D2 Preview: Arrows Target Title 4-Peat
February 24, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Over the first 29 years the MHSAA has sponsored Team Wrestling Finals, only four schools have won at least four straight championships.
This weekend, Lowell can become the fifth.
The top-seeded Red Arrows, after battling through St. Johns' four straight titles from 2010-13, have won the last three and come to Central Michigan University as the favorite again, albeit ahead of a field that includes two undefeated teams and two more that have lost only once this winter.
Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 2, listed by seed. Quarterfinal matches begin at 6:45 p.m. Friday, with Semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and the championship match at 6 p.m. All matches this weekend will be streamed live on a subscription basis on MHSAA.tv. For Friday’s schedule and results throughout, check the MHSAA Wrestling page.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
#1 Lowell
Record/rank: 18-2, No. 1
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference White
Coach: RJ Boudro, third season (69-7)
Championship history: Six MHSAA championships (most recent 2016), six runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Nick Korhorn (33-7) fr., 112 Dawson Jankowski (25-8) fr., 119 Jeff Leach (31-9) soph., 119 James Fotis (25-7) fr., 135 Austin Boone (33-3) fr., 140 Avry Mutschler (34-5) soph., 140 Sam Russell (18-12) sr., 152 Bryce Dempsey (30-5) sr., 160 Keigan Yuhas (23-6) jr., 171 Austin Engle (27-11) jr., 189 Dave Kruse (29-4) jr., 215 Elijah Boulton (34-3) sr., 215 Connor Nugent (31-11) jr.
Outlook: Lowell is seeking its fourth straight Division 2 title, and after graduating four Individual Finals placers last spring reloaded with four freshmen who have qualified for next week’s tournament. Six of the seven lightest weights are occupied by underclassmen, while veterans man the upper classes. Boulton is the reigning runner-up at 215 and Kruse, Mutschler and Dempsey also placed last year.
#2 Warren Woods Tower
Record/rank: 26-0, No. 2
League finish: First in Macomb Area Conference Red
Coach: Greg Mayer, 17th season (328-232)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 David Stepanian (34-1) soph., 112 Chaise Mayer (45-1) soph., 119 Elijuh Weaver (49-3) sr., 135 Joe Schindler (45-3) sr., 140 Jack Pehote (40-11) jr., 140 Nico Martini (38-11) sr., 145 Keff O’Connell (34-13) soph., 152 Austin Frederick (28-9) jr., 160 Jajuan Lovejoy (41-12) jr., 171 Trey Barbour (38-1) jr., 215 Joel Radvansky (35-2) soph.
Outlook: The Titans continued to rise last season, entering as a sixth seed and nearly upsetting third seed Gaylord in the Quarterfinals. For the second straight winter, Woods Tower has won its most matches under Mayer, and it gave up only 39 points over four postseason victories to get back to CMU. Weaver won the individual title at 112 last season and Mayer was runner-up at 103; together they lead a group of 11 Finals qualifiers, nearly double last season’s total.
#3 St. Johns
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 3
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference Red
Coach: Derek Phillips, fifth season (112-14)
Championship history: Four MHSAA championships (most recent 2013), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Brendon Smith (19-10) soph., 112 Brendan Zelenka (27-4) jr., 119 Emilio Sanchez (25-8) sr., 125 Kaleob Whitford (12-3) soph., 135 James Whitaker (32-5) soph., 140 Trent Lashuay (28-6) sr., 145 Cross Gonzalez (28-8) jr., 152 Bret Fedewa (39-0) sr.
Outlook: The Redwings emerged as the favorite from among four top-10 teams from the Lansing area including three from their league, plus beat No. 5 Gaylord by two points in the Regional Final. Lashuay was runner-up last season at 135 and Fedewa also was a Finals placer; they are two of six seniors and 10 upperclassmen total expected to start this weekend.
#4 Marysville
Record/rank: 26-0, unranked
League finish: First in Macomb Area Conference White
Coach: Rocky Palazzolo, seventh season (111-46)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Kyle French (44-2) sr., 145 Doug Ferrier (46-4) jr., 160 Tyler Gates (33-18) sr., 171 Nino Bastianelli (47-4) sr.
Outlook: Marysville snuck under the state rankings radar, but emerged with a District Final win over No. 9 Goodrich and two 30-plus point wins at the Regional. The Vikings have won five league and four District titles under Palazzolo, but this is their first Quarterfinal trip in program history. French, Ferrier, Bastianelli and senior Austin Keeley (46-5, 215) all were individual placers in 2016.
