Davis Continues as MHSAA Mat Champion
April 15, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Sam Davis was a highly-touted freshman on the Michigan State University wrestling team and recently-crowned MHSAA champion from Lansing Eastern when an eye injury ended his competitive career on that mat.
But the longtime Lansing official continues to make a statewide impact on the sport he's loved for more than 50 years.
Davis, one of the most accomplished wrestling officials in Michigan high school history and president of the Lansing Wrestling Officials Association for more than two decades, has been selected to receive the MHSAA’s Vern L. Norris Award for 2015. He will be honored at the Officials’ Awards & Alumni Banquet on May 2 at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
The Norris Award is presented annually to a veteran official who has been active in a local officials association, has mentored other officials, and has been involved in officials’ education. It is named for Vern L. Norris, who served as executive director of the MHSAA from 1978-86 and was well-respected by officials on the state and national levels.
Davis is in his 35th year as an MHSAA-registered official, working wrestling during the entirety of his career and baseball seven of the last eight seasons.
This winter Davis officiated in his 26st MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals – or all but two in the event’s 28-season history – and including the individual tournament he’s worked 33 Finals in the wrestling after receiving his first MHSAA championship-level assignment in 1983.
“To be recognized for being able to help a sport you love, and are still actively involved in, it can’t really get much better than that,” Davis said. “I love being out on the mat, talking with kids, talking with coaches.
“Every year I train my officials to be State Finals officials. That doesn’t mean that’s where they’ll be. But I expect them to treat every dual meet, every tournament, like the State Finals, because it means that much to every kid.”
Davis, 64, was an MHSAA Wrestling Finals individual champion at 165 pounds as a senior at Lansing Eastern High School in 1969 and also a significant contributor when the Quakers won the Class A team championship in 1968.
He then joined Michigan State University’s wrestling program but suffered an eye injury as a freshman that forced him to give up competing in the sport. However, he instead took up judo, winning state championships in 1980 and 1981 and competing at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Davis previously had officiated wrestling during the 1971-72 season and returned to the high school mat for good in 1981, beginning that winter his current 34-season run as an MHSAA registered official in the sport. He also officiated National Junior College Athletic Association Finals in 1981 and 1982.
After graduating from MSU with bachelor and master’s degrees in 1974, Davis began his teaching career at Lansing Everett High School that fall. He taught history, psychology and U.S. government and coached wrestling and football and later served as an assistant principal at the school. Davis also served as principal at Dwight Rich Middle School and then district athletic director before finishing 32 years in the Lansing School District in 2007.
Davis is a lead teaching official at MHSAA wrestling clinics and also has served as Official in Charge, managing those working matches, at a number of MHSAA Wrestling Finals. He has served as president of the Lansing Wrestling Officials Association since 1992.
“Sam Davis’ passion for education shines through both on the mat and in how he stands as a leader in Michigan’s wrestling community, making impacts both visible but frequently behind the scenes as well,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “He continues to share his talents and expertise for the betterment of his local officials and also as a mentor statewide. We are pleased to recognize Sam Davis with the Vern L. Norris Award.”
Davis followed his career in education with another in law enforcement. At age 58, he attended the Mid-Michigan Police Academy at Lansing Community College and currently serves as a major with the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office, serving as jail administrator. He’s been elected for multiple terms as chairperson of the Michigan Sheriff’s Association Jail Administrators Committee.
Getting involved in wrestling during junior high school helped lay the foundation of discipline and dedication that Davis has transferred to his other sports and careers. He is known as an instructor who teaches by the book, and his background in education plays a key role as he educates those he works with now and who will take over leadership when he's done.
"I’m so blessed to have been able to have been a teacher and learned that craft, and to have those skills,” Davis said. “When you’re trying to mentor folks, you have to understand there are different learning styles, modalities of how people operate. With that background, I’m able to impart better than if I was a coach saying this is (the only way) how we do something better.”
Longtime MHSAA official Bill Allen has had a unique viewpoint of Davis' rise as a leader. He also was Davis' high school coach for the Quakers and co-founded the LWOA.
Davis' growth as a leader was rooted in part in a wrestling loss as a junior, his first of the 1967-68 season, that eliminated Davis from individual title contention. But Davis, after a conversation with Allen on the importance of a strong finish, battled back to take third at his weight and score key points toward the team's team championship.
"Similar to the person for whom this award is named, Sam Davis is a born leader," Allen said. "When Sam was a junior in high school, his wrestling teammates chose him as captain of their team, not only because of his exceptional high standards and communication skills, but also because of his work ethic. His leadership as captain was a big factor in that year's team winning the state championship.
"With Sam as president of the Lansing Wrestling Officials Association, you can be assured that the meeting will start on time, will have useful and meaningful dialogues and instructions, and that the meeting will end on time. If further help or information is needed, Sam is always available and willing to stay and provide assistance."
Davis also has participated in efforts for the Boys & Girls Club of Lansing and served on community boards for Lansing and Jackson-based Camp Highfields and the Capital Regional Community Foundation.
