Lowell Sets Record With 6th Straight Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 23, 2019
KALAMAZOO – Jeff Leach was in a familiar place as he stepped onto the mat with a chance to clinch the MHSAA Division 2 wrestling team title for Lowell.
In 2017, Leach clinched the Red Arrows’ fourth straight title with a decision against Warren Woods-Tower. And Saturday, he did it again, defeating Goodrich’s Carson Turnbow 9-2 to give Lowell a 29-23 victory and a state-record sixth straight MHSAA Finals team championship.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Leach said. “Coaches were talking to me before because I was pacing back and forth with my nerves, but they reminded me, ‘Surrender the outcome. No matter what happens, put it all right where you got it, right here on the big stage.’ It’s my last time wrestling here, my last time wrestling a high school state, so I thought I might as well do it for them so they can keep the tradition going after I’m gone.”
Prior to Saturday, Lowell was one of four Lower Peninsula teams to have won five straight titles, joined by Hudson (2009-13), Davison (2002-06) and New Lothrop (1984-88). Escanaba won six straight Upper Peninsula titles from 1976-81. (The tournament was unified in 1988.)
Now the Arrows stand alone as the only program to accomplish the feat with the entire state competing together.
“Wrestling is a difficult sport,” Lowell coach R.J. Boudro said. “We have to take care of these kids’ weights, their grades, making sure they’re not injured, just making sure they’re mentally there – their girlfriend breaks up with them – so many things that could go wrong. To think of all those things that could go wrong, and we won six in a row, it’s just an amazing feat. I’m proud of the community, proud of the kids – it’s so cool.”
Four of the previous five titles for Lowell were decided by 10 points or more, and wrapped up prior to the final match – in some cases, well before. Only the 2014 title was decided by fewer points than this year, as the Red Arrows started their streak with a 35-34 win against the previous Division 2 power, St. Johns.
“Goodrich is a heck of a team,” Boudro said. “They brought everything they had. I feel like through the year, they were kind of working their lineup down to beat us. It kind of gave us motivation. Our guys showed up, and we had plenty of opportunities to win the dual in a lot of different ways, but I think we wanted to give the fans something to get a little nervous. They’re spoiled fans.”
Each team won seven matches in the dual, but Lowell was able to get a technical fall from Avry Mutschler at 140, a pin from Nicholas Kohorn at 112 and a forfeit to Austin Boone at 160. Goodrich, meanwhile, was only able to get bonus points at two weight classes, major decisions from Honour Kline at 215 and Cameron Macklem at 119.
“I think the worst part about it is that we wrestled so well and tough and we came up short,” Goodrich coach Kenneth Sirignano said. “That’s the worst part. To come that close and come up short – we did that in 2016, we did it again today, and that’s the worst part of it. They should have been rewarded for what they did, but that’s life and that’s a life lesson. They’ve really learned a lot this year, and I’m really proud of them. I just wish they could have had it.”
Lowell went up 17-0 in the dual, getting decisions from James Fotis at 145 and Doak Dean at 152, along with Mutschler and Boone’s wins. Goodrich stormed back, however, winning the next four matches, as Kline’s major decision was surrounded by decisions from Juwan Vines at 171, James Penfold at 189 and Blake Coffell at 285. Vines won on a last-second throw, while Coffell won in double overtime.
“We pulled a lot of upsets, and we just tried to give ourselves the best shot to win,” Sirignano said. “The guys came through, and they won a lot of big matches. I would say they won five big matches.”
Lowell’s Ramsy Mutschler won by decision at 103, and that, combined with Kohorn’s pin, gave the Arrows a 26-13 lead with four matches to go.
The Martians won the next three, as Macklem’s major decision was followed by decisions from Carson Richards at 125 and Caleb Teague at 130. That set up the dramatic final match.
“We draw a weight class (to start the dual) an hour before, they drew 140 and I was like (yes),” Boudro said. “Two years ago, we beat Tower and it came down to him and he pulled it out. He’s got a lot to talk about for the rest of his life, being able to say he won two state titles in the last match of the dual. It’s pretty cool.”
Leach got out to a 5-0 lead in the match and had to hold off a pair of throws from Turnbow, rolling through one headlock that nearly put him to his back.
“It was more of a reaction,” Leach said. “My (practice) partners, some of them throw really good headlocks, so over the years, I’ve been pretty much practicing how to defend a headlock over and over.”
Lowell advanced to the Final with a 34-24 win against Gaylord in the Semifinals, while Goodrich defeated DeWitt 37-22.
