D2 Preview: Hall of Fame
February 26, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the second time in three seasons, a St. Johns wrestler can finish his career as one of the MHSAA’s all-time greats.
Redwings senior Zac Hall will compete this weekend for his fourth MHSAA individual championship. Succeeding would make him the 18th ever to do so, joining recent additions to the list Adam Coon of Fowlerville in 2013 and former teammate Taylor Massa in 2012.
Win or lose, his run this weekend is sure to make headlines. But the Division 2 field appears wide open in terms of who might join him. Bay City Western’s Christian Schoenherr is back from an injury and shining again. Lowell’s Lucas Hall, Kanon Dean and Josh Colegrove are coming off helping the Red Arrows to a team title, and St. Clair’s Colton Pfaendtner and Eaton Rapids' Jaedin Slapsky are among those also not mentioned in much detail below – but don’t forget those names or any of the others that follow.
See below for 10 more contenders to watch this weekend, plus others who enter the tournament undefeated or coming off runner-up finishes in 2013. Follow all the matches beginning with Thursday's first round on a subscription basis live on MHSAA.TV, and click here for results at MHSAA.com. And check back with Second Half later Saturday night for full coverage from the Finals, including comments from all 14 champions.
112: Ian Parker, St. Johns sophomore (46-0) – Fell by pin in last season’s 103-pound Final, but hasn’t lost since and enters as the favorite at his new weight.
119: Mason Smith, Clio junior (51-0) – Following up last season’s 112-pound championship and 55-4 record by moving up a weight and building a perfect record.
119: Zeth Dean, Lowell sophomore (32-4) – Last season’s runner-up at 112 fell by pin in that match to Smith, but looks good to force a rematch after also moving up.
130: Bailey Jack, Lowell junior (31-4) – Moved up to first place in his class last season after two lower finishes as an underclassmen, and can make it two championship weekends in a row after helping the Red Arrows to the team title in Battle Creek.
140: Zac Hall, St. Johns senior (48-0) – Claimed titles at 103, 112 and 125 his first three seasons and carries a 194-2 career record into this weekend.
145: Steve Bleise, Chelsea senior (45-0) – Lone loss last season came by pin in the 135-pound Final, but he hasn't lost again and can add his first title to that second place, a fourth earned as a sophomore and a fifth achieved while wrestling at Dexter as a freshman.
152: Logan Massa, St. Johns junior (47-0) – Has added an undefeated season so far to his championship at 135 in 2013 and runner-up finish at 119 as a freshman.
171: Devon Pingel, North Branch sophomore (52-1) – Said after last season’s championship at 160 that he hopes to win four, and he’s off to another great start after beating a senior in 2013 to secure his first.
189: Angus Arthur, St. Johns junior (43-0) – Claimed last season’s championship at 171 after finishing fifth at 145 as a freshman for Lowell; combined for 14 losses over those first two seasons but is expected by some to finish this winter with none.
189: Garrett Stehley, Lowell senior (28-1) – Last season’s runner-up at 189 likely will have to face former teammate Arthur to win his first championship, but has improved every season from sixth as a freshman to fourth as a sophomore to second a year ago.
Another 2013 runner-up: Christian Schoenherr, Bay City Western junior (140, 14-4).
Also undefeated: Fremont senior Luke Spotts (130, 33-0), Lowell sophomore Lucas Hall (112, 33-0), St. Clair senior Colton Pfaendtner (285, 54-0).
Others of note: Edwardsburg sophomore Michael Higley (103, 40-1), Warren Woods Tower senior Nick Pipes (125, 44-5), Eaton Rapids junior Jaedin Slapsky (130, 47-1), Lowell junior Jordan Hall (135, 30-3), Lowell senior Kanon Dean (160, 29-6), Lowell junior Josh Colegrove (215, 31-1).
PHOTO: St. Johns’ Zac Hall (red head gear) works on an opponent during last week’s Team Semifinal against Tecumseh. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Dundee 'Team X' Takes Back D3
February 24, 2018
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
KALAMAZOO – Brandon Whitman and the Dundee wrestling team quickly changed into Team X T-shirts as the clock wound down Saturday night on the MHSAA Division 3 Team Wrestling Final at Wings Event Center.
The shirts were in honor of the Vikings' 10th team title won in the program's incredible history.
Dundee clinched it by beating long-time nemesis Richmond in the championship match 40-15 in front of a loud crowd.
"This is very exciting; we have been working our butts off," said Whitman, who is a three-time individual champion as well. "This is the closest group of people I have been with since I started in high school, and I am glad it is paying off."
Dundee coach Tim Roberts echoed those sentiments on how close-knit this team is, and how important that was to winning the title this year.
"I told these guys at the beginning of the year that they would be the 10th team to win a championship, they would be Team X," said Roberts, whose Vikings ended the season with a 17-3 record. "I thought we had the talent and the drive, and this team had a lot of doing it for each other. This was not a selfish effort. I have been doing this 28 years now, and this may have been one of the most fun seasons I had. It was fun to watch kids work for something bigger than themselves."
The talent on both teams was on display in the opening match.
Starting at the 215-pound weight class, Whitman, the top-ranked 215-pounder by Michigan Grappler, took on second-ranked Colton McKiernan. And in a hard-fought match, Whitman defeated McKiernan 6-3 to set the tone for the rest of the Final.
After the Blue Devils tied the score at 3-3 with a decision by heavyweight Tyler Marino, Dundee went on to win five of the next six matches wrestled to take a 24-6 lead entering the 140-pound weight class.
The last in that run came from super freshman Stoney Buell, who pinned his ranked opponent in one minute.
In the end, Dundee won 10 of the 14 matches wrestled.
"In all, we gave up three falls, and the rest were close decisions," said Richmond co-coach Brandon Day, whose team ended with a 21-6 record. "We have a bunch of tough grinding kids, but they have some very talented guys. It is what it is; we will get back to work tomorrow for next year."
And next year could very well be like 10 of the past 13 years. That's how many times these two teams have met for the Division 3 championship.
The Blue Devils have eight titles, including last year's tie-breaker criteria decision win over Dundee.
"We talked about that regularly," Roberts said. "We wanted to fix a wrong."
Now Day and the Blue Devils have some added motivation for next year, and maybe even a little more.
"We are who we are, and they are who they are, and we knew this was going to be a fist fight," Day said. "We went at each other, they are just a better team, but we will remember all the fist pumping they did."
Click for full results of the weekend’s Division 3 matches.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dundee’s Jonathon White celebrates a win during the Division 3 Final while his team’s fans cheer in the background. (Middle) Hayden Bastian rallies his team after his pin at 140 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)