Hruska Earning Fame as Iron Mountain Continues Climb with District Title
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 10, 2023
IRON MOUNTAIN — Shayna Hruska accomplished what no other Upper Peninsula female wrestler had before, becoming the first girl to capture a title at the Upper Peninsula Wrestling Championships and being selected the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler in Marquette on Jan. 21.
The Iron Mountain junior has gone on to earn her second straight Mid-Peninsula Conference championship at Ishpeming on Feb. 4, gaining top honors at 106 pounds after winning at 103 a year ago.
The Mountaineers have since captured a Division 4 Team District title Wednesday night in a 49-27 defeat of Bark River-Harris. They host the Team Regional on Feb. 15.
They’re also entered in Saturday’s Individual District at Manistique. Hruska, however, elected to pass on the Individual District in favor of competing in the Girls Regional on Feb. 19 at Grayling or Cadillac.
Female wrestlers are allowed to wrestle the individual postseason beginning either with the District including boys competitors, or in the Girls Regional bracket that feeds into the Girls Individual Finals; both finish at Ford Field.
“Girls wrestling is growing, which makes for stronger competition,” she said. “I’m really grateful for my teammates and coaches because they push me to get better.
“Wrestling on a Sunday will be a little different, but I don’t think it will be too much of an adjustment. I just need to get plenty of rest and eat healthy.”
Hruska secured the U.P. title by taking an 8-2 decision from St. Ignace freshman Dalton Champion in the 106-pound final.
“I was really excited, but right now I’m working toward Regional and state tournaments” she said. “Wrestling against the boys prepares me a lot. They have a different technique. Every wrestler is different. Wrestling the boys is harder, but prepares you better.”
Iron Mountain is loaded with experienced standouts this season. Senior Shawn McGuire won last season’s Division 4 Finals championship at 119 pounds, and junior Tyler Winch was the runner-up at that weight. Senior Evan Haferkorn and juniors Fulton Stroud and Alex Wilson all placed at last season’s Finals as well.
Coach Cory McLaren said Hruska does plenty to bolster the lineup as well.
“We need her in our lineup,” he added. “People are recognizing her. We’re hoping she encourages other girls to try out. She has the fire and desire. She’s also growing and starting to get longer.”
Hruska became interested in wrestling when she was in third grade.
“I wanted to join wrestling and brought home a permission slip,” she said. “My parents tried to discourage me because they didn’t think I’d like it, then I brought home another permission slip and they signed it. They’ve learned to enjoy it and really loved wrestling since I went out. I’ve improved a lot. I used to be real nervous and would sometimes get sick, but I’ve learned to overcome that.”
A week before the M-PC meet, Hruska was runner-up by one point in a tournament at Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
“I was on top trying to score and ran out of time,” she said. “I’ve learned to take it one match at a time and never underestimate anybody.”
Iron Mountain placed fourth among 21 teams at Sturgeon Bay prior to retaining the league title a few days later.
“That was a tough tournament,” said McLaren. “There was very strong competition down there. We had some kids out with the flu, but it was still a real good experience for us.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO Iron Mountain’s winners at the U.P. Championships at Marquette hold up their charts, from left: Evan Haferkorn, Fulton Stroud, Shawn McGuire, Alex Wilson and Shayna Hruska. (Photo courtesy of the Iron Mountain wrestling program.)
Performance: Carson City-Crystal's Jamison Ward
February 14, 2020
Jamison Ward
Carson City-Crystal senior - Wrestling
The reigning Division 4 champion at 130 pounds is closing in on the Carson City-Crystal all-time wins record while closing out his high school career. Over the last two weeks, Ward has eclipsed 200 career victories and this past Saturday won his fourth conference title, this one at 135 pounds, to earn the MHSAA “Performance of the Week.”
Ward is bringing a 40-0 record this winter and 208-9 career mark into Saturday’s Individual District at Bloomingdale. He finished Division 4 runner-up at 103 pounds as a freshman and placed fourth at 119 as a sophomore before climbing to the top of the podium a year ago. He’s only two wins off the school career record set by two-time Division 4 Finals champion Dallas O’Green, who serves currently as Carson City-Crystal's co-head coach. So too does Jamison’s father Trent, who formerly led the Eagles program and won a Class C Finals championship at 119 pounds in 1994.