#5 Allendale
Record/rank: 34-3, No. 6
League finish: First in O-K Blue
Coach: Duane Watson, 29th season (571-227)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Asher Meekhof (40-2) jr., 125 Jared Dankowski (36-8) sr., 130 Angel Perez (38-6) sr., 135 Nathan Wynsma (39-5) soph., 140 Ryan Wynsma (36-11) sr.
Outlook: Allendale is headed back to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2011 after winning all four of its postseason matches by at least 36 points. The Falcons have won 10 straight District titles and 13 league titles over the last 14 seasons, and have advanced to the Semifinals three of their last four trips to championship weekend. Meekoff was an individual placer last season, and he’s one of 10 upperclassmen anchoring the lineup.
#6 Niles
Record/rank: 15-1, No. 4
League finish: First in Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West
Coach: Todd Hesson, 10th season (220-78)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Ryan Franco (13-7) fr., 119 Austin Franco (17-2) jr., 119 Cade Stephenson (25-10) sr., 125 Andrew Flick (34-2) sr., 145 Mitchell Findeisen (32-2) sr., 160 Davin Simpson (27-11) jr.
Outlook: Niles is making its fourth Quarterfinal appearance in five seasons, vanquishing its toughest postseason foe, rival Stevensville Lakeshore, by 10 in the District Final. Flick and Findeisen both were individual placers last season and could be primed to lead the Vikings into upset territory; they’d made the Semifinals all three other times they’ve advanced this far.
#7 DeWitt
Record/rank: 30-4, No. 7
League finish: Second in CAAC Red
Coach: Brian Byars, 17th season (401-187)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Ronald Slater (38-16) soph., 130 Quenten Hall (46-8) soph., 135 Jackson Severns (34-7) jr., 140 Kilian Southworth (43-11) jr., 152 Sam York (50-2) jr., 160 Lucas McFarland (49-2) sr., 171 Gabe Larner (47-1) sr.
Outlook: The Panthers are coming off their first Regional title after being ranked as high as No. 2 this season. They beat No. 10 Mason by 31 points in the Regional Final after finishing second to St. Johns in the league all three share. There are only three seniors in the expected starting lineup, but all three have 38 or more wins – and Larner was an individual placer last season. Total, seven starters have won at least 35 matches this winter.
#8 Tecumseh
Record/rank: 24-6, unranked
League finish: First in Southeastern Conference White
Coach: AJ Marry, second season (38-21)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Vincent Perez (45-6) soph., 112 Joshua Hilton (37-13) soph., 119 Kellen Patton (39-12) soph., 130 Drew Marten (50-1) sr., 140 Kyle Yuhas (33-19) fr., 145 Gabe Bechtol (41-10) jr.
Outlook: Tecumseh is back for its sixth Quarterfinal berth in seven seasons, and made the Semifinals as recently as 2014. All three of the team’s seniors start, and the roster includes 18 underclassmen – a good sign for the future as well. Marten was last season’s champion at 125, and Patton also placed individually.
PHOTO: A Lowell wrestler takes control during a match at his Division 2 Individual District. (Photo courtesy of the Lowell athletic department.)
Brothers' Success Just Start for Beaverton
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 28, 2018
In a movie, this season and the future of the Beaverton wrestling program would be the epilogue, explained to us with words on the screen while triumphant music played.
When Eric and Kyle Cassiday won Division 4 individual MHSAA championships in back-to-back matches last season with their father Bryan – who had started the program four years earlier – coaching matside, the script could have been completed.
“It’s one of the top five moments of my entire life,” said Kyle Cassiday, now a senior at Beaverton. “(After my match) all I could focus on was Eric – he went through so much with injuries, so to see him win it was amazing.”
But while the Cassidays are certainly at the heart of the program, creating this program wasn’t just about them. And there are plenty more memories to be made.
“I wanted to provide an opportunity for the kids who had been through the youth program, and those that wanted to join, to at least experience what I experienced in high school wrestling,” Bryan Cassiday said. “We were all brothers, and I wanted them to get to be able to do that. We had a lot of help (from outside the program). We’ve had a lot of people helping to influence a lot of different kids. It’s been a wonderful experience.”