Previous recipients of the Norris Award
1992 – Ted Wilson, East Detroit
1993 – Fred Briggs, Burton
1994 – Joe Brodie, Flat Rock
1995 – Jim Massar, Flint
1996 – Jim Lamoreaux, St. Ignace
1997 – Ken Myllyla, Escanaba
1998 – Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo
1999 – Richard Kalahar, Jackson
2000 – Barb Beckett, Traverse City; Karl Newingham, Bay City
2001 – Herb Lipschultz, Kalamazoo
2002 – Robert Scholie, Hancock
2003 – Ron Nagy, Hazel Park
2004 – Carl Van Heck, Grand Rapids
2005 – Bruce Moss, Alma
2006 – Jeanne Skinner, Grand Rapids
2007 – Terry Wakeley, Grayling
2008 – Will Lynch, Honor
2009 – James Danhoff, Richland
2010 – John Juday Sr., Petoskey
2011 – Robert Williams, Redford
2012 – Lyle Berry, Rockford
2013 – Tom Minter, Okemos
2014 – Hugh R. Jewell, Detroit
High school game officials with 20, 30, 40, 45 and 50 years of service also will be honored at the Officials’ Awards & Alumni Banquet on May 2.
Fourteen officials with 50 or more years of service will be honored, along with 31 officials with 45 years. A 40-year award will be presented to 72 officials. In addition, 88 officials with 30 years and 167 officials with 20 years of experience will be honored. With the induction of this year’s group of 372, the honor roll of officials who have aided young student-athletes grows to 9,788 since the inception of the banquet in 1980. Click to see the full list of this year's honorees.
Tickets for the banquet are available to the public and priced at $20. They will not be sold at the door. Tickets can be ordered by calling the MHSAA office at (517) 332-5046 or by sending the order form available at this link.
PHOTO: Official Sam Davis, right, holds up a winner's hand during this season's MHSAA Division 1 Final.
Former Cardinal Mooney Coach Earns Breslin Return as Official
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 31, 2022
Jim McAndrews felt anxious and excited both times he was on the floor during basketball Finals weekend at the Breslin Center.
But those feelings were a bit different as an assistant coach at Marine City Cardinal Mooney in 2010 than they were as a referee this year.
“It was different because I was worried about myself (as a referee) versus having to worry about high school kids and not making a mistake to screw it up for them (as a coach),” McAndrews said. “This was a little less pressure than that. With refereeing, you kind of just worry about yourself.”
McAndrews served as the head official in the Division 2 Girls Semifinal between Grand Rapids West Catholic and Detroit Country Day on March 18. That Breslin appearance came 12 years after he was an assistant for his brother, Mike McAndrews, during Mooney’s runner-up run in Class D boys in 2010.
He also coached with his sister, Susan Everhart, who led the Mooney girls to the Semifinals in 2008 and a runner-up finish in 2009. Those tournaments ended at Eastern Michigan University, but all of them gave him a rare look at the experience from two very different angles.
“I wasn’t walking in blindly,” McAndrew said. “I think what helps me in my officiating duties is having been there and knowing what the coaches are expecting and what they need. I think that helps me to communicate things to them. Being (at Breslin as a coach) and seeing that helped.”
McAndrews has been reffing since leaving his brother’s staff in 2011. That ended a long run in coaching which started in 1989 when he was an assistant coach at Mooney under Dave Jackson. After one season in that role, he took over the program and coached the Cardinals for a decade. That included coaching his brother, who he would later coach with for another eight years.
It didn’t even take a full season for him to get back on the court, albeit in a different role, after leaving the coaching ranks.
“I missed the game,” Jim McAndrews said. “Refereeing gives you an opportunity to get your competitive juices going a little bit. You get a little exercise, and the relationships you get to make are amazing. There’s nothing like being in the gym and talking hoops with other like-minded people: junkies. Basketball junkies. It’s a community, and it’s a really good community. We all want good stuff for the kids, and we want to help out. Plus, I enjoy seeing the local talent.”
McAndrews, whose full-time job is in automotive supply sales, refs mostly in the Metro Detroit area and the Thumb, working games in the Catholic League, Macomb Area Conference and Blue Water Area Conference.
Being a referee has not only allowed him to stay in the game and the high school basketball community, but it’s also introduced him to new people who have the same love for the game.
“This community really is special,” he said. “We’re not in it to get rich. We’re in it because we’re passionate about the game.”
This year’s Semifinal was his first, and he was joined on the court by Jerry Armstrong and Douglas Richardson. It was the trio’s first time together.
“That can be part of the challenge,” McAndrews said. “You have to be able to adapt to other people’s way of doing things that you’ve never met before. That’s part of it. It’s about officiating the game as well as challenging yourself.”
Another challenge of refereeing during Finals weekend is the increase of eyes on the game, and the extra pressure that can bring.
“In this particular case, it was my first time (reffing) on TV,” McAndrews said. “There’s commentators with replays, and there are different responsibilities in regard to timeouts. There was a little anxiety. I said to my partners that I’m just going to try to smile, be in the moment and enjoy it, because it’s been a crazy couple years. But your peers are watching, other referees are watching, and they’ll let you know if you miss something.”
The game went off without any issues, and the experience ended up being even better than McAndrews expected, as his kids were able to be on the court with him.
“It was fantastic,” he said. “I can’t think of a better word for it. My family was able to get involved, and we had first-class accommodations. My kids were able to be the ball boy and the water guy for me, so this wasn’t just for me. We were very appreciative of it all, and it was really, really fun.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Jim McAndrews works this season’s Division 2 Semifinals between Grand Rapids West Catholic and Detroit Country Day. (Middle) McAndrews, kneeling lower left, serves as an assistant coach during Cardinal Mooney’s run to Breslin in 2010. (Top photo by Hockey Weekly Action Photos; middle courtesy the McAndrews family.)