Dundee Adds Perfect Season to Tradition
February 27, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
MOUNT PLEASANT — In case the championship banners and trophies weren't enough of a reminder, it wasn't necessary for an aging alumnus or a veteran coach to help Dundee's wrestlers understand the Vikings' tradition.
In their midst is a senior who has lived that tradition more than most who have come through one of Michigan's most successful programs.
Zach Blevins wrestled in an MHSAA team wrestling championship match for the fourth time in his career Saturday, as Dundee completed a perfect dual-meet season by beating Remus Chippewa Hills, 40-16, in the Division 3 Final at Central Michigan University.
Blevins beat Austin Spedowski by a 19-6 major decision at 140 pounds, giving him a 4-0 career record in championship matches at the Team Finals. In his career, he was 11-1 on Finals weekend, the only loss coming Saturday in the Semifinal, a 4-3 decision against Jwann Britton of Whitehall. Britton was third at the MHSAA Finals at 135 pounds last year, while Blevins was second.
Taking the mat before a sold-out crowd of more than 4,300 at McGuirk Arena, it felt like just another match for Blevins. It was his 26th career match at the Team or Individual Finals. He finished eighth at 112 pounds in 2013 and fifth at 125 pounds in 2014 to go with the second place at 135 last year.
"It helps a little bit, being down here all four years," said Blevins, who will wrestle at Eastern Michigan University. "You won't get as nervous, because you know what to expect. I was feeling confident and calm."
Blevins was on three championship teams and a runner-up in his four years with Dundee, which has won nine MHSAA titles. It was the fifth straight year the Vikings reached the final match and the 14th straight year that they earned a trip to Finals weekend. Blevins is the only member of the current championship team who wrestled in the 2013 title match.
"He's really been a go-to guy and a very talented wrestler who has done a great job for us," 17-year Dundee coach Tim Roberts said. "In four years in the lineup, he's always stepped up and did his job well. I remember one year we needed him to get five takedowns in one period so we could get a tech, and he did that."
Blevins and Sean Sterling wrestled in the 2014 title match, as Dundee beat Richmond. Eight wrestlers who took the mat Saturday competed in the 2015 final match against Richmond, which won the last three matches to erase a 25-12 deficit and win, 27-25.
"We just worked really hard all year to make sure it wouldn't happen again, and it paid off," Blevins said.
Although the Vikings won by 24 points, it could've been a different outcome had Dundee wrestlers not come from behind in the final seconds of three matches.
Tyler Orrison, who was sixth at 125 pounds last year, got things started for Dundee by twice scoring in the final seconds of periods in a marquee matchup with Slade Todd, who was sixth at 135 in 2015. Orrison scored three points at the buzzer in the second period to take a 7-6 lead in the 135-pound match. He then won the match, 9-8, with a two-point reversal with 16 seconds left.
At 171, Dundee's Kyle Motylinski scored two points with 12 seconds left in the third period to tie his match with Luke Henderson, 2-2. Motylinski won 4-2 in overtime.
At 103, Dundee's Jonathan White scored two points with 25 seconds left to win 3-2 over Bray Haynes.
"That was a case of they've been here before," Chippewa Hills coach Nate Ethridge said. "Give all the credit in the world to Dundee. They did a heck of a job and knocked us off; they deserve it. We needed those three and we didn't get those three. Then we had to do some things with our lineup that we didn't necessarily want to do, because we had to win out."
Dundee didn't have much lineup flexibility, with only 15 healthy wrestlers. Drew Mandell, who was eighth at 130 pounds last year and a participant in the 2014 team championship match, was on crutches after breaking his leg. District champion Grant Ott had an arm in a sling because of a separated shoulder.
"These guys kept stepping up and gutting it out," Roberts said. "You saw all those last-second wins we were getting there. That's just a testament to guts, and the guys kept wrestling."
Roberts said Dundee typically has about 24 wrestlers, but had a low turnout this season. An Individual Finals qualifier was among those who chose not to come out.
How does that happen to a program with Dundee's tradition?
"You tell me," Roberts said. "The culture can change where it's not cool to wrestle, then we get to win state. It makes it that much more satisfying that these guys pulled together and did it. I'm really proud of this group. Whenever we had injuries, we had guys cut down in weight to make us stronger. Guys stepped in and really sacrificed to make this team better."
Dundee (21-0) reached the title match by beating Delton Kellogg, 63-13, in the Quarterfinal on Friday and Whitehall, 39-18, in the Semifinal on Saturday.