Bryan Cassiday is a Gladwin graduate who coached the youth program there. That included his sons Eric, Kyle and Jacob, who started when they were elementary and preschool age. Bryan continued to coach when the family moved to Beaverton, but there appeared to be a cap on how much time they could be involved with the sport and attend their new school, as Beaverton didn’t have a wrestling program.
When Eric was about to enter high school, the Cassidays started looking at options to transfer, going as far as having a family vote at the dinner table. Kyle voted for Beaverton. Little did he or his family know that was about to become an option.
“Some of the football coaches came to me and said, ‘What would it take to start a program?’” Bryan Cassiday said. “We put together some numbers on what it would cost, did some fundraising, and started one.”
For the kids, it was a relief.
“I was so happy,” Kyle said. “I didn’t want to leave my friends. They deserved to wrestle as much as we did. It was more than just for me.”
That first season, Beaverton had 12 or 13 wrestlers, Bryan Cassiday said, including a solid core of youth wrestlers who were finally able to stay at their home school, like Eric.
By Year 3 of the program, the three boys all were part of it, with Jacob as a freshman, Kyle a sophomore and Eric a junior.
Wrestling was and is a way of life for the Cassidays, who have a mat in the garage to train – or settle a dispute, even if that was rare and mostly in the past.
“It doesn’t matter what season it is, we’re always looking forward to wrestling,” said Jacob Cassiday, who was a Finals qualifier at 152 pounds a year ago. “We don’t wrestle much in the house. We broke a couple light fixtures, then that stopped.”
For Jacob, growing up as the youngest of four children (they have an older sister, Brooke, who is 21), allowed him to learn quite a bit.
“I’ve always been the smaller one, and I’ve always had to work hard,” he said. “I never had it easy, and they never did either. I was a little pudgy, and they helped me get into shape, then helped me with getting through wrestling. They taught me how to work hard. My oldest brother Eric had probably the best motivation I’ve ever seen. He was always in the weight room or on the mat or on the football field. There was no offseason. And, of course, they taught me how to be humble, because there’s always someone out there who’s better.”
The older brothers got to see each other plenty in practice, as Kyle was at 189 pounds and Eric at 215 a year ago.
“We’re both really competitive – we love to win, it’s what we strive to do,” Kyle said. “Halfway through the year, we started to change our perspective and realized we had a chance at winning. We would point each other to different techniques. Sometimes it got pretty intense, and we’d get pretty heated.”
Brotherly tensions aren’t something Dad worries much about spilling over, though.
“Really very rarely did they ever have problems,” Bryan said. “There was a point in the season when I was trying to get everybody on edge a little bit, and there were a couple times I had to separate them, but nothing out of control; you could just tell they were wanting it. Generally speaking, to be very honest, I’ve seen siblings that argue and fight – my kids don’t do that. They hunt together, they wrestle together, they do pretty much everything together.”
They eventually won Division 4 titles together. At last winter’s Finals at Ford Field, Kyle defeated TJ Rizor of Leroy Pine River 8-1 in the 189-pound final, while Eric followed with a 4-0 win against Chase Gibson of Bronson at 215.
“There will never be a way, honestly, to describe what happened,” Bryan said. “I couldn’t talk. I was having a hard time coping with it, to be honest with you. It’s hard to become a state champion. It was the culmination of the years and years of hard work and the passion they put into it. They continued to work, and they got paid in the end.”
Kyle said his championship wouldn’t have meant nearly as much had his brother not won. It’s something they’ll be able to talk about when they’re 40, he said.
But there’s more work to do for all of the Cassidays and the program as a whole. Eric, who is now a freshman at Saginaw Valley State University, comes back home to help his dad coach. Kyle is looking to repeat as a Finals champ, and Jacob wants to take the next step at Ford Field and make his way onto the podium.
The program itself has more building to do, but it does have a solid core heading into this year as Cameron Austin and Jack Owens (fifth last season at 171) join the younger Cassidays as returning Finals qualifiers. For now, the top priority, Bryan Cassiday said, is improving every day.
In just four years, Beaverton wrestling has started to make a name for itself. Growing that name, Kyle Cassiday said, would be an even greater accomplishment that the incredible end to last season.
“I’d be more proud of building a successful program than a championship because it’s an end result,” he said. “It will be creating something for more than just me. It would be for a lot of different people.”
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) Kyle Cassiday celebrates as he’s signaled the winner of last season’s Division 4 championship match at 189 pounds. (Middle) Eric and Kyle Cassiday share an embrace after Eric followed up with the win at 215 at Ford Field. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)