D3 Preview: New Final Match-up, Guaranteed
February 26, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Dundee and Richmond have met in the last four MHSAA Division 3 championship matches.
That will not happen this weekend.
By way of Dundee receiving the top seed and Richmond the fourth, those rivals could meet in a Saturday morning Semifinal, with the winner expected to see either Remus Chippewa Hills or Lake Fenton to decide the title this time.
And that's if seeds play out – a scenario four more teams are working against.
Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 3, listed by seed. Quarterfinal matches begin at 4 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 Dundee
Record/rank: 19-0, No. 1
League finish: First in Lenawee County Athletic Association.
Coach: Tim Roberts, 17th season (458-61-1)
Championship history: Eight MHSAA championships (most recent 2014), six runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 135 Tylor Orrison (33-3) soph.; 140 Zach Blevins (44-3) sr.; 145 Alex Motylinski (34-11) jr.; 152 Sean Sterling (40-4) jr.; 160 Kyle Reinhart (21-10) soph.; 171 Kyle Motylinski (31-9) soph.; 189 Brandon Whitman (41-1) soph.; 215 Gabe Heiserman (39-9) sr.
Outlook: Dundee is up to 14 straight appearances at Finals weekend, coming off its eighth championship match appearance in nine seasons although the Vikings saw their two-season streak of titles come to an end with a two-point loss to Richmond a year ago. Three more wins would give Dundee its first perfect season under Roberts – it has lost only one match twice during his tenure, including in 2013-14. Whitman was the champion at 171 and Blevins an individual runner-up last season at 135, and Orrison, Sterling, Heiserman and senior Drew Mandell all were placers.
#2 Remus Chippewa Hills
Record/rank: 30-1, No. 4
League finish: First in Central State Activities Association Gold.
Coach: Nate Ethridge, 16th season (463-90)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Mason Hayes (36-10) fr.; 119 Kaden Ellis (42-6) jr.; 140 Todd Slade (43-4) sr.; 145 Jaycob Sharp (46-4) soph.; 152 David Spedowski (35-8) soph.; 160 Luke Henderson (36-14) jr.; 189 Brendan Barry (43-6) sr.; 215 Billy Koepf (45-4) soph.; 285 Andrew Vinton (35-13) soph.
Outlook: Chippewa Hills is seeking the take the next step for the first time after reaching the Semifinals last season for the second time and the Quarterfinals now for the ninth in 11 seasons. The road once again was a tough one, with No. 6 Caro among those the Warriors defeated to reach CMU. Slade was an individual placer in 2015 and is one of only three seniors in a lineup with eight underclassmen and 12 wrestlers total with at least 30 wins.
#3 Lake Fenton
Record/rank: 38-3, No. 2
League finish: First in Genesee Area Conference.
Coach: Vance Corcoran, sixth season (190-53)
Championship history: Division 3 runner-up 2011.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 AJ Geyer (46-8) jr.; 119 Jarrett Trombley (27-0) soph.; 125 Hunter Corcoran (47-9) jr.; 135 Sean Trombley (42-14) fr.; 135 Devan Melick (48-2) soph.; 140 Jackson Nevadomski (49-8) soph.; 285 Trent Hillger (57-0) jr.
Outlook: Lake Fenton has bounced way back after not winning its league or District last season, returning to the Quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons and third time under Corcoran, a two-time MHSAA individual champion during the mid-1980s. Hillger was the individual champion last season at 215 and helps headline a lineup with only two seniors and 12 wrestlers total with at least 30 wins. Corcoran and senior Saben Spangler also were individual placers last season.
#4 Richmond
Record/rank: 24-10, No. 3
League finish: First in Blue Water Area Conference.
Coach: Brandon Day, 12th season (382-84)
Championship history: Seven MHSAA championships (most recent 2015), five runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Hunter Seguin (20-12) fr.; 112 Roy Costello (35-10) jr.; 119 Cody Keller (36-7) sr.; 119 Alec Ziza (29-11) soph.; 125 Aaron Kilburn (39-4) sr.; 135 Graham Barton (27-6) sr.; 140 Alex Roberts (24-14) soph.; 171 Colton McKiernan (36-6) soph.; 215 Tyler Marino (33-13) soph.
