Dundee 'Team X' Takes Back D3
February 24, 2018
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
KALAMAZOO – Brandon Whitman and the Dundee wrestling team quickly changed into Team X T-shirts as the clock wound down Saturday night on the MHSAA Division 3 Team Wrestling Final at Wings Event Center.
The shirts were in honor of the Vikings' 10th team title won in the program's incredible history.
Dundee clinched it by beating long-time nemesis Richmond in the championship match 40-15 in front of a loud crowd.
"This is very exciting; we have been working our butts off," said Whitman, who is a three-time individual champion as well. "This is the closest group of people I have been with since I started in high school, and I am glad it is paying off."
Dundee coach Tim Roberts echoed those sentiments on how close-knit this team is, and how important that was to winning the title this year.
"I told these guys at the beginning of the year that they would be the 10th team to win a championship, they would be Team X," said Roberts, whose Vikings ended the season with a 17-3 record. "I thought we had the talent and the drive, and this team had a lot of doing it for each other. This was not a selfish effort. I have been doing this 28 years now, and this may have been one of the most fun seasons I had. It was fun to watch kids work for something bigger than themselves."
The talent on both teams was on display in the opening match.
Starting at the 215-pound weight class, Whitman, the top-ranked 215-pounder by Michigan Grappler, took on second-ranked Colton McKiernan. And in a hard-fought match, Whitman defeated McKiernan 6-3 to set the tone for the rest of the Final.
After the Blue Devils tied the score at 3-3 with a decision by heavyweight Tyler Marino, Dundee went on to win five of the next six matches wrestled to take a 24-6 lead entering the 140-pound weight class.
The last in that run came from super freshman Stoney Buell, who pinned his ranked opponent in one minute.
In the end, Dundee won 10 of the 14 matches wrestled.
"In all, we gave up three falls, and the rest were close decisions," said Richmond co-coach Brandon Day, whose team ended with a 21-6 record. "We have a bunch of tough grinding kids, but they have some very talented guys. It is what it is; we will get back to work tomorrow for next year."
And next year could very well be like 10 of the past 13 years. That's how many times these two teams have met for the Division 3 championship.
The Blue Devils have eight titles, including last year's tie-breaker criteria decision win over Dundee.
"We talked about that regularly," Roberts said. "We wanted to fix a wrong."
Now Day and the Blue Devils have some added motivation for next year, and maybe even a little more.
"We are who we are, and they are who they are, and we knew this was going to be a fist fight," Day said. "We went at each other, they are just a better team, but we will remember all the fist pumping they did."
Click for full results of the weekend’s Division 3 matches.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dundee’s Jonathon White celebrates a win during the Division 3 Final while his team’s fans cheer in the background. (Middle) Hayden Bastian rallies his team after his pin at 140 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
D2 Preview: Champions Could Meet Again
March 2, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A pair of reigning MHSAA individual champions met in Saturday’s Division 2 Team Final pitting Lowell and St. Johns.
They could meet again this weekend to determine the 140-pound title.
The Redwings' Ian Parker just got the best of the Red Arrows’ Zeth Dean, 3-0, although Lowell ended up the team champion at Central Michigan University. But the last time they both competed at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Parker left with the 125-pound title and Dean won at 130.
They are two of 10 contenders we’ve broken out below among many to watch this weekend at the Division 2 Individual Finals. Follow all the matches beginning with Thursday's first round on a subscription basis live on MHSAA.TV, and click here for results at MHSAA.com. And come back to Second Half this weekend as we’ll interview all 14 title winners.
112: Cameron Mahlich, Ionia junior (38-2) – Last season’s champion at 103 finished only second at his Regional last month, but his only other loss this season came in December.
112: Austin Franco, Stevensville Lakeshore senior (43-0) – Franco fell 14-10 in last season’s Final at this weight to Gaylord’s Dominic LaJoie (see below) and it was Franco’s only loss; he defeated Mahlich (see above) in the Regional this time.
119: Dominic LaJoie, Gaylord junior (58-0) – Undefeated at this point for the second time in three seasons, LaJoie is going for his third individual championship after winning 112 a year ago.
125: Lucas Hall, Lowell senior (28-0) – Fresh off being part of a third-straight team championship last weekend, Hall can finish his high school career with a third-straight individual title after winning at 119 last season; he’ll wrestle next at Michigan State University.
140: Zeth Dean, Lowell senior (29-5) – He won last season at 130 pounds and was runner-up at 112 as a freshman, and he'll go on to compete for Harvard.
140: Ian Parker, St. Johns senior (45-2) – After helping the Redwings back to the Division 2 Team Final, Parker can end a champion once more on his way to continue at Iowa State.
145: Austin Melton, DeWitt senior (51-1) – The 2014 champion at 135 narrowly missed a second title last winter, falling 7-5 in the Final at 140; he’s the top seed at 145 this weekend.
189: Max Dean, Lowell senior (33-0) – The cousin of Zeth and younger brother of graduated Lowell star Gabe, Max has starred as well, winning 171 as a sophomore before missing last season with an injury. Like Gabe, he'll next suit up at Cornell.
215: Landon Pelham, Tecumseh senior (50-0) – Last season’s third-place finisher at this weight is the favorite this time and will continue his career after at Central Michigan.
285: Isaiah Espinoza, Adrian senior (43-1) – He made an unexpected run to runner-up at this weight last season, finishing with a record of only 18-7, but won’t surprise anyone this time.
Other 2015 runners-up: Gaylord senior Trevor Giallombardo (112, 53-5, 103 in 2015), Warren Woods Tower junior Elijuh Weaver (112, 54-1, D1 103 for Roseville in 2015), Owosso senior Emilio Campos (112, 39-6, D3 103 for Corunna in 2015) Parma Western junior Luke Raczkowski (135, 45-4, 130 in 2015), Parma Western senior Chase Veydt (140, 39-4, 135 in 2015), Eaton Rapids senior Clayton Higelmire (215, 41-2, 215 in 2015).
Also undefeated: Riverview senior Brandon Garcia (152, 51-0), Warren Lincoln junior Jelani Embree (171, 43-0), Cedar Springs junior Patrick DePiazza (285, 49-0).
More of note: Parma Western freshman Cory Gamet (103, 11-1), Ortonville Brandon senior Brendan Ladd (130, 52-3), Goodrich senior Nathan Ellis (135, 48-3), Ortonville Brandon senior Bryan LaVearn (140, 53-2), Sparta senior Joel Rees (152, 45-1), Warren Lincoln senior Deirrien Perkins (160, 37-1).
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTO: Lowell’s Zeth Dean and St. Johns’ Ian Parker, right, locked up during last weekend’s Division 2 Team Final. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)