Highlight Reel: Friday's Quarterfinal Video

February 28, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first day of MHSAA Team Finals weekend is one of the busiest days of each wrestling season, with 16 matches over four divisions deciding those that will move on to meet in Saturday’s Semifinals.

And we’ve got highlights for every team that competed Friday, split up by division below.

Click to keep up with the tournament on the MHSAA Wrestling page, and come back to Second Half tonight for more highlights and coverage from all four championship matches.

Division 1

DAVISON GOES ON TOP: Lincoln Olson of Davison pins Joe McGrath of Detroit Catholic Central in 130-pound action. The Cardinals prevailed in this one, 35-28. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

MORELAND PICKS UP SIX: Detroit Catholic Central tightened things up at the end against Davison. Tyler Morland records a pin in 36 seconds against Tanner Thomas. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

VANHOEF FINISHES WITH A GRAND HAVEN PIN: Chase Vanhoef of Grand Haven pinned Jacob Renard of Anchor Bay in the 285-pound weight class of their Division 1 Quarterfinal match. It was all Anchor Bay in this one, 49-12. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

MICELI PINS FOR ANCHOR BAY: Anchor Bay had five pins in its Quarterfinal win over Grand Haven. Here's a second-period pin by Vince Miceli over Cole Miles. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

POTTER PINS FINLEY: Garnet Potter of Hartland pinned Justn Finley of Monroe in 45 seconds. The Eagles went on to a 44-19 win. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

MATHEWS CLOSES IT WITH A WIN: Keith Mathews was one of the bright spots for Monroe against Hartland, ending the match with a pin late in the second period in the 285-pound weight class. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

BRIGHTON OPENS UP ITS LEAD: Brighton won the last seven weight classes against Oxford. Here's a pin by Nicholas Brish at 171 pounds over Campbell Coker. Brighton advanced to the Division 1 Semifinals, 39-19. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

EXCITING FINAL MINUTE: The finish of the 135-pound bout in the Division 1 Quarterfinal between Oxford's Vinny Vackaro and Brighton's Jose Ramos saw Vackaro come from behind for a 13-10 win. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Division 2

TECUMSEH COMES BACK FOR THE LEAD: The Tecumseh-Niles match in came down to the wire. Wyatt Cadmus gives Tecumseh the lead with one weight class to go with a third-period pin of Brandel Hall at 125 pounds. But Niles won the final weight class and the match, 29-26. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

MITCHELL'S MONSTER THIRD PERIOD: Mitchell Findeisen wins the last weight class and the match for Niles with a 20-4 techinal fall over Adam Shelby of Tecumseh. Findeisen nearly gets the pin in the third period. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

PRIDE OF THE PANTHERS: Tyler Brewer ties things up early for Comstock Park against Lowell with a third-period pin of Garret Taylor. Then the Red Arrows won 11 of the last 12 weight classes to cruise to a 63-12 Division 2 Quarterfinal victory. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

MCKECHNIE KEEPS THE PIN STRING GOING: There were pins in the last nine weight classes in the Lowell-Comstock Park Quarterfinal - eight by the Red Arrows. Here Austin McKechnie does his share with a second period pin over Tristan Gore. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

ABES GET A WIN IN OT: Warren Lincoln gets a 10-8 overtime win at 119 pounds by Desmond Prazuch over Isaac Coolidge. This Division 2 Quarterfinal, however, belonged to Eaton Rapids, which won, 42-18. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

EATON RAPIDS' ELDRED EXECUTES: Eaton Rapids' Austin Eldred gets a first period pin for the Greyhounds against Tommy Hang. Final - Eaton Rapids 42, Warren Lincoln 18. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

DAVIS DOES IT: Malik Davis gives Flint Kearsley an 11-4 lead after three weight classes against Gaylord. Davis pinned Seth Gregory late in the first period. Gaylord would prevail, 36-32. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

