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.)

Standard Bearer of a 4-Time Champ

March 2, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

AUBURN HILLS – Adam Coon attended the MHSAA Individual Finals for the first time as a seventh grader, the son of a successful coach who knew what it took to grow a champion.

And Adam hoped to become one too. But he really wanted to know what it took to become the wrestler who carried the American flag during the athletes’ Grand March before the matches began.

“I told him the guys up there are the best in the state. So you’re probably going to have to be a four-timer,” Fowlerville coach Dan Coon recalled. “You better show yourself that you’re a four-timer and worthy to carry the American flag.”

Adam Coon did carry the flag into The Palace of Auburn Hills before Saturday’s Individual Finals. And only a few minutes later, he became just the 17th MHSAA wrestler to finish his high school career with a championship won every season.

Coon pinned Eaton Rapids senior Trent Hurd in 1:13 to win the championship at 285 pounds and finish this winter 55-0. He pinned every opponent he faced this season, and ended with a career record of 211-3 – with a 194-match winning streak dating to his freshman year that ranks as seventh-longest in MHSAA history.

All four of Coon’s championships came at either 285 or 215 pounds, making him also the first of that elite group to win his four at the heaviest weights.

Carrying in the flag was “a dream comes true.” But winning the titles was pretty great too.

“Since I got that first one, I was going to see if I could get the fourth,” Coon said. “I just got the opportunity, and I took advantage of it. Praise God, I got the fourth.”

Dan Coon has been the one to keep Adam grounded, especially with pressure mounting this season. Before they took the mat Saturday, Dad reminded son of something he’d heard: “The sun will always rise tomorrow. Just a whole lot brighter when you win.”

Adam’s other childhood dream had been to get a lot closer to seeing what that bright sun looks like. He’ll study aerospace engineering while wrestling at the University of Michigan, and has been set on designing a spacecraft to accommodate taller astronauts since finding out as a child that he’d probably end up too sizable to make the trip.

Dan is looking forward to watching what his son will accomplish next, be it on the mat or beyond while using the lessons he learned during these championship runs.

“Is he going to stop wrestling? No. It will never leave him now,” Dan Coon said. “He’s always going to be a wrestler.”

Eaton Rapids’ Hurd finished 43-12. Click for full results, and read below for recaps of each championship match and comments from all the winners.

103

Champion: Joe Garcia, Adrian, Jr. (31-1)
Fall, 2:53, over Ian Parker, St. Johns, Fr. (48-3)

Garcia was the MHSAA runner-up in 2011. He then came in fifth at his weight in 2012 – but didn’t get that longed-for chance to return to the championship match and come away with a win.

Until Saturday. An offseason of increased preparation and conditioning and a switch in strategy from that freshman Final gave him the edge to win his first MHSAA title.

“It lets me know my hard work paid off,” Garcia said. “My freshman year, I was more focused on defense. And this year, I focused more on the attack. I didn’t stop moving.”

112

Champion: Mason Smith, Clio, Soph. (55-4)
Fall, 3:30, over Zeth Dean, Lowell, Fr. (40-6)

Smith felt pretty good about his chances of coming into his first season, 2011-12, and winning an MHSAA championship. And he nearly got that opportunity, before finishing fourth at 103 pounds.

Now, thanks to some push by his coaches, he feels set up to make a run at finishing with three titles instead.

“Last year, I was really lazy. I didn’t want to do anything. I thought I’d just win,” Smith said. “My coach came at me pretty hard, all of them. None of them let me just sit around and do nothing like I did last year.

“(Now,) I’m going to come back hard and go for it.”

119

Champion: Bailey Jack, Lowell, Jr. (39-8)
Decision, 6-4, over Dean Somers, Lapeer West, Sr. (46-2)

Only 56 wrestlers in Michigan can say they finished the season with an Individual Finals win. And Jack will take it, especially coming off the disappointment of his Red Arrows losing to St. Johns in the Team Final a week ago.

Jack offered praise for Somers, a runner-up in 2012 – “He’s tough everywhere. You don’t make it to the Finals being a sissy,” – and thankful for the jumpstart he received to prepare for next winter.

“It’s a great bounce-back, morally, for me,” Jack said. “Now I can go into the offseason working just as hard as I did this year.”

125

Champion: Zac Hall, St. Johns, Jr. (48-0)
Technical Fall, 23-8, over JacQuan Moore, St. Clair Shores Lakeshore, Sr. (44-4)

Over the course of just a few minutes Saturday, Zac Hall put himself on the cusp of making some incredible history next season.

Not only will Hall be shooting to become the 18th wrestler to win four MHSAA championships. He’ll also try to become perhaps only the second (more research to come) to win four individual titles and wrestle for four team champions as well.

Hall had previously won his individual titles at 112 and 103. Davison’s Brent Metcalf won individual titles from 2002-05 and was on team champions as well all four seasons.

“One kid’s ever done it, so that’s a pretty incredible class to be put with,” Hall said. “(But) you get here at the Palace, anything can happen. … You’ve just got to be smart, keep your head.

“I had three matches where I thought I was going to pin the kid. Kids fight at another level when you get here. They don’t get easier.”

130

Champion: Jacob Schmitt, St. Johns, Sr. (51-0)
Fall, 0:47, Christian Schoenherr, Bay City Western, Soph. (42-8)

Schmitt admitted his final high school season flew by this winter. He’ll continue to wrestle at the college level – for Northwestern – but first has finished a legacy that stacks up with the best.

He capped the weekend with his third MHSAA individual title – he also won 103 in 2010 and 125 last season – to go with four team championships. Schmitt also was runner-up at 112 as a sophomore.

