Expectations High for Battle-Tested Gaylord

January 5, 2018

By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half

GAYLORD – During the winter of 2001, Davison’s Chase Metcalf was in the process of winning a second consecutive MHSAA individual wrestling title.

Jerry LaJoie, the wrestling coach at Gaylord, was quite familiar with Metcalf and his younger brother, Brent, who would finish 228-0 as a prep and win two NCAA championships.

“I knew the family,” said LaJoie, whose nephew Tony was a two-time MHSAA Finals champion at Clarkston during those days. “The Metcalfs are a staple in Michigan wrestling. I got to watch the Metcalfs grow up in front of me. They were little kids coming on to the wrestling scene when I was a young coach.”

So when the LaJoies welcomed a baby boy on Christmas Day in 2001, they named him Chayse after Chase Metcalf.

“We wanted to make it our own (first name) so we added a ‘y’ to it,” said LaJoie.

Chase Metcalf went on to wrestle at the University of Michigan, then tragically died in an auto accident in 2005 at the age of 21.

As for Chayse LaJoie, he’s making his own mark on the mat. As a freshman last season, LaJoie captured the Division 2 individual title at 103 pounds. That same day, his brother, Dominic, claimed 125 pounds. Only a one-point loss at the 2016 Finals prevented Dominic from becoming a four-time state champ, matching Brent Metcalf’s feat.

It was a proud day for Jerry LaJoie, who has built the Gaylord wrestling program into one of the state’s best, as he watched his sons realize dreams on the same day.

“As a coach, it was awesome,” said LaJoie. “As a dad, it was very special. They were drill partners. All the hard work paid off.”

Athletic director Christian Wilson savored it, too.

“It was a special deal because not only are they outstanding wrestlers, but they’re great kids,” he said. “Anytime you have kids come through your school, and they’re able to see their goals achieved, it’s pretty neat. Not just for our wrestling program and school, but for our community.”

Dominic is now wrestling at Cornell University. Still, the Blue Devils return the nucleus of a team that lost a two-point match to St. Johns in the team Regional Finals a year ago, this after two consecutive MHSAA Semifinal berths. Four Individual Finals placers are back.

“We have high expectations because we have a veteran squad,” said senior captain Joe Markham, who took sixth at 285 last year. “We expect great things out of each other. We want to get back in the running for states.”

Gaylord, ranked No. 3 in Division 2 by Michigan Grappler, opened this campaign with tournament wins at Marquette and Greenville. The Blue Devils placed third at the Goodrich Tournament of Champions over Christmas break with 10 wrestlers.

Gaylord is especially strong in the lower weights with Chayse LaJoie, senior captain Derek Giallombardo and sophomore John Henry Sosa. The three are rotating, depending on style matchups, in the 119, 125 and 130 weight classes. Giallombardo finished fourth at 119 a year ago, while Sosa placed fifth at 112.

“We’re flexible,” said Jerry LaJoie. “We can move our lineup around, and our kids are still capable of performing at high levels.”

The lineup also features Will Sides at 112, Rico Brown at 130-135, Dmitri Smith, Cody Starks and Seth Gregory at 140-145; Jacob McKnight at 145, Kenny Smith at 152, Brady Schulz at 160-171, Cade Foster at 171-189, A.J. Krumholz at 215 and Markham at 285. Foster and Markham won the 171 and 285 weight classes at Goodrich. Giallombardo placed second to Utica Ford’s Terrin Machart at 125, while Chayse LaJoie was third at 119.

“It’s tough to find a couple holes in our lineup that we can’t protect or move around, and that’s what makes us tough,” said LaJoie, who entered the season with a 632-131-2 career record.

Over the holidays, five former Blue Devils returned home to work with the team, including three who are wrestling in college (Dominic LaJoie, Jon Martin at Central Michigan University and Trevor Giallombardo at Ohio University).

“We use the Christmas break to correct some of our mistakes and work on the finer things,” said LaJoie. “Plus, the college kids come in and show their techniques.”

Chayse LaJoie and Derek Giallombardo are training partners this season. Previously, they worked with their brothers.

