DCC Wins D1 Clash of Annual Contenders
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 29, 2020
KALAMAZOO – Brendin Yatooma was blocking out all of the noise Saturday at Wings Events Center.
The Detroit Catholic Central senior 215-pounder proudly hoisted the Division 1 MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals championship trophy over his head, a smile plastered on his face as the Shamrocks crowd roared in approval.
Yatooma and his teammates had just claimed the school’s fourth straight title, defeating Davison 34-23 in a match that pitted rival powerhouses and drew heightened emotions across an entire corner of the arena.
“It means a ton to us. It means a ton to the community,” Yatooma said. “Being able to come out here and make history, especially with how rich in wrestling we are as a school. Just being able to be remembered for that makes a huge impact on us. It’s something that we’ll never forget for the rest of our lives. It’s great.”
The title was the 14th in Catholic Central history, but this was the first time the school had won four in a row.
Emotions ran highest during a pivotal match at 189 pounds, which featured two of the state’s best wrestlers in Davison’s Alex Facundo and Catholic Central’s Manny Rojas. Facundo, a two-time Finals champion who has committed to Penn State, was leading 5-2 in the second period when he was called for an illegal move.
Rojas was evaluated on the mat for a concussion, and it was determined he could not continue. Because the injury occurred on the illegal move, Catholic Central was awarded six points for the match, which gave the Shamrocks a 23-18 lead.
“Not the way we wanted it, but without that, we still win that dual by two points,” said DCC coach Mitch Hancock, who added that Rojas had been taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. “The big guys up top stepped up. It’s unfortunate; our thoughts and prayers are with Manny. We just hope he gets better quick.”
Davison’s acting coach Zac Hall – who was filling in for longtime coach Roy Hall, who had been in a car accident and couldn’t attend but is said to be doing well – echoed his team’s disappointment with how the match concluded.
“You even saw it in the atmosphere – it was very back and forth, electric. Then once that happened, it was kind of eerie silent,” Zac Hall said.
“I hope Manny is OK. I know Manny, I’ve trained Manny. He’s a really good kid. Like I said, I just wish things would have worked out differently and I wish that it could have been handled on the mat.”
Catholic Central (20-3) clinched the dual in the next two weight classes, as Yatooma and Steven Kolcheff picked up pins at 215 and 285, respectively. Davison (20-3) got decisions from Aden Williams (103) and Caden Horwath (112) to close out the dual.
“I didn’t tell (Yatooma) anything. He’s a veteran,” Hancock said. “He pinned his way through the individual state tournament last year. You don’t tell him anything, just wrestle.”
The two nationally-heralded teams battled it out throughout the dual, which featured a total of 16 wrestlers who were ranked either No. 1 or 2 in their weight class.
Catholic Central’s Dylan Gilcher bumped up a weight and opened the dual with a 6-5 win at 119 pounds. Davison countered with a pin by Andrew Chambal at 125 and an overtime win from Kyle White at 130 to take a 9-3 lead.
The Shamrocks went ahead 13-9 after Josh Edmond won by technical fall at 135, and Camden Trupp won by pin at 140.
Davison won three of the next four, however, and led 18-17 heading into the Facundo/Rojas match. James Johnston (145) and Josh Barr (152) each won close decisions, while Max Callahan won 11-5 at 171. Catholic Central’s one win in between was a 5-1 decision by Derek Gilcher at 160.
“Being a part of this is just spectacular,” Yatooma said. “I’m just speechless. I don’t have any words to describe the entire situation. It’s just something that can only be experienced.”
Davison, meanwhile, will have to focus its energy on coming back next season and stopping the Shamrocks from getting a fifth straight.
“This is already an incredibly motivated group,” Zac Hall said. “Nobody really aside from our community really gave us a shot to do this at the beginning of the year. (Catholic Central) came in ranked third in the country, and our guys came in and competed. As the year progressed, we got better. I think we came out here and put one hell of a show on. You can see in these guys’ faces how much passion, time and effort we’ve really put into this year. We’ll come back with a vengeance.”