FOSTER WITH THE QUICK PIN: An 11-second pin was recorded by Gaylord's Shane Foster over Marcus Moss of Flint Kearsley in the 215-pound bout of this Division 2 Quarterfinal. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Division 3

RAZOR SHARP: One of the quickest pins of the Division 3 Quarterfinals was this 28-second fall by Jaycob Sharp of Remus Chippewa Hills over Ben Diaz of Allegan to start the match. Chip Hills advanced with a 46-24 win. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

CUT TO THE CHASE: Chase Beard got a pin late in the second period for Allegan to win at 215 pounds over Billy Koepf. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

BACK-TO-BACK TENNIHILL PINS: Jared and Grant Tennihill scored back-to-back pins for Grand Rapids Catholic Central against Saginaw Swan Valley. Here's Grant's fall in13 seconds against Joshua Shaner. Swan Valley held on to advance, 38-35. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

SUITOR SECURES THE WIN: K.J. Suitor of Saginaw Swan Valley clinched the Division 2 Quarterfinal win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central with a first-period pin at 125 pounds against Emable Irankunda. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

MIGHTY QUINN: Matt Quinn gets on the highlight reel for Mason County Central with a quick third-period pin over Gabe Heiserman of Dundee. Dundee won this Division 3 Quarterfinal, 60-9. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

PIN IT IN A MINUTE: Brandon Whitman scores a quick pin for Dundee over Jarod Alvestteffer of Mason County Central. You can watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here

BIRCH RUN REVERSAL: Mason Breece of Birch Run scored a 4-0 win over Cody Keller of Richmond at 119 pounds in this Division 3 Quarterfinal. Here he picks up two points on a third-period reversal. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

SKATZKA STARTS A STREAK: Richmond broke away from Birch Run by winning three straight matches by pin. Here's one by Devin Skatzka against Justin Elliott at 160 pounds. Final: Richmond, 37, Birch Run 19. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Division 4

GARZA PINS FOR NEW LOTHROP: Steve Garza of New Lothrop scored a first-period pin against Eric Peters of Cass City in a 64-9 Division 4 Quarterfinal victory. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

ALL SMILES: Daymon Tabavo of Cass City is all smiles after his pin of Caleb Stankiewicz of New Lothrop in the 215-pound weight class. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

SIMMONS PINS FOR CLIMAX-SCOTTS/MARTIN: Ethan Simmons keeps Climax-Scotts/Martin in the match against Decatur with this second-period pin of Thomas Conklin. The Raiders, however, went on to win this Division 4 Quarterfinal, 47-22. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE FOR HELMUTH: In the opening match of the Decatur v. Climax-Scotts/Martin match, David Helmuth of Decatur turned a reversal into a pin with 35 seconds left in the first period against Tristan Smith. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

LO-PIN-SKI!!!!!!!!: Hudson started its match with Norway by scoring four straight pins. Mason Lopinski got the fourth in 23 seconds over Michael Tomczak. The Tigers won the meet, 59-15. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

TAYLOR MADE: Taylor Bonetti gets Norway on the board against Hudson with a 45-second pin of Jarrett Waters. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

BUCKS BATTLE BACK: Leroy Pine River posted five straight wins late against Manchester. Here's a quick pin by Andrew Park of the Bucks at 103 pounds over Reese Fry, which tied the score with two weights to go. The meet ended in a 33-33 tie, with Manchester advancing on criteria. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here

LOTS OF TAKEDOWNS: Late in the final weight class, Manchester's Brendan Abrigo rips off a series of takedowns against Jordan Stone of Pine River. Abrigo's 11-4 win at 119 tied the team score at 33-33. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Titans Grow to Tower Over Competition

By Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half

January 19, 2017

WARREN – The year was 1999. Greg Mayer had recently graduated from Central Michigan University and didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life.

After serving as a co-head wrestling coach at Warren Woods Tower in 1998, Pat Threet directed the program alone the following season.