Sterling, White, Zachary Bellaire and Brandon Whitman were 3-0 on the weekend for Dundee. Sterling and Whitman won all three of their matches with pins, with neither of their matches lasting beyond the second period.
"My early memories were when I was in fourth grade," Whitman said while holding the championship trophy. "We were always watching Dundee. My brother was in high school a couple years before I was. It was always fun watching him. The expectations are high. When you come into the room, you've got to work as hard as you can every day."
Brendan Barry, Billy Koepf and Austin Young had 3-0 records on the weekend for Chippewa Hills (31-2), which was making its first appearance in the title match. The Warriors historically were 2-8 on Finals weekend before beating Gladstone, 48-24, in the Quarterfinal and Lake Fenton, 31-27, in the Semifinal.
The Warriors have nine qualifiers for next weekend's MHSAA Individual Finals, with only one senior among that group.
"We've been close a lot of times," Ethridge said. "Obviously, we had a heck of a weekend to get where we're at. Our kids are great. They train really hard. They're pretty awesome."
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTO: A Dundee wrestler, left, and his Chippewa Hills opponent work for position during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Preview: Lowell Seeks to Run Title Streak to Great 8
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 30, 2021
The success has become so familiar, and some of the names to match, it’s like Lowell has been sending out the same wrestlers the last eight years.
That’s not true or possible, of course. But more than a handful of current Red Arrows have played major roles in carrying on the program’s seven-year MHSAA Finals record championship streak.
Lowell is the top seed again as it seeks to make that eight in a row Tuesday at Wings Event Center. The Quarterfinal pairings are as follows:
Division 2 - 12:30 pm - The Arena
#1 Lowell vs. #8 Charlotte - Mat 2
#4 Monroe Jefferson vs. #5 Fremont - Mat 1
#3 Goodrich vs. #6 Warren Woods Tower- Mat 4
#2 Stevensville Lakeshore vs. #7 Allendale - Mat 3
Spectator limits remain in effect, but all matches will be broadcast live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv. Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 2, listed by seed.
#1 LOWELL
Record/rank: 17-3, No. 1
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference White
Coach: R.J. Boudro, seventh season (134-21)
Championship history: Ten MHSAA championships (most recent 2020), six runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Ramsy Mutschler (21-4) jr., 125 Landon Miller (10-5) soph., 130 James Link (17-6) jr., 135 Zeth Strejc (17-3) sr., 145 Will Link (21-3) sr., 145 Tacho Gonzales (19-6) fr., 160 Doak Dean (21-2) sr., 160 Carson Crace (17-4) soph., 171 Jacob Lee (18-1) sr., 189 Derek Mohr (19-2) sr., 215 Carter Blough (21-2) jr., 285 Keegan Nugent (24-0) sr.
Outlook: Lowell’s Finals-record championship streak is at seven straight titles and counting. Half of last season’s championship match lineup returns for a team that also starts half seniors. The Red Arrows defeated No. 4 Middleville Thornapple Kellogg 50-22 in the Regional Final. Strejc (130) and Nugent (215) were individual runners-up last season, while Will Link (fourth at 140), Dean (fifth at 160) and Lee (third at 171) also placed.
#2 STEVENSVILLE LAKESHORE
Record/rank: 18-0, No. 3
League finish: First in Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference
Coach: Bruce Bittenbender, 51st season (958-265-2)
Championship history: Class B runner-up 1994 and 1986.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Taylor Lucas (17-5) jr., 119 Cameron Litaker (19-3) jr., 125 Aaron Lucio (19-0) soph., 125 Kyle Stampfly (16-6) jr., 140 Micah Hanau (21-0) jr.
Outlook: Lakeshore is seeded to contend for its first championship match berth since 1994, which would be another achievement for Bittenbender – the winningest coach in MHSAA wrestling history. The Lancers sandwiched a 28-point District win over St. Joseph with a couple of postseason nail-biters, defeating Paw Paw by one and Edwardsburg by three points. Hanau is the reigning individual champ at 130, while Lucio was third at 119 last season and Litaker was sixth at 112.
#3 GOODRICH
Record/rank: 16-0, No. 6
League finish: First in Flint Metro League
Coach: Kenneth Sirignano, 11th season (record N/A)
Championship history: Two MHSAA championships (most recent 2009), three runner-up finishes
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Brody Orcutt (19-2) fr., 119 Heremius Cheff (16-3) soph., 125 Ryan Angelo (15-8) jr., 135 Carson Richards (18-2) jr., 140 Easton Phipps (16-3) fr., 152 Brady Benson (19-4) soph., 189 Cameron Macklem (15-5) jr., 215 Zach Schmitz (10-8) sr.
