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.
Lowell Rides Fast Start to D2 Repeat
February 28, 2015
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – The Lowell wrestling team couldn’t have drawn up a better start to its match against Eaton Rapids in the Division 2 Final at Kellogg Arena on Saturday.
Just 14 seconds in, junior Lucas Hall whipped the Lowell fans into a frenzy when he delivered a pin, giving the Red Arrows a lightning-quick 6-0 lead. The fall ignited a 15-0 run by Lowell and paved the way to a 40-16 victory and a second consecutive title.
“I was just thinking I had to go out there and do everything in my power to get six,” Hall said. “I wanted to give us an early lead. I just didn’t think it would happen that fast.”
The quick pin was the perfect way for first-year Lowell coach R.J. Boudro to begin his head coaching experience in the Finals. Boudro formerly served as an assistant to previous coach Dave Dean, who stepped down after last season’s championship win.
“Lucas going out and getting six right off the bat was huge,” Boudro said. “It just so happened that the starting weight (119) was at Lucas’ weight class. That pin just lifted the whole team.”
Hall’s pin was one of two by Lowell in the first three matches of the dual. After a decision by Aaron Ward at 125 pounds, Lowell junior Zeth Dean added another quick pin in 1:39 giving the Red Arrows a 15-0 lead.
Bonus points were crucial for Lowell throughout the dual as the Red Arrows recorded four falls and one major decision in the nine matches they won.
Not only did Lowell pick up extra bonus points, but its wrestlers also kept Eaton Rapids from scoring bonus points of their own. Of the five Eaton Rapids wins, all but one came on a decision, and the fifth was a major decision.
“We were hoping to get more bonus points,” Eaton Rapids coach Joe Ray Barry said. “We just didn’t get them. We didn’t get the bonus points that we were looking for and they got the bonus points where they were looking for them.”
It was the performances of some young, un-sung Red Arrows that prevented Eaton Rapids from piling up those needed bonus points. One of those young grinders for Lowell was freshman Garret Pratt.
Wrestling at 135 pounds against Eaton Rapids senior Jaedin Sklapsky, an expected contender at next weekend’s Individual Finals, Pratt was able to stay off his back and surrender just a four-point major decision.
“Garret was going up against arguably one of the best 135-pounders in the state,” Boudro said. “You heard the cheers from our fans after that match. We have some of the smartest wrestling fans around, and they knew how big that was.”
Lowell upped its lead to 21-4 when Jordan Hall delivered a pin in 2:48.
Eaton Rapids reeled off three straight wins in the next three matches. All three were by decision with Lane McVicker winning at 145, Blaine Milheim at 152 and Caleb Norris at 160 pounds.
Lowell picked up a second win by a freshman at 171. George Gonzales, who came into the match with a sub-.500 record, showed just how deep the Red Arrows are as he won 5-2.
“George has stepped up all year for us,” Boudro said. “He actually weighs 160, but he has wrestled 171 and 189 for us this year. He is another one of those kids who just goes out there and wrestles hard.”
Lowell closed out the dual on a roll as it won the final four matches. Senior Josh Colegrove kept his record perfect for the season as he won by fall at 215 pounds. Senior heavyweight Logan Wilcox won by decision while sophomore Sam Russell won by a major decision at 103 pounds and junior Kyle Washburn closed out the win with a decision at 112.
The MHSAA title was the fifth for Lowell since 2002. The Red Arrows finished the season with a 29-2 record that was forged against some of the best wrestling programs in the Midwest.
“I firmly believe we have one of the hardest schedules in the state,” Boudro said. “One of our losses was to Chicago Oak Forest, who is one of the best teams in Illinois. Our other loss was to Hartland and they are in the Division 1 state finals. We also wrestled Brighton and Richmond and Hudson. We wrestled five of the eight teams in the state finals this year, and that’s the same for many of those schools also.”
The bad news for the rest of the Division 2 is that the Red Arrows may be even better next year.
“Next year we will have one of our better teams returning,” Boudro said. “We only lose four seniors out of our starting lineup and we had a lot of freshmen step up for us this year.”
PHOTO: Lowell and Eaton Rapids competitors wrestle for the Division 2 championship Saturday at Kellogg Arena. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)