Outlook: Richmond is back at the Quarterfinals for the eighth straight season after edging Dundee for the title in 2015, and despite graduating a strong group of nine seniors who led the charge. There are only four seniors in the lineup this time and six underclassmen, but Kilburn was the individual runner-up last year at 119 and won at 112 as a sophomore. McKiernan and Costello also were placers last winter.
#5 Whitehall
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 5
League finish: First in West Michigan Conference.
Coach: Cliff Sandee, ninth season (210-32)
Championship history: Class C runner-up 1984.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Hunter Bower (39-6) soph.; 119 Corey Robinson (42-6) sr.; 125 Allen Powers (39-13) fr.; 135 Reiley Brown (45-1) sr.; 140 Jwan Britton (45-2) sr.; 140 Josh Thommen (34-13) soph.; 145 Jojo Dowdell (40-5) jr.; 152 Joe Haynes (37-18) sr.; 189 Luke Morningstar (40-15) sr.
Outlook: After a two-season hiatus, Whitehall is back at the Quarterfinals for the third time in five years after surviving a path that included frequent power Grand Rapids Catholic Central. Brown was the individual champion last season at 125, and Britton was third at 135; they anchor a lineup keyed by seven upperclassmen and also 11 wrestlers total with at least 30 wins.
#6 Birch Run
Record/rank: 26-4, No, 7
League finish: Second in Tri-Valley Conference East.
Coach: Mike Miller, first season (26-4)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Kyle Parlberg (31-17) fr.; 125 Mason Breece (49-3) soph.; 135 Trent Naragon (15-8) fr.; 140 Kyle Naragon (24-12) jr.; 145 Ean Taylor (38-8) sr.; 152 Malachi Breece (39-13) sr.; 160 Logan Bovee (40-9) sr.; 160 Tyler Childs (39-8) sr.
Outlook: The Panthers are making their fourth trip to Finals weekend in five seasons, this time with a first-year varsity coach and eight underclassmen – although Miller has coached in the community for more than a decade. Mason Breece, Taylor and Childs all placed at last season’s Individual Finals, and Bovee also is a returning qualifier for that tournament next weekend.
#7 Gladstone
Record/rank: 16-1, unranked
League finish: First in Great Northern Conference.
Coach: Jesse DeBacker, sixth season (65-17)
Championship history: Upper Peninsula champion 1987, two U.P. runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 130 Adam Bruce (36-1) fr.; 145 Bobby Beauchamp (32-4) sr.; 160 Austin Demeuse (35-3) jr.; 160 James Bruce (27-5) sr.; 285 Zach Bailey (24-6) jr.
Outlook: This is Gladstone’s fourth trip the Quarterfinals over the last decade and first since 2013, and comes with Beauchamp also a returning individual placer at 145. He’s one of only two seniors in a lineup with seven underclassmen and a strong group of juniors. Gladstone defeated No. 10 Roscommon by eight points in the Regional Final.
#8 Delton Kellogg
Record/rank: 19-3, unranked
League finish: First in Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley.
Coach: Brett Bissett, first season (19-3)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Jake Bever (41-14) jr.; 145 Christian Kapteyn (24-12) sr.; 152 Jake Reed (48-2) sr.; 215 Tyden Ferris (50-2) soph.; 285 Esteban Villalobos (32-15) jr.
Outlook: This will be the first appearance for Delton Kellogg at an MHSAA Quarterfinals, but the Panthers dominated on the way not giving up more than 15 points in a postseason match. Ferris finished eighth at 215 as a freshman last season and is the most accomplished so far of a lineup with only four seniors. Bissett, a two-time league champion last decade, was an assistant for nine seasons before taking over this winter.
PHOTO: A Remus Chippewa Hills wrestler works against an opponent from Hudson during last month's duals at CMU. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
DCC Wins Power-Packed Rematch in D1
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 23, 2019
KALAMAZOO – Tony Greathouse has built one of the state’s elite wrestling programs at Brighton over the past six years.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the state’s most elite program currently resides in their division.
Detroit Catholic Central defeated Brighton 34-19 on Saturday at Wings Event Center to claim its third straight Division 1 team wrestling title.
