Lowell Breaks Tie, Regains D2 Title
February 22, 2014
By Greg Chrapek
Special to Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – To say every point was worth its weight in gold would not be much of an overstatement for Lowell Red Arrows during its MHSAA Division 2 Team Final against four-time defending champion St. Johns on Saturday.
In a dual that ended in a 34-34 deadlock, the Red Arrows ended up with the championship trophy as they won the dual on the fifth criteria – or tie-breaker – total six-point wins.
The victory gave Lowell its first MHSAA Finals team title since 2009 and sent veteran coach Dave Dean out with the second title during his tenure.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” said Dean, who earlier this season accepted the position as head of the Olympic Development Program at Cornell University. “Right now I’m just feeling so happy for my kids and staff. They worked so hard for this. I might think about what it means to me later, but right now I’m so happy for the kids.”
The phrase `total team effort’ can sometimes be overused. But in the case of Lowell it was truly the deciding factor.
The final match was at 215 pounds, and Lowell senior Garrett Stehley won by disqualification. Stehley needed a six-point win to tie the dual and create a situation where the winner came down to criteria.
“I just went out there to wrestle,” Stehley said. “I knew if I just go out there and wrestle and not think about a pin or anything that something would open up.”
Stehley kept the pressure on the entire match, and after a succession of stalling warnings on his opponent, won the six-point disqualification.
For Stehley and the other Lowell seniors, the MHSAA title ended three years of frustration against their rivals from down the road on M-21. St. Johns had ended Lowell’s seasons the past three years, including the last two in MHSAA Finals.
“We’ve been here every year, and it has come down to us and St. Johns,” Stehley said. “We knew what we had to do. Everybody knew what they had to do.”
What the Red Arrows needed more than anything was to win as many points as possible while giving up as few as possible in matches they lost.
“It was a point here and a point there, and it all added up,” Dean said. “In the end everybody contributed. Every match was big. (Dan) Kruse not getting pinned against Zac Hall was big. Everybody stepped up.”
Dean’s son, sophomore Max Dean, also did his part. Going up junior Angus Arthur, a returning MHSAA individual champion, Max Dean gave up only three team points as he dropped an 8-6 decision.
“I just wanted to give (Arthur) the worst six minutes of his life,” Max Dean said. “I knew the pressure was on. This (team title) means everything. This is what we’ve been working for.”
Both teams won seven matches during the dual that went back and forth from beginning to end. The deciding factor was six-point wins (earned by pins or disqualification), and Lowell had four while St. Johns recorded three.
Lucas Hall (103 pounds), Jordan Hall (135) and Kanon Dean (171) earned pins while Stehley earned the disqualification.
St. Johns received pins from Ian Parker (112), Drew Wixson (152) and Logan Massa (160).
“I feel sad for the guys, but hats off to Lowell,” St. Johns coach Derek Phillips said. “They wrestled a great match. Our guys have a lot to be proud of. They were the ones who put in all the blood, sweat and tears. At the end of the day we are still second in the state.”
St. Johns had crucial wins of its own. The Redwings grabbed the early momentum when Ty Wildmo won an 8-4 decision against Josh Colegrove in the first match of the dual at 285 pounds.
The two teams traded pins in the next two matches with Lucas Hall winning at 103 pounds for Lowell and Ian Parker winning at 112 for St. Johns.
At 119 pounds, Zeth Dean, brother of Kanon and Max’s cousin, won a major decision putting Lowell up 10-9. The Red Arrows then methodically added to the lead with decisions from seniors Derek Krajewski (125) and Bailey Jack (130).
For those seniors, the win over St. Johns was extra sweet.
“I can’t describe this feeling,” Jack said. “It’s surreal. It’s better then winning individual state last year. Winning individual state is nothing compared to this.”
Jordan Hall’s pin at 135 put Lowell up 22-9, but the lead was short-lived as St. Johns came roaring back. Senior Zac Hall, a three-time individual champion who will be looking to win a fourth straight next weekend, won by technical fall at 140 pounds. Mark Bozzo added a technical fall at 145 pounds to trim the Lowell lead to 22-19.
St. Johns then surged ahead when Drew Wixson (152) and Logan Massa (160) came through with pins giving the Redwings a 31-22 lead.
With their backs against the wall, Kanon Dean came through with his pin at 171 to bring the Red Arrows to within three points at 31-28.
Arthur followed with his decision against Max Dean at 189, putting St. Johns up by three points. That set the stage for Stehley coming through with the deciding final six points.
