D4 Preview: Brackets Full of Stories to Be Told
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 1, 2021
Clinton, Hudson and New Lothrop have dominated Division 4 wrestling’s team tournament over the last eight seasons – only those three have appeared in a championship match since 2014, including Clinton’s win over the Hornets in Tuesday’s Final.
But Saturday’s Individual Wrestling Finals at Van Andel Arena could see many more schools in the title mix.
Clinton has five top seeds, and New Lothrop and Hudson have two apiece. But total eight schools have No. 1-seeded wrestlers among the 14 weights – with favorites from Bark River-Harris, Iron Mountain, Rudyard and Vermontville Maple Valley representing their schools’ best chances at claiming a first title.
Below we look at 10 contenders to watch, plus list all of the top seeds heading into the tournament, champs and runners-up back from 2020 and every wrestler who will make the trip to Grand Rapids with an undefeated record.
Even then, we surely missed a few who will end up making headlines Saturday – but make sure to come back to Second Half late that evening as we’ll interview and report on all 14 Division 4 champions.
Wrestling begins Saturday at 10 a.m., and this season it’s a one-day event. Spectators remain limited, but all matches will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv. See the MHSAA Wrestling Finals page for more information and to follow results this weekend.
103 Bradley Hall, Rudyard senior (16-0) – The top seed at 103, Hall finished fourth at the same weight last season and will be competing to cap his career as the first Finals champion in Rudyard history.
119 Shawn McGuire, Iron Mountain sophomore (29-1) – The top seed at this weight is a combined 70-3 over his first two high school seasons and finished runner-up at 112 a year ago.
125 Manus Bennett, Marlette sophomore (20-2) – He’ll wrestle for a second individual title in his second try after winning the 103 championship last season.
130 Bronson Marry, Hudson junior (22-0) – The top seed at this weight is going for a second-straight title after winning 112 last year and also finishing runner-up at 103 as a freshman.
145 Caden Natale, Hudson senior (23-1) – Natale has risen from third at 103 as a freshman to second at 119 as a sophomore to winning 130 last year and returning to the Finals as a top seed this weekend.
152 Bryce Cheney, New Lothrop senior (20-0) – The runner-up at this weight last winter is back as the top seed this weekend and carrying a combined 53-4 record over the last two seasons.
171 Trenton Holden, Grass Lake senior (23-1) – He had only one loss last season on the way to finishing 46-1 and claiming the 160-pound championship, and his only defeat this winter was at the Individual Regional to this weekend’s top-seeded Brayden Randolph of Clinton (see below).
171 Brayden Randolph, Clinton senior (27-1) – He’s the top seed at this weight after finishing runner-up at 171 last season, and he’s looking to add a first title also to a runner-up finish at 160 as a sophomore and third place at that weight as a freshman.
189 Logan Badge, Clinton junior (27-1) – The top-seeded Badge went over 100 career wins (he’s 101-5 overall) during Tuesday’s run to the team championship and he’s looking to add a third individual title to those he won at 215 as a freshman and 189 last year.
215 Camden Orr, New Lothrop senior (21-1) – He’s the second seed at this weight but the reigning champion, and his only loss was a forfeit in the Regional Final. He also finished sixth at 189 as a sophomore and quarterbacked the football team to the Division 7 title in January.
Other 2020 runners-up: 140 Andrew Krupp, New Lothrop senior (19-2, 125 in 2020); 145 Kent McCombs, Clinton junior (26-2, 145 in 2020).
Additional No. 1 seeds: 112 Matthew Slaght, Vermontville Maple Valley junior (33-0); 125 Nik Shadley, Clinton freshman (25-1); 135 Dillon Raab, Bark River-Harris sophomore (30-1); 140 George Ames, Clinton junior (24-0); 160 Spencer Konz, Clinton senior (22-3); 215 Caden Ferris, Delton Kellogg junior (29-2); 285 Isiah Pasik, New Lothrop junior (21-0).
Also undefeated: 125 Randy Frailey, Hanover-Horton senior (25-0); 130 Zach Ouillette, Oscoda senior (27-0); 145 Parker Stroud, Iron Mountain junior (21-0); 145 Carsen Young, Martin senior (28-0); 171 Cole Hopkins, Evart sophomore (19-0); 189 Trent Hocter, Hanover-Horton senior (16-0).
PHOTO: Hudson’s Bronson Marry, left, and Iron Mountain’s Shawn McGuire lock up during last season’s Division 4 Final at 112 pounds. Both carry top seeds into this weekend. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Finals Experience, Expertise Shine Through as Hudson Extends Title Streak
By
Jeff Chaney
Special for MHSAA.com
February 24, 2024
KALAMAZOO – When searching for adjectives to describe what the Hudson wrestling team has built itself into over the years, wrestling fans in Michigan might say “prepared.”
The mammoth program from the small community south of Jackson comes to the MHSAA Division 4 Team Finals every year ready to go.
That was once again evident this weekend at Wings Event Center, as the Tigers cruised to their third-straight championship, and sixth over the past eight years, with a 41-17 victory over St. Louis in the deciding match Saturday evening.
Hudson has won three straight D4 titles, six of the last eight and 11 overall.
"We are who we are because of family," Hudson coach Scott Marry said. "We break our huddle on 'family' every time, because this is a continuation of what's up there."
Marry then pointed to the stands at all the Hudson fans, parents and Hudson youth wrestlers who made the trek to Kalamazoo to watch their beloved Tigers.
"It's not hard to coach, because all of these guys are awesome," Marry added. "You also have to give all the glory to God, because this is a God-loving community. And every person in these stands feels the same way I do – God first, then family, and then the rest is easy."
Hudson made it look easy all weekend, as the Tigers won 34 of 42 matches they wrestled during the two-day event.
They opened with a 72-3 Quarterfinal win over Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary on Friday, then defeated Manchester 52-13 in Saturday morning's Semifinal before downing the Sharks in the championship match.
In the Final, super sophomore Nicholas Sorrow got things going with a hard-fought 6-5 win over St Louis' Colin Kuhn.
From there, Hudson won five matches in a row and were never threatened the rest of the way.
Sorrow said the wins keep coming because of a simple formula.
"It's just nice to continue the tradition," said Sorrow, who will be going for his second straight individual title next weekend at Ford Field. "This is just one percent of what we do; 99 percent of what we do is working hard in the (practice room), every day, five days a week. We work on technique, work on our grip and just get better."
St Louis coach Kevin Kuhn was impressed with his opponent, but he knew what his team was getting into when it stepped on the mat – a Hudson team that is relentless, a trait he picked up when he wrestled for Coach Marry and Hudson during the mid-1990s.
Kuhn, whose St. Louis team was making its first Finals appearance, hopes his wrestlers took away some lessons from facing a program used to getting to the championship match.
"Our goal was to be wrestling on Saturday night (in the Final) ," said Kuhn, whose team ended with a 26-3 record. "You are not in position to win a state final if you're not winning a Semifinal match (Saturday morning)."
St Louis reached Saturday with a win over Climax-Scotts/Martin in the Quarterfinal, 39-26. The Sharks then beat Benzie Central in their Semifinal match 37-22.
Hudson finished with a 27-4 record.
PHOTOS (Top) Hudson’s Barron Mansfield celebrates his pin at 190 pounds during Saturday’s Division 4 Final. (Middle) St. Louis’ Ramon Anguiano, left, and Hudson’s Cameron Miller lock up at 215 pounds. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)