Outlook: Goodrich was runner-up as recently as 2019, when it fell to Lowell by only six points in the Final. The Martians didn’t make it to Quarterfinals last season but return for the fourth time in six seasons and with a starting lineup featuring 10 underclassmen. Richards finished sixth at 140 at the Individual Finals last season.
#4 MONROE JEFFERSON
Record/rank: 12-2, No. 5
League finish: First in Huron League
Coach: Mike Humphrey, 18th season (349-154)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Cody Richards (16-0) jr., 103 Issac Masserant (13-6) fr., 119 John Allen (14-2) soph., 125 Dylan Garcia (15-3) jr., 130 Hunter Major (16-3) sr., 135 Ethan Brabant (15-5) sr., 145 Seth Minney (14-5) soph., 152 Jac White (15-4) sr., 189 Brendan Bashaw (12-4) sr.
Outlook: Jefferson is making its second trip to the Quarterfinals and first since 1995. The Bears have won District titles three straight seasons, but their league title was the first since 2017. Ten upperclassmen bring experience to the starting lineup, with Richards a returning individual placer having come in sixth at 103 last season.
#5 FREMONT
Record/rank: 26-2, unranked
League finish: Second in Central State Activities Association
Coach: Craig Zeerip, seventh season (155-62)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 RJ Thome (31-0) jr., 112 Tee Ward (29-2) fr., 119 Eli Beasley (29-4) sr., 130 Trey Myers (26-4) fr., 160 Trey Breuker (30-2) sr., 189 Michael Romero (20-10) soph.
Outlook: Fremont reached the Quarterfinals last season for the first time, in Division 3, and repeated that achievement against larger competition this winter. The Packers have won all four of their postseason matches by at least 16 points. Thome was fifth at 103 last season, and Breuker was eighth at 152.
#6 WARREN WOODS TOWER
Record/rank: 13-8, No. 10
League finish: Third in Macomb Area Conference Red
Co-coaches: Greg Mayer, 21st season (402-258), Russell Correll, eighth season (165-62)
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2017.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Tyler Daniel (16-7) jr., 125 Joe Haynes (19-1) sr., 130 Dru Wilson (13-5) sr., 135 Gavin Shoobridge (16-2) sr., 140 Mathew Booth (12-8) sr., 140 Josh Howey (21-1) jr., 152 Dominic Johnson (14-9) sr.
Outlook: The Titans have now reached the Quarterfinals six straight seasons, this time rolling through with every postseason win by at least 36 points. They will miss junior two-time individual champ Omari Embree (171, 17-1), who is out for this weekend, but return another champ in Haynes, last season’s 119 title winner. Also placing last season were Daniel (eighth at 103), Howey (eighth at 125), Wilson (fifth at 130) and sophomore Ryan Radvansky (160, 16-4), who was eighth at 160.
#7 ALLENDALE
Record/rank: 22-7, unranked
League finish: First in O-K Blue
Coach: Duane Watson, 33rd season (682-259)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Harrison Meekhof (27-6) fr., 112 Jack Guerrero (26-7) fr., 135 Cris Perez (23-5) sr., 152 Jordan Silva (21-13) sr.
Outlook: After two seasons away, Allendale is back at the Quarterfinals for the third time in five years and with a fifth-straight league title and 14th-straight District championship. The team has four Individual Finals qualifiers, but eight wrestlers have won at least 22 matches this abbreviated season. Perez finished eighth at 130 in 2020.
#8 CHARLOTTE
Record/rank: 18-8, unranked
League finish: Second in Capital Area Activities Conference White
Coach: Korey Knapp, fourth season (63-47)
Championship history: Class B champion 1968, runner-up 1965.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Jayden Schwartz (22-4) soph., 140 Logan Haughton (25-3) jr., 152 Bo Brandt (24-8) sr.
Outlook: Charlotte is returning to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 1990, and second time in program history. The Orioles defeated perennial power Eaton Rapids to win their District, then upset another annual force in No. 7 Mason at the Regional. Charlotte has had individual standouts over the years – their lone individual qualifier last season won a championship – but this week will also see the Orioles send triple that number to the Individual Finals.
PHOTO: Will Link, right, works toward a pin during Lowell’s Semifinal win last season at Wings Event Center. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)