“We were on a mission,” Stehley said. “We want to send the seniors out with a win and we wanted to send Coach Dean out on top.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lowell wrestlers celebrate their first MHSAA team championship since 2009. (Middle) A Lowell wrestler focuses on his St. Johns opponent during Saturday’s match. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
With Milestone Win, Lynch Continues to Help Fuel SMCC's Wrestling Resurgence
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
January 9, 2024
When her brother started wrestling in grade school, MaryAlice Lynch figured she would pick up the sport as well.
“I originally started wrestling with the Belleville wrestling club when I was in second or third grade,” Lynch said. “I wanted to do it because my brother was doing it, and I wanted to do everything my brother was doing. I really looked up to him. We did everything together.”
It did not take long, and Lynch – and her family – were hooked on the sport.
“I think it started off as just being something my brother (Michael) and I had in common, then it kind of grew into a whole family,” she said. “I still talk to a lot of people I met when I first started wrestling. It is like a family now. I still love it.”
She has stuck with wrestling over the years and today, Lynch is reaching milestones as a senior wrestler at Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
Last weekend she took part in a girls tournament Friday, then wrestled as part of an SMCC team tournament Saturday. Along the way, Lynch won her 100th career match, putting her in select company as one of the few female wrestlers in the state to reach the milestone. She is the first female wrestler in Monroe County Region history to reach 100 wins.
“It shows her dedication to the sport,” SMCC coach Nick Eby said.
Lynch went 11-9 as a freshman, 31-13 as a sophomore, 42-13 as a junior and is 17-5 this season, putting her at 101 wins going into this week.
“It’s cool to see all of the work I put in since my freshman year and how it all added up,” she said.
Lynch isn’t sure how many of those wins were against boys or came against girls.
“I don’t mind competing against the boys because that’s what I started with,” she said. “When I started, there were maybe one or two girls on my team, but there weren’t hardly any on the other teams.”
“At the end of the day, it’s still wrestling,” Lynch added. “I don’t really notice anything substantially different. I wrestle when I’m supposed to.”
Getting to 100 wins was no easy task. As a freshman, Lynch and SMCC had to navigate through COVID-19.
“We missed out on a whole bunch of meets,” she said. “I didn’t get many matches that year.”
She’s also experienced massive changes in Michigan high school wrestling. During her sophomore year, the MHSAA began sponsoring a postseason individual wrestling tournament for girls, something she was eager to take part in. For the few seasons prior, there was a girls state tournament hosted by the state coaches association.
“It was a big improvement,” she said. “The year prior we were wrestling in an old supermarket. I was really happy to be included with the guys and be at Ford Field.”
Lynch placed fourth at 105 pounds at last year’s Individual Finals. She is part of a wrestling rebirth of sorts at SMCC.
During the 1980s, the school – Monroe Catholic Central then – was a wrestling powerhouse, winning Class B titles in 1982 and 1983 and finishing runner-up in 1985.
There also was a season about six years ago, about the time current head coach Eby was graduating, when the team had just three wrestlers total.
“We didn’t have a youth program and there wasn’t much interest in the sport, honestly,” Eby said.
SMCC went 0-7 in duals in 2018-19, and Eby was hired the next year. His first season, the team consisted mainly of freshmen.
With his help – and athletes like Lynch dedicating themselves to the sport – SMCC wrestling is taking off again. Last season, SMCC won 17 matches. This year, Eby’s sixth as head coach, the Falcons have 24 wrestlers on the squad, and they are filling up every weight class and competing at a much higher level.
“I feel like last year really kicked it off,” Lynch said. “Last year, we got a lot of new people and they worked hard, and that brought in a lot of new people this year.
“I think as a team this year, things are going better than I anticipated. We lost a couple of good wrestlers, including my brother, but the newer guys have definitely stepped up. We are just making our way through the season.
Eby said Lynch has played a big part in the program’s rise.
“She’s definitely the most technical on the team and one of, if not the hardest workers, on the team,” he said. “She always has a good mindset going into her matches. For a couple of years, we didn’t have very many wrestlers, but we could always count on her to go out and fight.”
Lynch wrestles at 113 for the most part this season. Her sister, Brianna, occupies the 106-pound class.
“It’s an adjustment for her knowing she is carrying that weight class on her own, but she is doing well with it,” she said.
MaryAlice is the daughter of Collin and Christina Lynch. Her mom attended SMCC, and her dad went to Woodhaven. “My mom didn’t wrestle, but she did Tae Kwan Do in high school,” Lynch said. “My dad wrestled at Woodhaven.”
Lynch, 17, is a lifeguard during the summer at a park near her Belleville home. She is considering wrestling in college but also might have an opportunity to run track.
“It would be really weird if I wasn’t wrestling at this point,” she said.
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Monroe St. Mary’s MaryAlice Lynch, in green, works to gain control during a match. (Middle) Lynch’s teammates and spectators celebrate her 100th career win. (Photos by Tom Hawley/Monroe News.)