D4 Preview: Veterans of the Medal Stand

February 27, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

If you're a Division 4 wrestling fan, you're going to recognize more than a few faces taking the mat this weekend. 

Carson City-Crystal's Kenneth Dittenber will attempt to finish his high school career with a third-straight title. Five more 2012 champs also are back, plus six returning runners-up. A seventh second-place finisher from last season is wrestling in Division 3 instead.

See below for 10 contenders to watch this weekend, plus others who enter the tournament undefeated or coming off runner-up finishes in 2012. Follow all the matches beginning with Thursday's first round 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.

10 to watch

285: Ryan Prescott, Whittemore-Prescott sophomore – Fell in last season’s Final at 285 by a score of 4-3, but enters this weekend’s tournament 44-1.

112: Kenneth Dittenber, Carson City-Crystal senior – After claiming the last two championships at 103 pounds, has moved up to 119 and comes to the Palace with a 50-4 record.

112: Logan Griffin, Erie-Mason sophomore – Won’t make winning that next title easy for Dittenber; finished runner-up last season and is 23-0.

119: Zack Yates, Hesperia junior – Boasts a 49-1 record after helping his team to second at the Team Final and finished runner-up at this weight last season.

130: Cole Weaver, Hudson junior – Helped the Tigers to a record-tying fifth-straight team title last weekend, and now will go for a third-straight championship match berth and second straight title; enters Thursday with a 48-0 record.

140: Jacob Perrin, New Lothrop senior – Looking to finish his high school career with a second-straight title after winning 130 last season; enters the weekend 59-2 this winter.

140: Chanc Ravish, Niles-Brandywine senior – Carries a 46-2 record into this weekend and after finishing second to Perrin at 130 last season.

152: Jared Bruner, Addison senior – Like Perrin, hoping to finish with a second-straight championship after winning 145 last season; comes to the Palace with a 47-3 record this season.

171: Galloway Thurston, St. Ignace senior – Claimed the championship last season at this weight after finishing runner-up in 2011; will carry a 48-2 record into the repeat quest.

215: Joe Ostman, St. Ignace senior – Can finish his high school career with three championships after winning 189 in 2011 and 215 last season, and is 50-0 so far this winter.  

Also undefeated: Bangor senior Stephon Willis (130, 39-0).

Other runners-up: Springport sophomore Jacob Cooper (160, 42-2, 145 in 2012), Sand Creek senior Nick Garza (160, 46-7, 152 in 2012).

PHOTO: Carson City-Crystal's Kenneth Dittenber (right), here in last season's Division 4 championship match at 103, will go for a third-straight title this weekend. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

#TBT: Kish Earns 4th Finals Title

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 26, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Only 18 MHSAA wrestlers have graduated with four Individual Finals championships.

And while all stood tall, few cut as imposing a shadow as Lapeer West's Roger Kish, who earned his fourth and final high school title in 2003. 

Kish capped his high school career at the 2003 Individual Finals with a 26-11 technical fall of Mason's Tom McDiarmid in the Division 2 championship match at 189 pounds. He also won by a tech fall at 189 pounds in 2002, by pin at 171 pounds in 2001 and by an 11-7 decision as a freshman at 160 pounds in 1999.

He became the 10th four-time champion with his 2003 win and remained the most sizable four-time winner before Fowlerville's Adam Coon finished a four-title run in 2013 with two each at 215 and 285 pounds. 

Kish went on to wrestle at the University of Minnesota, ending with a 117-27 career record and two NCAA runner-up finishes. He currently is in his fourth season as coach at North Dakota State University and twice has been named Coach of the Year for the Western Wrestling Conference.