Coming into his junior year, he was just focused and ready, and working out all the time,” Rishmawi said. “In the weight room, on the mat, working on his form, working on his technique, just really understanding more how you do certain things. There was a huge growth in him.”
While Cushman was working to add more to his repertoire, the focus remained on simple things – and doing those simple things incredibly well.
“We would just take it day by day,” he said. “There was one thing that Coach would want me to work on, which is just pulling the elbow. We would do that for a half hour straight until I got it down perfectly, and when we would wrestle live, I would work on other moves off of that. I kept doing that until it became second nature.”
Rishmawi said the raw ability was always there with Cushman, calling him freakishly strong while at the same time extremely coachable. Because of the latter, Cushman has been able to maintain that same level of focus in practice, despite the fact he’s already established his dominance in the state.
“When you’ve dominated people and you’ve had such a good run, you wouldn’t expect to have coaches still screaming in your ear about a move you might have done wrong,” Rishmawi said. “Let’s say he’s doing a 30-second drill. We know that the person he’s wrestling against can’t keep up with him, so he needs to get six takedowns instead of five. During sprints, we’re in his face. While he’s working on a move, we’re in his face. He understands, ‘They’re really trying to help me.’”
Cushman has remained motivated, in part, by the fact he knows he has to improve to be successful when he goes to Central Michigan. He also knows that in this sport, losing his focus for one second could end this run.
“I just know that in order to get to that stage, you need to wrestle each and every match one match at a time,” he said. “You can’t advance to the state Finals without winning Districts. I really just try to stay humble, and I give the glory to God, because I know that’s why I’m doing this.”
But the training isn’t just about holding off hungry competition, it’s about feeding Cushman’s own hunger, the same that burned inside him in 2016.
“Everyone wants to knock the king off the mountain, and this year people have taken the approach, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, this is a state champion, I’m supposed to lose,’ so they really go after me,” Cushman said. “My coach reminds me every day, ‘You’re chasing something, too. You want to win another title. You want to go to college and win a national title and be an All-American.’
“I never want to be satisfied.”
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) Flushing’s Ben Cushman works against Grand Haven’s Drake Morley during last season’s Division 1 championship match at 215 pounds. (Middle) Cushman locks up with Detroit Catholic Central’s Jackson Ross during a quarterfinal. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Performance: Tri-County's Dakota Greer
March 9, 2018
Dakota Greer
Howard City Tri-County wrestling - Senior
Greer capped his high school wrestling career Saturday at Ford Field with a third Division 3 championship, winning a 9-2 decision over Montrose’s Reese Wallis in the title match to finish this season 43-2 and earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
The champion at 119 as a junior and 103 as a freshman, Greer finished 174-6 for his career with 86 pins, and despite missing the end of his sophomore season. He injured his thumb late that winter, and despite making the attempt at his Individual District tournament, was unable to continue competing. That ended up taking him out of the running for four individual titles, but still left him among the elite who have wrestled in this state.
Greer followed the influence of cousins Dillen and Darren Decker into the sport – the 2015 Carson City-Crystal graduates both were MHSAA finalists for the Eagles, and Dillen was a champion as a senior before both went on to wrestle at Heidelberg University in Ohio. Greer also plays baseball – pitcher and centerfield – and is considering a variety of college options and opportunities to continue wrestling at that level. If he doesn’t wrestle, he’s leaning toward Ferris State University; regardless of where he’s headed next, Greer would like to study forestry, criminal justice to become a conservation officer, or heating and cooling.
Coach Corey Renner said: “Dakota told me about when he was a youth wrestler, getting beat by the same kids all the time, until one year he ‘decided not to lose anymore.’ So he started working harder, trying to learn more, etc., and his ability took off from there. Dakota has practiced so much that his moves just seem to happen without a lot of conscious thought, more like a reflex. He is also very good at reading his opponent and finding weaknesses in a short amount of time. … Dakota seems to be able to see things from a coach’s point of view, and he is good at helping get other kids to buy into what we are trying to do. Dakota doesn't ever expect anything; he knows that success is earned every day and that past success doesn't guarantee anything or allow you any "slack.” I think that when Dakota had the injury his sophomore year, he approached it with the same attitude as when he was a little kid – just work hard and do all the things that helped lead to success before to try to get back to where he was.”
Performance Point: “It was more of a relief than anything to finally get it done,” Greer said of winning the third title. “All the things leading up to it, all the work. Getting the two before, you’re kinda expected to win it, so it’s nice to get out there and get it done. … Coming into my freshman year, I wasn’t sure how good I would be or what I could become. What I’ve done is what I’ve dreamed of doing, but I didn’t know if I could or not. After I got the first one, I knew I was capable of it. It was just a matter of making it happen.”
On the attack: “I started to see a lot of cases where kids were coming at me with a bunch of weird, different techniques defending my offense. This year I was focusing on how to still attack and find out ways to get around that. If they’re going to block one thing, find another way to attack.”
No regret: “(Missing the 2016 Finals) doesn’t bother me too much. I can’t worry about things like that. I’m not going to sit here and say I would’ve done something; you never know unless you do it. It was a very tough bracket that year – any of those kids could’ve beaten me. … (But) I think it was a huge part of me coming back as strong as I did. It drove me.”
Cousin connection: “The reason I started wrestling was because of my cousins. I always looked up to them and wanted to wrestle because of them. They used to live here right by us, and they wrestled when they were younger and I always looked up to them and wanted to do what they were doing. I started when I was 3, and from then on is history. They were down (at Ford Field) watching me wrestle; they’ve been huge support.”
Gotta get outside: “I just love everything about it. I love nature, being outside, all the great things and activities. (This fall) I got a couple deer. This whole winter, I run hunting dogs, beagles, so I raise and train them and hunt rabbits with those. I have my own fishing boat, and I do bow fishing and bass fishing and all that stuff during the summer. It’s basically my whole life besides wrestling and school.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2017-18 honorees:
March 1: Camree' Clegg, Wayne Memorial basketball - Read
February 23: Aliah Robertson, Sault Ste. Marie swimming - Read
February 16: Austin O'Hearon, Eaton Rapids wrestling - Read
February 9: Sophia Wiard, Muskegon Oakridge basketball - Read
February 2: Brenden Tulpa, Hartland hockey - Read
January 25: Brandon Whitman, Dundee wrestling - Read
January 18: Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa swimming - Read
January 11: Lexi Niepoth, Bellaire basketball - Read
November 30: La'Darius Jefferson, Muskegon football - Read
November 23: Ashley Turak, Farmington Hills Harrison swimming - Read
November 16: Bryce Veasley, West Bloomfield football - Read
November 9: Jose Penaloza, Holland soccer - Read
November 2: Karenna Duffey, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North cross country - Read
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City Central golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Howard City Tri-County's Dakota Greer (left) works to gain control during his championship match Saturday. (Middle) Greer celebrates with the Ford Field crowd after clinching his third MHSAA individual wrestling title. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)