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D2 Preview: Red Arrows on Target Again
February 26, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Arguably, no team has been a bigger title favorite from start to finish in MHSAA wrestling this season than two-time Division 2 reigning champion Lowell.
The Red Arrows need only three more wins to make good again on those high expectations.
But that's easier said than done, especially with rival St. Johns back in the mix after a year away from Finals competition.
Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 2, listed by seed. Quarterfinal matches begin at 6 p.m. Friday, with Semifinals at noon Saturday and the championship match at 3:30 p.m. All matches this weekend will be streamed live on a subscription basis on MHSAA.TV. For results throughout, check the MHSAA Wrestling page.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
#1 Lowell
Record/rank: 20-3, No. 1
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference White.
Coach: R.J. Boudro, second season (49-5)
Championship history: Five MHSAA championships (most recent 2015), six runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Jeff Leach (28-8) fr.; 125 Lucas Hall (25-0) sr.; 125 Sam Russell (24-11) jr.; 130 Avry Mutschler (33-6) fr.; 140 Zeth Dean (27-4) sr.; 145 Bryce Dempsey (28-11) jr.; 160 David Kruse (19-1) soph.; 160 Keigan Yuhas (35-7) soph.; 171 Danny Kruse (30-2) sr.; 189 Max Dean (30-0) sr.; 215 Eli Boulton (25-13) jr.
Outlook: Lowell has wrestled in four straight championship matches and won two straight titles, and has been the unquestioned favorite all season. Hall and Zeth Dean are reigning MHSAA individual champions – Hall has won two titles in a row – and Danny Kruse and Russell also placed last season. A total of 16 wrestlers have at least 20 wins, including four reserves.
#2 St. Johns
Record/rank: 26-4, No. 3
League finish: Tied for first in Capital Area Activities Conference Red.
Coach: Derek Phillips, fourth season (87-13)
Championship history: Four MHSAA championships (most recent 2013), one runner-up finish.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Brendan Zelenka (32-4) soph.; 112 Emilio Sanchez (37-10) jr.; 125 James Whitaker (15-6) fr.; 135 Trent Lashuay (39-9) jr.; 140 Ian Parker (42-2) sr.; 152 Brett Fedewa (45-4) jr.;160 Lucas McFarland (34-5) jr.; 285 Jake Gnegy (42-2) sr.
Outlook: St. Johns is back after missing the Quarterfinals last season despite entering the postseason ranked No. 1, and the Redwings will be plenty motivated to make a sixth championship match in seven seasons. St. Johns defeated No. 7 Eaton Rapids and No. 2 DeWitt on the way to CMU. Parker is the reigning champion at 125 and was runner-up at 103 as a freshman, and Lashuay, Gnegy and senior Derek Droste also placed in 2015.
#3 Gaylord
Record/rank: 41-1, No. 4
League finish: First in Big North Conference.
Coach: Jerry La Joie, 22nd season (600-128-2)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Derek Giallombardo (52-3) soph.; 112 Trevor Giallombardo (51-5) sr.; 119 Dominic La Joie (56-0) jr.; 130 Jon Martin (53-3) sr.; 140 Brady Schulz (27-13) soph.; 171 Nate Nutter (44-13) sr.
Outlook: Gaylord made its second Quarterfinal in a row by beating No. 9 Flint Kearsley among others after locking up a ninth-straight league title. Dominic La Joie is a two-time individual champion, winning 103 as a freshman and 112 last winter, and Trevor Giallombardo was the runner-up at 103 and Martin a placer at 125 in 2015. Gaylord as a team has more than 40 wins for the second time on Jerry La Joie and first time since 2003-04 after suffering its only loss last season in the Semifinal to eventual champion Lowell.
#4 Goodrich
Record/rank: 33-4, No. 5
League finish: First in Genesee Area Conference Red.
Coach: Ken Sirignano, sixth season (record N/A)
Championship history: Division 3 champions 2008 and 2009, runners-up 1997 and 1999.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Caleb Teague (41-9) fr.; 119 Dominic Edwards (33-19) fr.; 135 Nathan Ellis (46-3) sr.; 135 Cody Orcutt (36-16) jr.; 152 Honour Kline 39-12) fr.; 160 Nick Foglio (33-17) sr.; 171 John Penfold (44-6) sr., 285 Blake Coffell (26-24) fr.
Outlook: Goodrich is making its first trip to Finals weekend since its last championship season of 2009, and also its first trip in Division 2. Ellis and Penfold were individual placers last season and are among four seniors in a lineup that could be scary the next three seasons; eight freshmen start, including four Individual Finals qualifiers.
#5 Allegan
Record/rank: 30-5, unranked
League finish: First in Wolverine Conference.
Coach: Murray Rose, 29th season (748-157-2)
Championship history: Two MHSAA championships (most recent 2007 in Division 2), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Davynn Schneider (45-8) jr.; 112 Jake Orr (31-13) soph.; 130 Ricky Jefferson (34-17) jr.; 135 Joey Orr (44-5) sr.; 160 Trey Boerman (45-8) sr.; 171 Levi Sabin (39-8) sr.; 189 Austin Farrell (46-10) sr.
