Highlight Reel: Saturday Semifinals Video
February 28, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals field was whittled to eight this morning over two sessions at Kellogg Arena.
Below are highlights from the morning matches for all four divisions.
Division 1
Duffy Scores A Late Win: Patrick Duffy keeps Anchor Bay in the meet against Hartland with a 5-4 win over Brandon Sturtevant at 152 pounds - getting back points in the final minute. Hartland advanced in Division 1 with a 29-28 win. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Hughes Second-Period Pin: After a scoreless first period, Reece Hughes of Hartland quickly pins Adam Wiscombe of Anchor Bay at 130 pounds to give his team the lead in this Division 1 Semifinal. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Brighton's Brish Bumps Bulldogs To Lead: A key decision down the stretch of the Brighton-Davison Division 1 Semifinal was Nicholas Brish's first period pin of Mike Kennedy. It gave Brighton a 25-22 lead at the time, and the Bulldogs advanced to the final with a 29-25 decision. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Fifield on the Hunt: Hunter Fifield of Davison scored all of his points on this sequence in the first period against Jose Ramos of Brighton. Fifield won the match at 140, 5-1, but Brighton advanced. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 2
Hall of Pins: Lucas Hall gets the Division 2 Semifinal for Lowell against Gaylord started with a quick pin over Trent Hibner. Lowell cruised to a 50-19 win over the Blue Devils. You can watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Trevor Scores Third-Period Win: In the final minute of the 103-pound match, Trevor Giallombardo picks up two points to claim a 7-5 win over Lowell's Sam Russell. You can watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Eaton Rapids Moving On: Austin O'Hearon of Eaton Rapids scored a 9-2 win over Cade Stephenson of Niles in the final bout, at 112 pounds, to give the Greyhounds a 30-27 win. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Noah Nails It For Niles: Niles jumped out to an 18-9 lead in its Division 2 Semifinal with Eaton Rapids. Noah Hall gets a first-period pin here at 140 over Hunter George. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 3
Reinhart Gets Dundee's First Points: After Saginaw Swan Valley won the first three bouts, Dundee got a triple of it own, started by Kenny Reinhart's second-period pin of Luke Hart. Dundee would eventually prevail, 38-32, and move into the Division 3 Final. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Bott Puts Vikings On Top: After Dundee tied the match at 14-14, Gerad Bott of Swan Valley came up with a first-period pin of Kyle Motylinski at 152 pounds to put the Vikings on top. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Todd Wins for Chippewa Hills: Here's the scoring sequence in the third period that gave Slade Todd of Chippewa Hills a 5-3 win over Alex Roberts of Richmond at 130 pounds in this Division 3 Semifnal. Richmond went on to win, 32-19. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Kilburn Gets a Restart Pin: Richmond's Aaron Kilburn recorded the only pin of his team's Division 3 Semifinal with Chippewa Hills ... a first-period fall after a restart. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 4
Manchester Gets On The Board: Brandan Abrigo scores a pin at 112 pounds over Aubrey Stone of New Lothrop in this Division 4 Semifinal. New Lothrop went on to a 38-22 win. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
New Lothrop Extends Lead: New Lothrop extended its lead against Manchester with Cole Hersch pinning Matt Smith in the first period of the 130-pound match. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
The Ax Man Wins For Decatur: Early in the third period of this Division 4 Semifinal, Decatur's Axton Gerhold turns things around against Hudson's Christopher Wollet and into a pin. Hudson went on to win the match, 39-33. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Pivotal Pin by Brockway: With the score tied at 30, Hudson's Clayton Brockway scores a huge pin of Decatur's Kyle Nye in the 171-pound match of this Division 4 Semifinal. You can watch the whole match and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
D4 Preview: Hornets Seek to Stay On Top
February 25, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Eight Division 4 title hopefuls will be the first to take the mat at the first MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals weekend hosted by Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena.
Included among those eight is two-time reigning champion New Lothrop, two-time reigning runner-up Hudson, and three more teams returning to the Quarterfinals, which begin this season at noon.
Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 4, listed by seed. Quarterfinal matches begin at 12 p.m. Friday, with Semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday and the championship match at 3:30 p.m. All matches this weekend will be streamed live on a subscription basis on MHSAA.TV. For results throughout, check the MHSAA Wrestling page.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
#1 New Lothrop
Record/rank: 21-5, No. 1
League finish: Third in Genesee Area Conference Blue.
Coach: Jeff Campbell, 15th season (389-70)
Championship history: 14 MHSAA championships (most recent 2015), four runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Logan Zell (27-22) fr., 112 Tommy Malloy (39-12), soph.; 130 Austin Wolford, 30-15, fr., 140 Zack Riley (19-15) fr., 145 Cole Hersch (44-1) sr.; 152 Steven Garza II (50-1) sr.; 160 John Robinson (36-3) sr.; 171 Erik Birchmeier (28-2) jr.; 171 Brandon Henige (31-20) sr.; 215 Caleb Symons (48-1) sr.
Outlook: New Lothrop is favored to win a third straight Division 4 with a number of standouts who have been part of those previous title-winning teams. The Hornets are led in part by Garza, an individual champion at 145 last season, and Symons, who like last season enters Team Finals weekend with only one loss and was the runner-up at 189 in 2015. Hersch, another veteran standout, Malloy and junior Connor Krupp (16-4, 125) also are returning Finals placers.
#2 Decatur
Record/rank: 27-3, No. 3
League finish: First in Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Coach: Jack Richardson, first season (27-3)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Coy Helmuth (45-5) jr.; 130 Lucian Parish (43-5) sr.; Ethan May (47-3) jr.; Zac Checkley (43-13) jr.; 285 Logan Kennedy (45-5) jr.