Catholic Central defeated Temperance Bedford 68-6 in the Semifinal, while Davison defeated Brighton 35-29.
Trupp, Derek Gilcher, Rojas, Yatooma and Kolcheff all won three matches on the weekend for the Shamrocks. Chambal, White, Johnston, Barr and Horwath won three for Davison.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Brendin Yatooma points to his team’s fans after his win at 215 pounds Saturday afternoon. (Middle) Yatooma battles Davison’s Jimmy Colley. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Dominance Sets Up John Glenn's Dawson to Make Major Decision on Repeat Pursuit
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
January 11, 2024
WESTLAND — Westland John Glenn wrestling coach Bill Polk has been at the helm for more than two decades and amassed over 500 wins, but he probably hasn’t dealt with a dilemma like this during his terrific tenure.
Granted, it’s a good dilemma to mull over, but a dilemma nonetheless.
Last year as a freshman, Nakayla Dawson was dominant at 105 pounds in the girls division, rolling to the Individual Finals championship and barely being tested throughout her MHSAA Tournament run. She finished the season 41-2. “I don’t think she wrestled more than a couple of minutes last year,” said Polk in reference to her postseason matches.
The ease of her title came as a surprise even to Dawson.
“I went in there thinking I was going to win, but I didn’t expect it to be that easy,” she said. “I was nervous for just about all my matches.”
During the regular season last winter, Dawson also happened to defeat four boys who placed in their division in the same weight class.
She’s 17-4 this winter and last Saturday won the 106 bracket at the New Lothrop Hall of Fame Tournament with three pins.
Given all that, it’s begging the obvious question as wrestling season gets into full swing with the holiday break over: Should Dawson just wrestle in the boys division?
“That’s what we are leaning toward,” Polk said. “That definitely is what she wants to do.”
If she does switch to the boys division when the tournament begins next month, don’t think Dawson can’t hold her own.
There was debate about whether she would wrestle in the boys division last year, but Polk said since she was only a freshman, the thought was to have her wrestle in the girls division her first season and then go from there.
Wrestling at 106 pounds this year, Dawson has had several close losses to ranked boys wrestlers. While hard to suffer those losses now, they likely will make her even tougher to beat come February and March.
“I’m hoping it will refocus her a little bit,” Polk said.
Being competitive and defeating boys is nothing that new for Dawson, given she grew up having battles with older brother Robert and younger brother Kyron, as well as numerous cousins.
Robert is a senior and one of the best wrestlers for John Glenn this year, while Kyron will be a freshman next season.
“Wrestling with them already set me up with wrestling other boys,” Dawson said. “(Robert) was bigger than me and stronger. I was already kind of used to wrestling boys.”
Polk said the sibling rivalry isn’t limited to just the house since he sees the battles between Robert and Nakayla in the wrestling room every day.
“They still do, are you kidding me?” Polk said. “You definitely see some brother-sister battling going on in the room from time to time. He’s helped make her a lot tougher.”
Dawson said the big difference she experiences wrestling boys compared to girls is the greater strength that boys possess compared to the flexibility advantage girls tend to have.
“I feel when I’m wrestling girls, I’ll be doing different moves,” she said. “It’s easier to get to my shots. With boys, I have to work for it more and set it up better.”
The success of Dawson and Morgan Irwin, a 2023 graduate who finished second at 115 pounds last winter, has been inspirational to other girls around the school.
“I feel like girls have looked at it and wanted to try wrestling,” she said.
In addition to wrestling, Dawson is also an accomplished sprinter on the track team, although she says she does that more to stay in shape for summer wrestling than anything.
Polk said there is still a long way to go for Dawson to realize her full potential in wrestling, but by the time her high school career is done, she likely will be one of the all-time greats Polk has coached.
“Boys or girls, she is definitely one of the most accomplished we have had,” Polk said. “She can go toe-to-toe with any of the boys out there.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) Nakayla Dawson’s arm is raised in victory during last season’s Individual Finals at Ford Field. (Middle) The Westland John Glenn standout goes for a takedown in her championship match against Remus Chippewa Hills’ Natalie Gibson. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)