Outlook: Allegan is back in Division 2 after a time in Division 3 and making its eighth straight trip to the Quarterfinals. A group of six seniors fill every weight but one from 140-215, and Sabin, Farrell and junior Chase Beard were individual placers last season in Division 3 – with Schneider, Jefferson and Orr also among returning qualifiers for next weekend.
#6 Warren Woods Tower
Record/rank: 26-6, No. 6
League finish: Third in Macomb Area Conference Red.
Co-coaches: Greg Mayer, 16th season (301-232)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 David Stepanian (39-7) fr.; 103 Chaise Mayer (47-5) fr.; 112 Elijuh Weaver (53-1) jr.; 135 Joe Schindler (40-10) jr.; 140 Nico Martini (32-13) jr.; 152 Jajuan Lovejoy (40-18) soph.
Outlook: Warren Woods Tower is back at Finals weekend for the second time in three seasons and with its most wins under Mayer. Eight underclassmen and only one senior starter make for some exciting possibilities in the future as well. Part of having that much youth is having no returning individual placers from a year ago, but the Titans have gained valuable experience wrestling in a strong league and with assistant Russell Correll serving as a co-coach with Mayer.
#7 Dearborn Heights Annapolis
Record/rank: 38-3, unranked
League finish: Second in Western Wayne Athletic Conference Red.
Coach: Vic McGuire, 24th season (548-183)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Justin Manuel (51-6) sr.; 130 David Knapp (49-9) sr.; 145 Dustin Gross (51-3) soph.; 189 Jon Cox (54-1) sr.; 215 Gregory Johnson (48-8) sr.
Outlook: Annapolis is returning to the Quarterfinals for the first time since back-to-back trips in 2009 and 2010 after keeping two District and one Regional opponent to 20 or fewer points. Gross was an Individual Finals placer last season as a freshman and he adds high-pressure experience to an already-veteran lineup including eight seniors and two juniors.
#8 Sturgis
Record/rank: 27-7, unranked
League finish: Second in Wolverine Conference.
Coach: Bryan Boughton, ninth season (242-122)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 160 Luke Carver (48-2) sr.; 215 Anthony Neal (31-4) sr.; 285 Jake Stevens (30-3) sr.
Outlook: Sturgis has won four District titles under Boughton, but this is the first trip to the Quarterfinals in program history. The Trojans defeated annual power Stevensville Lakeshore by three in the Regional Semifinal as part of this run, and are setting up nicely to continue contending with only six seniors in the starting lineup. Carver and Neal were both Regional runners-up.
PHOTO: Gaylord and Lowell met during MHSAA Team Finals weekend in 2015 and could face off again this weekend in Division 2. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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In Her Fight, Inman Seeks to Provide Hope
January 23, 2019
By Wes Morgan
Special for Second Half
The silver lining from tragedy can take a while to come into focus.
Searra Inman might not have been searching for it in the days that followed a motorcycle accident that would forever change her life.
Inman wasn’t supposed to survive the July 9 crash that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Surgeons in Indianapolis even used her as a case study due to the fact that almost no one with such severe spinal cord injuries has reached the operating table alive.
So, Inman kept living. Her goals were unchanged. And in the process of that pursuit, she slowly began to realize the lives she was touching along the way. Spurred on by an outpouring of support from her family, church, and classmates and staff at Niles Brandywine High School, Inman faced her new reality head-on.
The first item on the senior’s to-do list was to make good on a promise to herself to earn a four-year varsity wrestling plaque. The second was to reach 100 career victories.
“I love to do these things, and I don’t want to sit in bed the rest of my life and feel discouraged about the situation,” Inman said. “Instead, I pushed forward. Wrestling has helped with it. There were times in wrestling I wanted to quit and give up. Instead, I pushed through it and worked hard and gained a lot of mental strength. It helped me get through my situation.”
Veteran Bobcats wrestling coach Rex Pomranka received the news from Inman directly when visiting her in the hospital. He began talking to local officials about whether or not Inman would be allowed to take wins for the team if opponents failed to produce a wrestler at 103 pounds.
Both the officials and Inman’s doctors gave her the green light.
“She said she had a plan as to how she was going to get out on the mat and that she’d show me at our first meet, which she did,” Pomranka said.
In the season opener Dec. 5 at Bronson, Inman locked the wheels on her wheelchair, climbed down to the floor and crawled out to the circle. Very few people in attendance had any idea what was happening, including referee Kevin Raber.
“I wasn’t trying to show pity or anything, but I was thinking about other kids possibly snickering or saying something that was inappropriate,” Raber recalled. “I took a couple steps to her so she didn’t have to crawl all the way out to the middle. I raised her arm up and congratulated her.