“Coach likes to say, ’iron sharpens iron,’” Giallombardo said.

Chayse LaJoie appreciates facing good competition in practice. After all, working with his brother in the past helped him develop his work ethic and focus.

“You don’t have to push Chayse to work hard,” his father said. “He‘s a goer. He’ll battle with anybody. Dom was more technical. Chayse is more physical.”

LaJoie said his captains, Giallombardo and Markham, lead by example. Both are capable of winning Finals titles this winter, he said.

When asked what his most memorable moment has been on the mat, Giallombardo said that chapter has yet to be written.

“I’m hoping to make that moment happen at the state meet this year,” he said.

Markham, meanwhile, is motivated by how he finished 2017. He injured his ankle at the Individual Finals and had to default his last match.

“I felt kind of empty afterwards,” he said.” I’m using that to drive me.”

Markham likes the makeup of this team.

“I like our work ethic,” he said. “You’re not born with that skill, you have to work at it – and we have it.”

Still, he added, the Blue Devils must avoid complacency.

“Just because we have state medalists doesn’t mean anything coming into this season,” he said. “We have to keep working, keep building off what we have.

“And we have to stay mentally tough. It’s a long season, and we’re going to have to stay mentally strong if we want to finish the way we expect.”

The Blue Devils will be put to the test Saturday in a highly competitive six-team tournament at Grand Ledge.

“We’ll see some tough teams,” said Giallombardo, who has signed with Ohio University. “We need to do well for seeding.”

Chayse LaJoie can’t wait for the challenge.

“It excites me,” he said. “I love competition.”

After Grand Ledge, Gaylord will begin pursuing another Big North Conference crown. The Blue Devils have won 10 consecutive league titles.

“Both Traverse City teams are getting better, and Petoskey is always tough,” said Jerry LaJoie. “We’ll have to be on our game.”

But the Blue Devils have goals beyond that.

“If we stay healthy, I think we can get back to states,” said Chayse LaJoie. “But that’s if everybody stays healthy and dedicated.”

Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Joe Markham’s arm is raised in victory during a triangular meet Dec. 21 against Ogemaw Heights and Sault Ste. Marie. (Middle) Derek Giallombardo, (top) and Chayse LaJoie are another pair of standouts for this season’s Blue Devils. (Below) Gaylord coach Jerry LaJoie, and graduated son Dominic (kneeling) watch one of their wrestlers compete during the tri-meet. (Photos courtesy of the Gaylord Herald Times.)

'Best' Algonac Unbeatable So Far as Highly-Anticipated Drive for Finals Begins

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

February 10, 2022

Jake Kasner knows the hard work is still ahead for him and his Algonac wrestling teammates.

But that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate what the Muskrats already have accomplished.

“It’s great,” the Algonac senior 152-pounder said. “We had a couple tournaments cut short, and we had some teammates out – really the only dual we had our whole team was against Richmond. Everyone has been stepping up when we need them, and we continue to win duals whenever possible. I’m very proud of our team in that way.”

Algonac is 21-0 and ranked No. 4 in Division 3 and won Wednesday’s Team District with a championship victory over Clawson. The team collected hardware throughout the year and finished a program-best second in the Macomb County Invitational.

While that incredible season did not include a Blue Water Area Conference championship, the Muskrats were 5-0 in the league, including a win against perennial state power Richmond, something no BWAC team had achieved since 2004.

“We’ve been trying to harp on consistency,” Algonac coach Brian Ranger said. “In past years, we had some tough teams where one week they looked amazing, and the next week not so much. We’ve been working to have that same, consistent effort every week and being the best version of ourselves. We don’t have kids worry so much about the other teams. We’re good enough now where if we wrestle to the best of our abilities, we can wrestle with anyone. We’re making sure we bring the same championship-level effort every time.”

Ranger took over at Algonac before the 2011-12 season, inheriting a program with no youth feeder system and 11 high school wrestlers.

Over his first 10 seasons, Ranger turned the program around, winning five District championships and – along with the help of his friend and assistant coach Ken Thomas – built the youth program to more than 70 wrestlers.