Although they never had met before, Mayer and Threet knew of the other through mutual acquaintances and athletics. They didn’t know it then, but soon they would team together and build a wrestling power in Macomb County from the ground up. Along the way they also would become best friends.

Woods Tower’s wrestling program was struggling when Threet took over. Warren public schools like Lincoln and Fitzgerald were far more competitive and Threet, as a graduate of Woods Tower, made a commitment to himself and the community to get the program to where it could be competitive as well. 

Threet wrestled in high school, but he knew his limitations. He also knew he needed to hire someone with a strong wrestling background, one who would demand excellence.

“I didn’t know Greg, but I knew he was a phenomenal wrestler,” Threet said. “His brother (Jeff) was, too. From day one I told him we’re in this together.”

Mayer was hired as Threet’s assistant in 1999, and the wheels began turning. It took a few years but, finally, in 2004 Woods Tower won a District title. Three years later it won its first Regional. The Titans won another Regional in Division 2 in 2014 and again last season.

This season Mayer, now in charge of the program, returned 13 wrestlers, just four of whom are seniors, and the Titans are looking to take that next step past the Quarterfinal round.

“We were terrible,” Mayer said of his first season with Threet. “When I got there Pat and I had some 20 kids. At the end of the season we had nine, but we had nine hammers.

“Then we started to win some Districts. Pat moved on in 2007. He had other obligations, family and stuff. I’m really grateful to him for giving me that chance.”

Mayer was an MHSAA individual champion wrestler at Lincoln, one of the county’s top programs. In 1994, his senior season, the Abes won the Class A team title with Sam Amine as the head coach and Mayer was the individual champion at 130 pounds.

Mayer enjoyed a successful four-year wrestling career at CMU, one that was highlighted by a fifth-place finish nationally when he was a junior and a seventh-place finish his senior season. 

Upon graduating Mayer, like many 23-year-olds, didn’t have a plan.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to,” he said. “I was doing a camp in Warren and Pat was in his first year (1998) at Woods Tower, and he said to me if you come over I’ll put a good word in for you to get you a teaching position. So I took it and convinced my brother, who was the head coach at Roseville, to coach the youth program.”

Mayer didn’t stop there. He convinced two other Lincoln graduates, Russell Correll and Mike Milunovich, to join his staff. Like the Mayers, Correll and Milunovich were MHSAA Finals placers at Lincoln. Ian Fredlund, a Woods Tower graduate, also is on staff.

In a division dominated by Lowell and St. Johns (each has won four MHSAA team titles over the last eight seasons), Woods Tower is the new kid on the block attempting to disrupt the status quo, and made the Quarterfinals last season as the sixth seed before falling to third-seeded Gaylord 31-26. 

The Titans finished third at the prestigious Detroit Catholic Central Invitational earlier this month. And with all of the experience back, hopes are high.

Among his top wrestlers is sophomore David Stepanian, ranked No. 1 in the 103-pound division by MichiganGrappler.com. At 112 is another sophomore, Chaise Mayer, the coach’s nephew. At 119 is senior Elijuh Weaver, the reigning Division 2 champion at 112 pounds.

Six years ago Woods Tower joined the Macomb Area Conference Red and is the only Division 2 school to compete in the MAC’s top division. Not only did Mayer want his wrestlers facing the best, it’s become a numbers situation within his program.

“We carry almost two full teams,” he said. “Being in the Red guarantees my guys they will wrestle in every (division) meet. We’ve never won the MAC Red and to be honest, that’s not our goal. Our goal is to win a state title. As long as we’re progressing, I’m happy.”

Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Elijuh Weaver, top, works toward flipping his opponent during last season’s Division 2 Quarterfinal match against Gaylord. (Middle) Greg Mayer, left, and Pat Threet from a team photo early in their tenure at Warren Woods Tower. (Below) Mayer directs one of his wrestlers last year at Rose Arena. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)