Jamison Ward also helped Carson City-Crystal to the Division 4 Team Quarterfinals his first two seasons and the Semifinals a year ago. He had two pins Thursday as the Eagles won their Team District in pursuit of another trip to Wings Stadium. Ward ran cross country his first three years of high school, making the MHSAA Finals his first two seasons, before switching to football this past fall and earning all-league while leading the Eagles in rushing. He is still finalizing his college plans but would like to study criminal justice and earth science in preparation for becoming a Department of Natural Resources officer.
Co-head coach Kacy Datema said: “Jamison has been a huge point scorer for our team for all four years of his career, and we have come to heavily depend on him in team competition. He has grown into a great leader for our team. He leads by example and works with every kid in the room to get the most out of them. He is approaching our school’s career wins record and may have it by the end of this weekend. His father is our assistant coach, CCC alumni and a former state champion as well. It is awesome to be able to watch them share these special moments together. Our program is blessed to have had such a quality kid come through.”
Performance Point: “I'm just trying to soak it in more,” Ward said of his final weeks of high school wrestling. “It's my last year wrestling here at Carson, and high school total. (I'm trying to) take it slow. Take it as it comes. (Thursday) night, the District, winning it for the eighth time, going into Regionals and I think we have a good shot of winning in Regionals. (The 200 wins) was definitely something I was looking for my whole high school career. Something I was gunning for is the school record, and that's just part of getting there. ... I wanted to go down as one of the best in Michigan. Four-time (champion) was on my mind coming into high school, but that was big-headed. I didn't quite get there, but I think I'm now becoming one of the greats in Michigan.
Full circle: “Growing up, with my dad being the coach, I would always be wrestling with everybody, and he would always teach me things. And there were things I'd pick up here and there from the good wrestlers. It was nice growing up and actually becoming one of those people that maybe someone looks up to.”
Thanks Dad: “I think it's really helped me throughout my years, having him as coach telling me what to do, and a dad. Watching my weight is what he's doing now, but back then he would help me and critique me at home. We've recorded every wrestling match that I've had, and we look back on it and try to improve. ... He always rode legs (when he wrestled), and I ride legs too. But definitely skill-wise, I'm a lot more skilled than my dad is. He (knows). He calls himself the farm boy, and I'm the wrestler.”
Gridiron great: “My freshman year I really wanted to (play football). I broke my ankle eighth grade year. My dad, he was like, ‘I would stick with cross country and get in shape for wrestling.’ I really wanted to do football, but listened to dad: If I wanted be a state champion, I had to do cross country. And then my senior year, I won it my junior year wrestling, and my dad said, ‘You know what, you can play football if you want to this year. You’ve already got a state championship. If you get hurt, you’ll still have time to recover and still be good.’ … I thought it was awesome. I always wanted to play under the lights.”
Destination Kalamazoo: “I was born into the sport, but I started when I was 4. … I understood where we were going (as a program). I knew once I got into high school we were going to make it far – I was hoping (Finals) four years in a row. We'll see this year if we make it there.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Past honorees
Feb. 6: Elena Vargo, Farmington United gymnastics - Report
Jan. 31: Michael Wolsek, Trenton swimming - Report
Jan. 24: Kensington Holland, Utica Ford bowling - Report
Jan. 17: Claycee West, White Pigeon basketball - Report
Jan. 10: Seth Lause, Livonia Stevenson hockey - Report
Dec. 5: Mareyohn Hrabowski, River Rouge football - Report
Nov. 28: Kathryn Ackerman, Grand Haven swimming - Report
Nov. 21: Emily Van Dyke, Southfield Christian volleyball - Report
Nov. 14: Taylor Wegener, Ida volleyball - Report
Nov. 7: Carter Solomon, Plymouth cross country - Report
Oct. 31: Jameson Goorman, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian soccer - Report
Oct. 24: Austin Plotkin, Brimley cross country - Report
Oct. 17: Jack Spamer, Brighton cross country - Report
Oct. 10: Kaylee Maat, Hudsonville volleyball - Report
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Carson City-Crystal's Jamison Ward wrestles at Olivet earlier this season. (Middle) Ward celebrates his 200th win with, from left, Eagles assistant coach Jake Patterson, assistant and dad Trent Ward, co-head coach Dallas O'Green and co-head coach Kacy Datema. (Top photo by Alex Freeman/Greenville Daily News; middle courtesy of the Carson City-Crystal athletic department.)