Algonac spent plenty of time over those 10 years among the top teams in the BWAC and ranked among the top 10 in Division 3.

The team also ended each of those previous 10 seasons with a District or Regional loss against Richmond.

“For whatever reason, we never wrestled as well as we should have at the end of the season against Richmond, and it pained me,” Ranger said. “I was always kind of searching every offseason for why we weren’t performing better against some of these better teams. This year, we focused on being the best us. If we’re the best us, we’re pretty hard to beat.”

Algonac’s best could be enough to end the streak this year, but it’s tough to fault the Muskrats for previous defeats. Richmond – the alma mater of both Ranger and Thomas – has won eight Division 3 Finals titles since 2000 and has been a Division 3 finalist eight of the past 10 seasons.

The Blue Devils won the BWAC title this year, taking first at the league tournament and edging Algonac in dual points thanks to the Muskrats having to cancel an early-season league date against Imlay City and Croswell-Lexington.

Richmond may be waiting for the Muskrats in the Regional Final, but first must wrestle No. 10-ranked Yale, the tournament host next Wednesday. On the other side of the bracket, Algonac will face Imlay City, which Ranger considers a top-10 caliber team.

While Algonac may have put a target on its back with the earlier win against Richmond, the bigger takeaway could be the confidence gained by the Muskrats heading into the postseason.

Algonac wrestling“It was a little bit more of a mental victory, if anything,” Ranger said. “For so long, we haven’t performed when it came to a match like that. We’re still proving to ourselves that we are good enough for those moments.”

The Muskrats are a young team, with 10 underclassmen in the starting lineup, including seven freshmen. The final five matches against Richmond were wrestled by Algonac underclassmen, as they pulled out a 31-29 victory. Six freshmen – Chris Campbell (second, 103), Sky Langewicz (fourth, 103), Lucky Gartin (third, 112), Steve Shannon (third, 119), Alex Bright (third, 125) and Reid Hiltunen (second, 160) – placed at the BWAC tournament.

“I saw it coming,” said Kasner, who won a BWAC title at 152. “We’ve had all the younger kids coming up through the youth program. There was a big gap the last few years in the lower weights, and we knew we were going to get a lot of that filled, so if you ask me, this isn’t really a surprise. (The younger wrestlers) come to practice every day, and we expect the same thing from them as we expect from everyone else. They give it their all every day, including the Richmond match.”

Those younger contributors not only came up through the Algonac youth program, they thrived while taking part.

“My young kids, this is kind of all they know,” Ranger said. “They’re not super surprised; they’re kind of used to it. I think it’s surprising to some people around our community and other communities. I think (this season) took that belief to another level, but they kind of already had that inside of them, that we’re this good and we need to be like this every year.”

As the talent base was building, Ranger also was working on himself as a coach. The former Elmhurst University wrestler has been tweaking his approach over the past decade – not so much in what he physically teaches, but the mental aspect.

“I’ve always known how to show wrestling moves, but it was kind of some of that mental preparation – how to get them ready mentally and physically, how to peak at the right time,” Ranger said. “Most of my philosophy I use here has been stolen from about 27 different people, plus (former Richmond coach George Hamblin), and my college coach was a Division I national champion. I still haven’t learned it all. I’m also trying to stay positive in the corner as much as I can. I’m an emotional guy, and if something goes wrong, I used to wear that in my body language too often.”

That emotion is sure to come out, though, if the Muskrats can accomplish what is now in front of them – advancing to the Team Wrestling Finals for the first time in program history.

“We all love (the coaches), everyone on our team,” Kasner said. “They work so hard for our team. Coach Thomas drives 45 minutes just to get to practice every day. To (beat their alma mater) for them after all the years and all the stuff they did for us, we were happy for them, too.

“We’ve prepared all season and took it one day at a time. We’re going to be ready. We’ve been ready. I think we have a good shot to be the first team to make it to team state from Algonac. But there’s no for sures.”

Paul CostanzoPaul 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) Algonac coach Brian Ranger gives Alex Bright a pep talk this season. (Middle) The Muskrats’ Lucky Gartin works for a pin. (Photos courtesy of the Algonac wrestling program.)