D1 Preview: Davison, Detroit Catholic Central Lead Returning Champs Charge
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 3, 2022
The MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals returns to Ford Field this weekend, and Davison and Detroit Catholic Central will lead the way in Division 1 with four returning champions apiece.
After meeting again in Saturday’s Division 1 Team Final, those rivals dominate the list of 10 contenders we look at below – along with a list of other top seeds heading into this weekend, returning Finals runners-up and a few more making the trip to Detroit with an undefeated record.
The Grand March on Friday begins at 10 a.m., with wrestling through semifinals that evening. Wrestling begins again at 9 a.m. Saturday with championship matches at 3:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at Ford Field. All matches will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv, and we’ll talk to all 14 champions in each division for our Second Half coverage published later that evening and overnight. See the MHSAA Wrestling Finals page for more information and to follow results this weekend.
112 Caleb Weiand, Macomb Dakota junior (44-0) – The top seed at his weight also entered last season’s Finals undefeated and suffered his only loss in the 103 championship match.
119 Drew Heethuis, Detroit Catholic Central junior (28-3) – Last season’s champion at 112 moves up a weight and is the top seed this weekend with only one loss this season to an in-state competitor (Dundee’s Braeden Davis).
119 Justin Gates, Davison sophomore (27-3) – Last season’s champion at 103 is up two weights, putting him on a course to meet Heethuis in the title match after losing to him 2-1 at last week’s Team Final.
125 Caden Horwath, Davison junior (26-0) – Last year’s champion at 119 is going for his third individual championship after also claiming the 103 title in 2020. He’s 96-2 for his career and hasn’t lost in two seasons.
140 Dylan Gilcher, Detroit Catholic Central junior (35-0) – He’s also wrestling for a third championship after winning 135 last year and 112 as a freshman. He’s 101-4 for his high school career.
152 Darius Marines, Detroit Catholic Central sophomore (31-4) – He debuted at the Finals last year by winning an all-DCC championship match at 145, and he’ll look to add another title as his weight’s top seed this weekend.
171 Manuel Rojas, Detroit Catholic Central senior (34-2) – The two-time reigning champ at 189 will attempt to close his career with a third-straight title, his only in-state loss this season at the Team Final to Davison’s Josh Barr 4-3. He also defeated Barr 3-2 at the beginning of January.
171 Josh Barr, Davison junior (24-1) – He’s also seeking a third title after winning last season at 160 and at 152 as a freshman. He’s on the other side of the bracket from Rojas this weekend, setting up a possible tie-breaker to their season series with the title on the line.
215 Jimmy Colley, Davison senior (28-2) – He’s wrestling his fourth Finals at this weight, entering as the top seed and reigning champion after also finishing fourth as a freshman and third as a sophomore.
285 Joshua Terrill, Holt senior (39-2) – He’s the top seed and will attempt to take the final step up the podium after finishing runner-up at this weight a year ago.
Other 2021 runners-up: 140 Evan Herriman, Davison junior (17-3, 135 last year); 189 Remy Cotton, Davison senior (23-3, 189 last year for Traverse City Central).
Additional No. 1 seeds: 103 Ozia Wilson, Macomb Dakota freshman (44-0); 130 Elijah Bunn, Rockford junior (39-1); 135 Aiden Smith, Brighton senior (40-1); 145 Nathan Jerore, Brownstown Woodhaven senior (34-1); 160 Jaylon Riggins, Jackson senior (24-0); 189 Aidan Wardell, Midland Dow senior (41-3).
Also undefeated: 152 Noah Tgiros, Utica Ford senior (40-0); 285 Giulian Bodiu, Canton senior (25-0).
PHOTO Detroit Catholic Central's Drew Heethuis, top, controls his match on the way to a major decision during Saturday's Team Semifinals. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
DCC 'Vikings' Dominate in D1 Repeat
February 24, 2018
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
KALAMAZOO – They are called the Shamrocks, but for this wrestling season a more appropriate nickname would be Vikings.
The Detroit Catholic Central wrestling team not only won the Division 1 team championship this season, it dominated everything that got in its way in the state of Michigan.
Catholic Central’s final hurdle came in the Division 1 team championship match, a 57 to -1 win over Brighton, which had one point deducted early in the match for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The victory against Brighton capped a three-match blitz through Finals weekend by a combined score of 173-5 over the two-day event.
If that sounds like something out of Viking lore, that is exactly what the Shamrocks planned.
“Well, our team motto in the tourney is `burn it down, burn the boats,’” said Catholic Central junior Joe Urso. “Like they say on the TV show ‘The Vikings,’ ‘burn their boats.’ We came into this tournament looking to burn it down.”
That was exactly what a group of Shamrocks were chanting after the final match of the dual clinched a second consecutive title, the sixth Division 1 team title in the past nine years for Catholic Central.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Catholic Central junior Kevon Davenport. “We came out and from one through 14 everyone did a great job. We have great team unity, and that is one of our strong points. We have fun, and we like each other like brothers.”
Davenport was one of three Catholic Central wrestlers who recorded pins in the Final. Joshua Edmond (135 pounds) and Aidan Wagh (171) joined Davenport (145) with falls.
A pair of Shamrocks added five team points apiece with technical falls: senior Benyamin Kamali and junior Cameron Amine, a pair of two-time individual champions, won at 119 and 160 pounds, respectively.
“This is unbelievable,” said Kamali, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Kamali points to the team’s work ethic as a key to producing those impressive results.
“We are the hardest-working team in the state,” Kamali said. “Nobody in the state works as hard as we do. We also have the best coaches in the country.”
Catholic Central coach Mitch Hancock has led the Shamrocks (29-1) to their six titles since 2010. Along with hard work, Hancock believes in testing his team against the best competition he can find.
“I believe iron sharpens iron,” Hancock said. “The common equation of all this year’s champions (Lowell, Dundee and Hudson as well) is the teams all put together such difficult schedules. We wrestled Lowell a few weeks ago, and we also wrestled Dundee and Hudson.”
Catholic Central’s lone loss this season came against Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward, ranked No. 8 nationally by one publication.
“We have been undefeated in Michigan the last two years,” Hancock said. “We have a great group of coaches who know how to lead young men. We also have great parents and great support from our school’s administration. We also have a great group of young men who focus on the team.”
Catholic Central received major decisions from Easton Turner (215) and Steven Kolcheff (285), who started the dual with four-point victories to put the Shamrocks up 8-0.
Brighton (33-4) put up several strong efforts, but came up just short in six matches that ended in decisions. At 189 pounds, Catholic Central’s Rory Cox edged Brighton’s Greyson Stevens 3-1 in overtime. At 130 pounds, Catholic senior Stone Moscovic edged Brighton’s Zach Johnson 3-2. The Shamrocks’ Devon Johnsen (112) and Dominick Lomazzo (125) both won 3-1 decisions over Ben Manly and Eddie Homrock, respectively. Also picking up wins by decision for Catholic Central were Daniel Rehfeldt (103), Derek Gilcher (140) and Urso (152).
“This was pretty special,” Moscovic said. “Last year was a big moment because we lost in the Quarterfinals my sophomore year. We just came in with a mission this year. This team is like one big family. Each of our teammates is like a brother. Our team is more of a brotherhood.”
Click for full results of the weekend’s Division 1 matches.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Dominick Lomazzo celebrates his win at 125 pounds. (Middle) Brighton’s Luke Stanton and DCC’s Easton Turner lock up at 215 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)