“When it was all done, I didn’t want anything negative to happen, so I said, ‘Do you mind if I pick you up?’ She said, ‘It’s up to you.’ I said, ‘Well, I’d like to.’ So, I just picked her up. Everybody started clapping and it was a very moving moment. I didn’t realize until I was in the middle of it what was going on. Man, I had to swallow my tears in that moment. It was definitely profound and moving for me.”
Inman didn’t know what to expect as she boldly slid out of her wheelchair.
“I was nervous and so embarrassed,” she said. “I told my assistant coach that I didn’t know if I was ready to go out there. I didn’t know how it was going to look. I built up some courage, crawled out and, with everybody clapping, it made me feel like I was still out there wrestling even if there wasn’t an opponent.”
She didn’t mind the lift from Raber either.
“When he asked to carry me, I was happy,” she said. “I didn’t want to crawl back to my chair. There was somebody who wanted to help and saw how hard I was willing to push myself.”
Raber, unaware of Inman’s accident and the community’s fundraising efforts, felt compelled to donate his check from that night, as well as additional money, to Inman’s family — information he didn’t voluntarily divulge. He even made a trip to Brandywine a week later to talk to her about that emotional night.
“I was honored to be in that moment with her,” he said. “I officiate because I love the sport of wrestling. If it could help her have a little brighter Christmas, to be able to help her parents or anything, she could use it with a better purpose than I ever could have.”
Like Raber, Pomranka hardly kept it together that evening.
“I was in tears,” said Pomranka, whose brother was paralyzed in an automobile accident nearly 30 years ago. “This was a goal she was shooting for. I was trying to hide the tears; I’m was glad she was able to get back on the mat and do something she enjoyed. I’m just happy she is here to finish out her senior year.”
It was Inman’s 76th career victory. She’s now at 95 with the season winding down.
“It’s either going to happen at our last dual meet or at Districts if everything goes right,” Pomranka said of Inman reaching 100 wins. “A lot of the coaches have been really nice to bump their lineup around so she can get the forfeit. I appreciate the coaches doing that. They want to see her get to 100.”
Inman’s father, Chris, thought back to the day in the hospital when he had to deliver news no parent should have to deliver.
“For a day and a half, I was upset because I held back,” he explained. “We wanted to get all the information from the doctors. But she was starting to figure it out.
“She said, ‘Dad, tell me what’s going on?’ I walked up with tears in my eyes and she knew. ‘I’m paralyzed, aren’t I?’ She looked away with a tear in her eye and she just collected her thoughts. It was that mentality that I’ve seen from her with any challenge she has ever faced. She said she was going to walk again. From that moment on, that has been her drive. She’ll never walk without the assistance of something, but her goal is to get back upright.”
More goals include driving a car and, even if reluctantly, getting back to everyday tasks a lot less exciting than wrestling.
“My mom (Pepper) is always pushing me to do things I may not like doing, even though I’m in a wheelchair,” Inman said. “She tells me, ‘Would you have done it if you weren’t in a wheelchair?’ So, I go and do it.”
She still enjoys working on cars and motorcycles, changing the brakes on her parents’ vehicles and getting her hands greasy. But Inman’s passion is helping animals, so she plans to attend Lake Michigan College for two years before working toward a degree in veterinary medicine at Michigan State University.
Helping her get there have been a host of teachers, friends and even strangers. Teachers film their classes and send the video to Inman while she’s doing physical therapy at Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids two days a week. Her therapists, she said, are aiding Inman in reaching a goal: She plans to surprise everyone on graduation day.
The funds raised by the community have kept the Inman’s out of what would have been crushing debt from medical bills. They’ve read and saved every well-wishing card they’ve received.
Admittedly private, Chris – who teaches at Brandywine – described how the community has rallied behind his family as a humbling experience.
“Early on they had her on a video conference live at the school,” he said. “It was a big fundraiser. They panned around and Brandywine’s cafeteria and hallway for hours was crowded. (Searra) made the comment, ‘Good grief, with this much support I can’t fail.’
“That was huge for her. I’d go into Walmart or a gas station or whatever, and people would just come up and give me a hug and ask about Searra. We started to see the impact, and people started sharing their stories and how they gained strength through Searra’s story. She didn’t even realize the impact she was having on everybody. Now she realizes her decision to stay positive and to smile has really impacted people.”
“The world sometimes is a rough, hard place,” Chris said. “You hear about all the bad stuff. You initially think you’ll never get through this. But people come out in support and share their stories, and then you realize the place where you live is pretty amazing.”
So is watching Inman smile as her hand is raised in victory.
“I have known a lot of people who have given up on something they really enjoyed because something bad happened,” she said. “I’m hoping with this situation I can bring out the best in it and give other people who don’t think they have a chance at something a reason to go out there and strive for it.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Niles Brandywine wrestler Searra Inman is assisted off the mat by official Kevin Raber during a match this season. (Middle) Official John Bishop raises Inman's arm in victory during a match at Three Rivers. (Below) Brandywine coach Rex Pomranka assists Inman. (Top photo by Troy Tennyson/Coldwater Daily Reporter. Middle and below photos courtesy of JoeInsider.com.)