Outlook: Richardson, a former standout at Grandville, brings back a team that missed its first championship appearance by only six points last season. Nine juniors and two seniors gained valuable experience during the run and under former longtime coach Brian Southworth. Senior Elijah Luth (37-8, 152) didn’t make the Individual Finals this time, but was a placer in 2015, and Kennedy placed in 2014. Decatur eliminated No. 8 Schoolcraft at the Regional.
#3 Hudson
Record/rank: 17-14, No. 2
League finish: Second in Lenawee County Athletic Association.
Coach: Scott Marry, 28th season (732-165)
Championship history: Five MHSAA championships (most recent 2013), runner-up 2014 and 2015.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Dylan Leathers (31-9) sr.; 103 Tucker Sholl (41-3) fr.; 112 Jordan Hamdan (44-6) fr.; 119 Carson Price (35-16) fr.; 145 Mason Lopinski (45-5) sr.; 160 Kyle Johnson (42-8) sr.; 189 Tylor Grames (45-6) jr.
Outlook: Hudson has made the championship match against New Lothrop the last two seasons, and the regular-season team record this winter can be overlooked given the difficulty of Hudson’s schedule. Another deep run would only put more fear into opponents for the next three seasons; seven Hudson starters are freshmen, and an eighth is a sophomore. Lopinski was an individual runner-up at 145 last season, while Johnson was the champion at 152 in 2014.
#4 Hesperia
Record/rank: 36-7, No. 4
League finish: First in Central State Activities Association Silver.
Coach: Doug Baird, 13th season (437-38)
Championship history: Division 4 champion 2008, five runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Davian Gowens (39-3) sr.; 140 Logan Eaves (28-9) sr.; 140 Trentyn Gleason (40-13) soph.; 145 Gerrit Yates (49-4) soph.; 171 Mark Workman (30-0) sr.; 285 Josh Ehrke (43-2) sr.
Outlook: Hesperia is continuing a dominating decade with its eighth appearance at Finals weekend over the last 10 seasons to go with the championship in 2008 and three of its five runner-up finishes all-time, the most recent coming in 2013. Yates was an individual runner-up last season at 135 and is one of eight underclassmen in the lineup. But there is experience; in addition to Yates last winter, Gowens was a champion in 2014 and Eaves and Workman were runners-up that season.
#5 Springport
Record/rank: 28-6, No. 6
League finish: First in Big 8 Conference.
Co-coaches: David Pratt, 11th season (291-78)
Championship history: Class D runner-up 1984.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Tyler Teague (46-6) jr.; 130 Noah Teague (41-11) soph.; 135 Sean O’Hearon (43-1) jr.; 145 Taylor Whitmore (43-5) sr.; 152 Zeth Caudill (38-3) sr.; 189 Nick Cooper (35-1) jr.; 215 Luke Overweg (30-22) soph.
Outlook: Springport is making its second Quarterfinals appearance in three seasons and third under Pratt after claiming its seventh straight league championship and 11th District title under the coach. The Spartans graduated three-time champion Jacob Cooper last spring, but junior Nick Cooper has picked up the mantle and finished runner-up last season at 171; Caudill, Noah Teague and O’Hearon all also were Individual Finals placers in 2015.
#6 Manchester
Record/rank: 23-6, No. 9
League finish: First in Cascades Conference.
Coach: Steve Vlcek, 26th season (524-187)
Championship history: Division 4 runner-up 2008.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Reese Fry (40-6) soph.; 119 Blake Belaire (36-11) soph.; 125 Miquel Grammatico (35-13) sr.; 130 Ethan Woods (44-2) jr.; 171 Trevor Humphrey (43-4) sr.; 189 Jordan Good (15-3) jr.; 285 Stevie Suliman (39-10) sr.
Outlook: Manchester returns to Finals weekend for the second straight season and seventh over the last decade, and with 10 upperclassmen in the lineup despite graduating a strong group last spring. Woods was the individual runner-up at 119 last season and also placed as a freshman, and Humphrey also placed in 2015.
#7 Leroy Pine River
Record/rank: 25-4, No. 10
League finish: First in Wolverine Conference.
Coach: Tim Jones, 17th season (455-80)
Championship history: Class C runner-up 1991.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Dylan Stephens (37-6) soph.; 112 Andrew Park (47-3) soph.; 119 Nate Park (41-4) sr.; 119 Jacob Roberts (40-5) soph.; 130 Tucker Fansler (39-12) jr.; 160 Joe Rigling (42-13) jr.; 171 Raden Holmes (43-9) jr.; 189 Josh Jackson (46-5) sr.; 215 Bryan Mccurry (34-16) fr.
Outlook: Only top seed New Lothrop has more Individual Finals qualifiers among Division 4 teams competing this weekend, and Andrew Park was an individual placer last season. They’ve been part of a team that has won 16 league and District titles over the last 17 seasons and also made the Team Quarterfinals a year ago for the first time since 2008. Pine River beat its three MHSAA Tournament opponents this month by an average of 40 points.
#8 Munising
Record/rank: 19-5, unranked
League finish: Does not wrestle in a league.
Coach: Bob Miles, 10th season (169-107)
Championship history: Upper Peninsula runner-up 1968.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Nick Miles (35-9) soph.; 189 Hunter Sadler (50-2) sr.
Outlook: The wrestling program is continuing a strong run by Munising teams in multiple sports, making Finals weekend for the first time in Miles’ decade as coach and after winning a second straight District championship. Sadler finished sixth at 171 last season and brings experience on the big mat. The Mustangs have accomplished this despite voiding four weights and with only two seniors – which could bode well for the future.
PHOTO: A New Lothrop wrestler has his hand raised by an official in victory during a match this season against Richmond at CMU. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)