Lowell 4-Peats With Win in Classic Clash
February 25, 2017
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
MOUNT PLEASANT – Lowell coach R.J. Boudro knew his wrestling team wasn't going to just show up Saturday for the Division 2 Final and walk away with its fourth straight team title.
He knew as far back as last year that there was a new team in the state trying to muscle its way to the top of the division that the Red Arrows have controlled since 2014.
Undefeated Warren Woods Tower pushed Lowell hard all the way to the end of their championship match at Central Michigan University's McGuirk Arena, before the Red Arrows proved that they were just a little bit better, winning 32-21.
"I knew from last year and how young they were that they were going to be a great team," Boudro said. "The studs they have, especially down low. They were no surprise to me that they were going to be a really good team."
The problem for the Titans may have been the starting weight.
Instead of starting in the lower weights, where Warren Woods Tower is strongest, the Finals started at 135 pounds. Lowell picked up the dual's first win when talented freshman Austin Boone won by major decision.
From there, the Red Arrows won six of the next eight weight classes to race out to a 25-7 lead with five classes to wrestle.
The Titans won the next three, all by bonus points, as David Stepanian won by pin at 103 and Chaise Mayer and Elijuh Weaver won by major decision victories at 112 and 119, respectively, to cut the Red Arrows’ lead to 25-21.
That's when the championship match took an unexpected turn, when Lowell's Jeff Leach was awarded four penalty points late in his bout at 125 when the Woods Tower wrestler, who had top control over Leach, did not bring Leach to the mat in a proper time while both were on their feet.
Leach ended up winning 7-0.
Still, Titans coach Greg Mayer – whose team finished 28-1 – knows that championships aren't won and lost in a single match.
"We wrestled hard, but there were some matches where we thought we would do a little better in," Mayer said. "We needed some more bonus points in the lower weights where we missed out on some. But that's not here nor there. I thought we wrestled hard; they are just a good team."
Boudro said his team did what it had to do to win.
"Today we fought all over the mat and fought for every point," said Boudro, whose team ended its season with a 21-2 record. "We saved some bonus points at 112 and 119, and that kind of ended up sealing the deal for us. “The way it ended … it was kind of a weird ending to the dual, but it was a great dual, and I think the fans got what they came for."
The Red Arrows earned their way to the Finals by beating another undefeated team, Marysville, in their Semifinal match. The Titans advanced to their first championship match by beating Niles in their Semifinal Saturday morning.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lowell and Warren Woods Tower wrestlers work for control during Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) A Warren Woods Tower competitor defends against an attack by his Red Arrows opponent. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Lowell 'Mighty' Again in 5th Straight Title Win
February 24, 2018
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
KALAMAZOO – They begin their wrestling careers as little wrestlers in superhero costumes.
A little over a decade later they are dressed in the wrestling singlet of the Lowell Red Arrows and making wrestling history in the state of Michigan.
On Saturday, for the fifth consecutive year, Lowell won the Division 2 team wrestling championship – this time 43-17 over Gaylord in the title match at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.
Lowell became the first Division 2 team to win five consecutive team titles, and the Red Arrows joined Davison and Hudson as the only programs in MHSAA history, regardless of division or class, to earn the accomplishment.
“This is a major feat,” Lowell coach R.J. Boudro said. “People just expect we can win the state title every year. It’s a difficult thing to do just one year.
“Of all five of our titles we won, we faced the same team just once. So much goes into winning a state championship. I don’t think people realize everything that goes into winning a championship.”
In Lowell, the seeds for a MHSAA title are sewn every year at the youth level, with those athletes nurtured on the up the ladder as they point toward eventually competing for the varsity.
Lowell junior Avry Mutschler is one of the many Lowell wrestlers who grew up in the program.
“I was in the seventh grade when Lowell won the title five years ago,” said Mutschler, who won a decision at 140 pounds in Saturday’s Final. “I was sitting up there in the stands with all the other youth wrestling guys. Our youth program is just awesome.
“The very first youth league is the Mighty Arrows,” Mutschler added. “You start at age 4 or below. We wore Batman or Superman costumes and would learn to wrestle and play games at practice. I started in the Mighty Arrows with so many of my teammates, and we’ve all grown up together.”
Those little Mighty Arrows have grown up to be pretty strong Red Arrows. Not only was the title the fifth in a row for Lowell, but it was the eighth team title in school wrestling history.
Lowell senior Dave Kruse has been a part of the past four.
“Only two other teams have won five in a row,” Kruse said. “I am so happy to have been a part of these teams. As a senior, I’m also so thankful for the sport of wrestling and what it’s gave me.”
Kruse teamed up with fellow senior Austin Engle to win the final two matches of the dual. Lowell was up 34-17 when Engle battled back from a 5-2 deficit with 30 seconds remaining in the third period to claim a 7-5 win at 171 pounds. Kruse then won his match by injury default, giving the Red Arrows the 43-17 win.
“Our coaching staff tells us to never yield,” Engle said. “They tell us to go and wrestle hard at practice every day, and if we wrestle the Lowell way everything will be fine. In the third period when I was down by however much, I just kept hearing ‘never yield’ in my head.”
The Blue Devils (37-2) were making their first appearance in an MHSAA Team Finals championship match. The third seed entering the weekend, they upset second seed Warren Woods Tower in Saturday’s earlier Semifinal to advance.
But along with never yielding, Lowell never trailed in the match. The Red Arrows jumped out to a 13-0 lead as Keigan Yuhas opened the dual with a pin at 215 pounds. Tyler Deloof followed with a decision at heavyweight, and Nick Korhorn won a major decision at 103 pounds to put the Red Arrows up 13-0.
Gaylord rallied with wins in the next three matches to cut the Red Arrows’ lead to one point. Blue Devils sophomore Chayse LaJoie recorded a pin at 112 pounds, Derek Giallombardo followed with a decision at 119 pounds and John Henry Sosa added a decision at 125, cutting the margin to 13-12.
That was as close as Gaylord would get, as top-seeded Lowell (20-4) reeled off wins in the next five matches. Jeff Leach started the streak with a pin at 130 pounds, and freshman Doak Dean won a decision at 135. Mutschler picked up his decision at 140 pounds, followed by a major decision from James Fotis and a technical fall by sophomore and reigning Individual Finals champion Austin Boone at 152 pounds.
Kenny Smith of Gaylord picked up a technical fall at 160 pounds before Engle and Kruse closed out the dual for the Red Arrows.
“Each one of the five teams that won it are unique,” Boudro said. “When we went up there to take the team picture, that is the last time this group will all be together. This is pretty special.”
Click for full results of the weekend's Division 2 matches.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lowell coach R.J. Boudro and his team celebrate a match win during Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Gaylord’s Chayse LaJoie works toward a pin at 112 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)