Both Mutschlers and Fotis won three matches on the weekend for Lowell, while Vines, Penfold, Kline, Coffell, Macklem and Teague each won three matches for Goodrich.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ramsy Mutschler earned a key championship match win for Lowell at 103 pounds. (Middle) Wrestlers lock up during the Division 2 Final. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Repeat Reaffirms Clinton's Spot Among Annual Contenders
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 30, 2021
KALAMAZOO – The Clinton wrestling program took its place at the top of Division 4 a year ago, claiming the first Finals title in school history.
On Tuesday, it emphatically announced that it’s here to stay.
Clinton rolled through its competition throughout the day, topped off with a 55-9 win against New Lothrop at Wings Event Center, to claim its second-straight Division 4 title.
“I think now people know that we’re the real deal,” Clinton co-coach Jeff Rolland said. “We solidified what we did last year. We’ve got a lot of young kids – there's only four guys in our lineup every day that aren’t going to be here next year. We did this without three all-staters in our lineup from last year. We have a lot of depth. We have more coming. I think people know that we’re for real now. It’s not a one-year deal or whatever.”
Clinton was dominant throughout the postseason, and closed it out the same way, winning 76-6 in the Quarterfinal against Ravenna and 59-9 in the Semifinal against Leslie. That’s despite what Rolland said was a performance in the Semifinal that was less than the team’s best. But Clinton has reached the point where it can win even when it’s not at the top of its game.
“Since my freshman year we were chasing it and we fell short, then we fell short again my sophomore year,” senior Landis Gillman said. “My junior year we really picked it up, and we got into the mindset that we wanted it. We became a family. We’ve just been striving and pushing ourselves to the limits to reach this point.”
And in case there was any doubt remaining about the program’s status, Clinton has won its titles against the two programs that had dominated the division for more than a decade prior – Hudson (2020) and New Lothrop.
“Last year was big because we had to go through both,” Rolland said. “New Lothrop, if they’re not the most storied program in the state, I don’t know who is. We’ve got nothing but respect for that team, those guys. It makes it special when you beat a team like that, for sure.”
It was Gillman who started Clinton off with a bang in the Finals, as he bumped up to 140 pounds and won by major decision against New Lothrop’s Andrew Krupp in a matchup of wrestlers ranked in the top three.
Clinton won the first six matches of the dual, five by major decision – by Gillman, Kent McCombs (145), AJ Baxter (152), Spencer Konz (160) and Logan Badge (189) – and one with a first-period pin from Brayden Randolph (171).
“Landis had a day today,” Rolland said. “He went through some kids today. That was big. He’s up a weight class. He’s very, very good as you saw. But a major starting out, I think our kids fed off that. I’m so proud of that kid. He’s a senior, he spent two years on the bench, waited his turn, and now he’s got his shot.”
New Lothrop picked up its two wins in the dual at 215 and 285, as Grayson Orr won a 4-3 decision, followed by a second-period fall from Isiah Pasik.
Clinton closed the dual out with six straight wins, however, as Connor Younts (103) and Ethan Younts (135) each won by pin, Nik Shadley (125) won by technical fall, and Coy Perry (112) and Zak Shadley (130) won by decision. Connor Busz (119) won by forfeit.
“We did what we needed to do; we wrestled those kids hard,” New Lothrop coach Jeff Campbell said. “They sent a kid out at every weight that was a very talented wrestler, a very experienced wrestler who was well-coached, and we had to compete hard against them, and every single kid did. We just didn’t have as much ammunition as they did today. But I was really, really proud of our effort. We made plenty of mistakes, but we definitely made every point get earned, and that’s all we can try to do.”
The championship match appearance was the first since 2018 for the Hornets, who had made five straight starting in 2014 and have won 15 team titles.
“It’s an expectation – from the youth level up, we try to put ourselves in a position to do well,” Campbell said. “I think it’s great for our younger guys, and those younger guys that got to step onto the mat. It’s another one of those years when we lose a good crop of seniors. I told them out here, ‘You seniors, your legacy isn’t whether or not you win or lose this last match or you win or lose a state title yourself. It’s what did you teach the kids along the way? Even when you didn’t know they were watching, what were you doing? How hard were you working? Were you cutting weight the right way? Did you compete in these matches when you were the underdog fearless and wrestle hard?’ They showed that today.”
New Lothrop defeated Bark River-Harris 54-20 in the Quarterfinal, and received a bye in the Semifinal, as both Hudson and Schoolcraft were disqualified for putting in a wrestler at an ineligible weight in their Quarterfinal.
Gillman, McCombs, Baxter, Randolph, Badge, Connor Younts, Perry, Busz and Zak Shadley each picked up three wins on the day for Clinton.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clinton’s Landis Gillman wrestles New Lothrop’s Andrew Krupp during Tuesday’s Division 4 Final. (Middle) Clinton celebrates its repeat championship. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)