Hudson Holds On To Top Spot in D4
February 24, 2018
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
KALAMAZOO – Life isn't always easy on top.
The Hudson wrestling team found that out this year.
The reigning Division 4 champion had to deal with a few no-shows, as well as some tough injuries. But in the end, the Tigers were able to overcome and win their seventh MHSAA title by beating old foe New Lothrop 34-22 in the championship match Saturday evening at the Wings Event Center.
"We had some things go against us this year," said coach Scott Marry, whose team completed its season with a 20-5 record. "We lost some kids because their heart wasn't in it, and they backed out. There were three or four that did that. And of course we lost (starting heavyweight Isiah) Kizek at the start of the season with mono, and then he had an AC separation in his shoulder. Then last Saturday is his first match, he dislocates his elbow, so we wrestled our backup here all day – kid we taught how to wrestle three months ago."
It worked, even in a loss.
Hudson heavyweight Alex Price fell to Individual Finals qualifier Cameron Dusenberry in the championship dual's second match, 3-1 in sudden victory.
But the Tigers seemed to thrive on the emotion of the hard work Price put in, as they won eight of the 14 matches wrestled. More importantly, three of those wins were by pin, and one was by major decision.
And when two evenly matched teams face off, bonus points are very important.
One of those pins came from undefeated reigning individual champion Jordan Hamdan in the 140-pound match.
"This is a crazy feeling; it's always good to see all of our hard work pay off," Hamdan said. "We have always practiced for this, and we always will. We had a lot of struggles this year, and all the hard practices. It is such a good feeling to win."
But like they have all weekend, the Hornets showed heart in the Final.
For the second straight year, New Lothrop was seeded sixth in the eight-team tournament. And for the second straight year, the Hornets wrestled their way to the season’s last match.
"We are back to chasing these guys again," said New Lothrop coach Jeff Campbell, whose team won three straight Division 4 titles before finishing runner-up to Hudson the last two seasons. "They are ahead of us, and we have a lot of work to do. There was a lot of parity in Division 4 this year, so it didn't matter when the seeds came out. We could wrestle this tournament again, and we could have two different teams wrestle here."
Perhaps. But Hudson and New Lothrop have now met five straight times in the championship match.
"Jeff Campbell and his team have done this two years in a row," Marry said. They seeded them sixth, and they come through that bottom bracket. They fight hard, they are a lot like our kids and we have the utmost respect for New Lothrop. I take my hat off to them."
New Lothrop ended its year with a 25-4 record.
Click for full results of the weekend’s Division 4 matches.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudson’s Scott Torres works toward a major decision during Saturday’s championship match. (Middle) New Lothrop’s Cameron Dusenberry celebrates his win at 285. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
D4 Preview: Brackets Full of Stories to Be Told
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 1, 2021
Clinton, Hudson and New Lothrop have dominated Division 4 wrestling’s team tournament over the last eight seasons – only those three have appeared in a championship match since 2014, including Clinton’s win over the Hornets in Tuesday’s Final.
But Saturday’s Individual Wrestling Finals at Van Andel Arena could see many more schools in the title mix.
Clinton has five top seeds, and New Lothrop and Hudson have two apiece. But total eight schools have No. 1-seeded wrestlers among the 14 weights – with favorites from Bark River-Harris, Iron Mountain, Rudyard and Vermontville Maple Valley representing their schools’ best chances at claiming a first title.
Below we look at 10 contenders to watch, plus list all of the top seeds heading into the tournament, champs and runners-up back from 2020 and every wrestler who will make the trip to Grand Rapids with an undefeated record.
Even then, we surely missed a few who will end up making headlines Saturday – but make sure to come back to Second Half late that evening as we’ll interview and report on all 14 Division 4 champions.
Wrestling begins Saturday at 10 a.m., and this season it’s a one-day event. Spectators remain limited, but all matches will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv. See the MHSAA Wrestling Finals page for more information and to follow results this weekend.
103 Bradley Hall, Rudyard senior (16-0) – The top seed at 103, Hall finished fourth at the same weight last season and will be competing to cap his career as the first Finals champion in Rudyard history.
119 Shawn McGuire, Iron Mountain sophomore (29-1) – The top seed at this weight is a combined 70-3 over his first two high school seasons and finished runner-up at 112 a year ago.
125 Manus Bennett, Marlette sophomore (20-2) – He’ll wrestle for a second individual title in his second try after winning the 103 championship last season.
130 Bronson Marry, Hudson junior (22-0) – The top seed at this weight is going for a second-straight title after winning 112 last year and also finishing runner-up at 103 as a freshman.
145 Caden Natale, Hudson senior (23-1) – Natale has risen from third at 103 as a freshman to second at 119 as a sophomore to winning 130 last year and returning to the Finals as a top seed this weekend.
152 Bryce Cheney, New Lothrop senior (20-0) – The runner-up at this weight last winter is back as the top seed this weekend and carrying a combined 53-4 record over the last two seasons.
171 Trenton Holden, Grass Lake senior (23-1) – He had only one loss last season on the way to finishing 46-1 and claiming the 160-pound championship, and his only defeat this winter was at the Individual Regional to this weekend’s top-seeded Brayden Randolph of Clinton (see below).
171 Brayden Randolph, Clinton senior (27-1) – He’s the top seed at this weight after finishing runner-up at 171 last season, and he’s looking to add a first title also to a runner-up finish at 160 as a sophomore and third place at that weight as a freshman.
189 Logan Badge, Clinton junior (27-1) – The top-seeded Badge went over 100 career wins (he’s 101-5 overall) during Tuesday’s run to the team championship and he’s looking to add a third individual title to those he won at 215 as a freshman and 189 last year.
215 Camden Orr, New Lothrop senior (21-1) – He’s the second seed at this weight but the reigning champion, and his only loss was a forfeit in the Regional Final. He also finished sixth at 189 as a sophomore and quarterbacked the football team to the Division 7 title in January.
Other 2020 runners-up: 140 Andrew Krupp, New Lothrop senior (19-2, 125 in 2020); 145 Kent McCombs, Clinton junior (26-2, 145 in 2020).
Additional No. 1 seeds: 112 Matthew Slaght, Vermontville Maple Valley junior (33-0); 125 Nik Shadley, Clinton freshman (25-1); 135 Dillon Raab, Bark River-Harris sophomore (30-1); 140 George Ames, Clinton junior (24-0); 160 Spencer Konz, Clinton senior (22-3); 215 Caden Ferris, Delton Kellogg junior (29-2); 285 Isiah Pasik, New Lothrop junior (21-0).
Also undefeated: 125 Randy Frailey, Hanover-Horton senior (25-0); 130 Zach Ouillette, Oscoda senior (27-0); 145 Parker Stroud, Iron Mountain junior (21-0); 145 Carsen Young, Martin senior (28-0); 171 Cole Hopkins, Evart sophomore (19-0); 189 Trent Hocter, Hanover-Horton senior (16-0).
PHOTO: Hudson’s Bronson Marry, left, and Iron Mountain’s Shawn McGuire lock up during last season’s Division 4 Final at 112 pounds. Both carry top seeds into this weekend. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)