“It went quick this year, but I’m happy with the way I went out. With a pin in the first period, I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “I would say (this season) started out rough for us, with those losses. (St. Johns finished 22-4). But we kept it together as a team, pulled through at the end, great teammates pushing each other all the time.”

135

Champion: Logan Massa, St. Johns, Soph. (42-2)
Fall, 2:45, over Steve Bleise, Chelsea, Jr. (45-1)

Massa knew something about competing in an MHSAA Final – he finished runner-up at 119 last season. But the coach in his corner knew a little bit more.

Brother Taylor Massa returned to The Palace to sit in Logan’s corner, a year after the former finished his high school career as the 16th to win four MHSAA titles.

“He’s knows the environment real well. He helps me out a lot,” Logan said.

“I wasn’t going to let (last year) happen again. I trained harder, and I was just going to train as hard as I could until I got it.”

140

Champion: Kyle Simaz, Allegan, Jr. (61-1)
Major Decision, 22-13, over Adam Nichols, Lapeer West, Sr. (50-5)

“We got one folks; good deal,” a relieved Simaz said after capping his third MHSAA Finals appearance with his first win.

Simaz had finished runner-up at 130 pounds last season and at 119 in 2011. And not long into Saturday’s championship match, Nichols nearly pinned him.

But by staying on his feet – Simaz’s strength – he turned the tide of the match quickly in his favor.

“I was really disappointed to start the match off like that. That’s a bad note. But luckily we came though that and pulled off a victory,” Simaz said.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to get one of these, so I’m very relieved. I feel like a lot of stuff came off my shoulders.”

145

Champion: Ben Whitford, St. Johns, Sr. (37-0)
Technical Fall, 22-7, over Casey Burandt, Niles, Sr. (31-2)

Whitford also celebrated winning a fourth state-level championship Saturday. He clinched his second MHSAA title to go with his championship last season at 140 and two he won while living in Illinois as a freshman and sophomore.

He keeps up with some friends he wrestled with while in Illinois. But he’s definitely a Michigan guy now, and signed to join U-M next season.

“It’s a weird feeling that it’s all over,” Whitford said. “For the last two years, I don’t think I would’ve improved more, had better friends, or been able to do the things we’ve done without the guys around me. And I’m just proud to be back in St. Johns.”

152

Champion: Josh Pennell, St. Johns, Sr. (40-0)
Fall, 1:44, over Fritzel Findeisen, Niles, Sr. (49-6)

Pennell has been a significant part of St. Johns’ program through all four team championships, and finished third individually the last two seasons after placing second at 119 as a freshman.

But the Michigan State recruit felt like it was inevitable that like many of his teammates, he’d get an individual title too. And in his final high school match, he made that hope come true.

“It’s long overdue, I felt like. And what a better year than senior year,” Pennell said. “I wasn’t going to stop until I had a state title.

“I thought about (the last few years) a lot. I was able to come back and wrestle and win my match for third. Those were all very close matches, and all I thought about was winning it and winning those close matches.”

160

Champion: Devon Pingel, North Branch, Fr. (40-3)
Decision, 10-5, over Jordan Sullivan, Coopersville, Sr. (39-3)

Pingel explained that he’d wrestled on a similarly large stage before –prior to high school, when he won a tournament in Tulsa, Okla.

But he was excited about the opportunities that could come with finishing his first trip to The Palace with an MHSAA title as a freshman.

“I learned to push myself a lot harder,” Pingel said. “I wanted to be a four-time state champ. I got a start to it.”

171

Champion: Angus Arthur, St. Johns, Soph. (46-3)
Decision, 5-2, over Brett Dempsey, Mattawan, Sr. (55-1)

It’s fair to say Arthur, for one of the few times this season, was the underdog in his championship match. Dempsey finished third at 171 in 2012 and hadn't lost this winter.

But it’s been a fun two weeks for the Redwings, given their team title won in Battle Creek. And Arthur felt confidence in the preparation he’d received facing some of the toughest teams in the state this season.

“I felt like I was (the underdog). (But) I didn't really look at the record,” he said. “I knew I could win, and I just went out there.”

189

Champion: Payne Hayden, St. Johns, Sr. (45-1)
11-9, Decision, over Garett Stehley, Lowell, Jr. (30-1)

For once, Hayden said, he felt “great” at the end of an MHSAA Finals.

He’d had plenty of success before, making the Semifinals his first two seasons and finishing runner-up at 215 a year ago. But ending number one was an entirely different experience.

“Every year, I’ve had seven losses no matter what age. (But) I’ve always been right at the top of the podium,” Hayden said. “It feels good right now to finally get that chip off my shoulder.”

Hayden finished undefeated in Michigan this winter. His lone loss came to Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward’s Domenic Abounader, who he’ll wrestle with next season at U-M.

215

Champion: Brian Moran, Fowlerville, Sr. (56-0)
Decision, 11-5, over Taylor Kornoely, Lowell, Sr. (36-1)

The unfortunate circumstance of Saturday’s final Division 2 match was that one senior was going to finish his final season with a loss and just shy of winning his first MHSAA title.

Moran led 6-4 with a period remaining before pulling away. And the emotion of the moment wasn’t lost on the Gladiators’ standout, who lost to teammate Adam Coon at this weight in the 2010 championship match and finished fourth at his weight last season.

“Since I’ve been in fourth grade, I’ve put my heart and soul in this sport. And to leave this sport at that type of note, on top, it’s amazing," Moran said. "I’ve been striving for this my whole high school career. I don’t care if it’s a state title. I feel like I just won the Olympics."

PHOTO: Fowlerville senior Adam Coon has his arm raised after winning his fourth MHSAA title Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)