“Especially this year, we took a big step up where we’re not just barely beating teams, we beat really good teams this year by 40 or 50,” Greathouse said. “Even this dual, even though we lost, the fact that we’re within 15 points of them – they might be the best team that’s ever come out of the state of Michigan. They’re pretty darn good.”
Catholic Central (26-1) finished the decade with seven titles and one runner-up finish. It’s a feat no Division 1 team has ever accomplished.
“You have to take your hats off to our guys; they work so hard,” said Shamrocks coach Mitch Hancock, who has led the program to each of those seven titles. “It’s not about me, it really isn’t. It’s about them and how hard they work. We have a standard at Catholic Central, and that standard is high. When you come to Catholic Central, you better be ready to work, you better be ready to perform in the classroom, pray to God and perform on the athletic field, and those guys live up to that standard every single day.”
The Shamrocks rolled through the postseason, not giving up a team point through the District or Regional, and rolling to 63-6 (Clarkston) and 56-9 (Westland John Glenn) wins in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.
“We kind of look at it as, we don’t really have anything to prove,” Catholic Central senior Cameron Amine said. “We just have to keep getting better every day in the practice room and pushing each other in the practice room. And that nothing is ever given to us at all. You have to go out there and work for it and get it.”
The dual started in the heart of Catholic Central’s lineup at 140 pounds, and the Shamrocks jumped out to a 29-3 lead despite it being a strong stretch of the Bulldogs’ lineup as well.
Logan Sanom and returning Individual Finals champion Derek Gilcher each won major decisions at 140 and 145, respectively. Three-time individual champion Kevon Davenport won by decision for the Shamrocks at 152, followed by two-time champion Amine winning by major decision at 160.
Brighton got on the board at 171, as River Shettler won by decision, but the Shamrocks rattled off four straight, starting with a decision from returning champion Easton Turner at 189. Brendin Yatooma (215) and Steven Kolcheff (285) also won by major decision, while Anthony Walker (103) won a decision.
Brighton rattled off four straight wins from 112 through 130, getting a major decision from Mason Shrader, a pin from Sam Freeman and decisions from Ben Manly and Eddie Homrock.
The Shamrocks closed the dual with another returning champion, Josh Edmond, winning by technical fall at 135.
“We start at 140, good luck with that, right?” Hancock said. “You got Gilcher, Amine, Davenport, then you go up top to our big guys – we just put a lot of faith in our big guys up top. They’re just a really, really good team, and we were just a couple points better at every weight. To me, that’s just a level of toughness, a level of focus and just some conditioning.
“Hats off to Tony, he’s built a power over there at Brighton.”
The matchups were ones Greathouse knew posed problems for his team coming in.
“We knew coming in that we were going to have to win some matches that we probably weren’t supposed to win,” he said. “We were facing some pretty formidable opposition there. Overall, I thought we competed pretty hard, but they’re better than we are. We had to be better than them today, and we weren’t. We lost by 58 points to them last year in the state finals, today we lost by 15, so we made a 43-point improvement over the last 12 months, so I think that’s something to hang your hat on. We beat the Division 2 state champ (Lowell), we beat the Division 3 state champ (Dundee), so we had a pretty great season. I’m proud of them.”
Hancock wasn’t just impressed with his stars, however, as his younger wrestlers came through for the team as well.
“Anthony Walker I think was the key of the match, his big win down low,” Hancock said. “Logan Sanom, I’m not sure if people expected him to wrestle in that dual but he came out firing. Those two guys really stood out to me, and then up top Brendin Yatooma who beat (Luke) Stanton. Stanton is pretty dangerous on top, so for Yatooma to take him out the way he did was pretty cool.”
Brighton defeated Davison 31-24 in the Semifinals, while Catholic Central defeated Westland John Glenn 56-9.
Gilcher, Davenport, Amine, Turner, Yatooma, Kolcheff, Walker and Edmond each won three matches on the weekend for the Shamrocks, while Freeman and Homrock each won three matches for Brighton.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kevon Davenport was one of nine bout winners for DCC in the Division 1 Final on Saturday. (Middle) Brighton's Greyson Stevens, left, and DCC's Easton Turner wrestle at 189 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)