Niles' Season History in the Making
February 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Before every match this season, coach Todd Hesson has reminded his Niles wrestlers of the opportunities before them.
Calling every face-off a chance to make history has been more than just encouragement. This season is looking good to go down as the best in the Vikings’ long history.
Niles has won a school-record 29 matches, with just one loss. Last weekend, for the first time, the Vikings repeated as Berrien County Invitational champions. They wrestle in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference tournament Saturday, and next week will attempt to win their District for the second straight season – which also would be a first.
“All of these kids have stuck together,” said Hesson, who was promoted to varsity coach in 2007-08. “When these seniors started, they took a beating. But we haven’t changed the competition. They've just weathered the storm.”
“We had 20 (wins) exactly, 20-16 (when they were freshmen). It was not a pretty record. But we saw a big jump (from them) as sophomores.”
And the rest, literally, is history.
The list of teams Niles has beaten this winter compares well with the best slates in the state – Division 1 No. 10 Battle Creek Lakeview, Division 2 No. 2 Lowell, No. 4 Allegan and formerly-ranked Mason, and Division 3 No. 3 Whitehall and No. 9 Saginaw Swan Valley. The lone loss came to Shelby, the No. 5 team in Division 3, 31-29.
Four seniors anchor the Niles lineup, including three MHSAA Finals qualifiers from last season. Total, four Vikings made the individual Finals a year ago – seniors Ryan Casey, Fritzel Findeisen and Casey Burandt and sophomore Brendon Meek.
Casey is 39-0 this season at 189 pounds and has tied the school career record with 76 pins. He’s ranked fourth in Division 2 at his weight class, with Burandt fourth at 145 pounds despite missing significant time with a broken hand and Findeisen sixth at 152. Senior Derek Scott is ranked seventh at 285 pounds and senior Nick Zimmerman is sixth at 119.
“They’re a tough group of kids. They work hard,” Hesson said. “Quite honestly, and I say it all the time, but I’m blessed with a good group of kids. They do what you ask.”
All four classes contribute to the Vikings' line-up, and the team bond grew strong over the summer during a week-long camp hosted by former University of Wisconsin All-American Jeff Jordan. Niles wrestlers entered Jordan’s Ohio facility and left only for morning runs and meals, even sleeping on the mats at night – although Hesson “cheated” a few times by sleeping in the team van.
Some of his wrestlers may not have been too excited about the camp at the time, but understand its worth after what they've accomplished this season. Hesson said they’ll return this summer.
And by then, the Vikings could surely be able to boast that this was their best season ever.
Banners hang in Niles wrestling room highlighting the team’s District and Regional championships. The Regional banner lists only two seasons – 1935 and 1960. Niles has never advanced to MHSAA Team Finals weekend since the team championship format was added in 1988.
An obstacle often has been powerful Stevensville Lakeshore, a Division 2 Quarterfinalist the last five seasons. But Niles, after beating Lakeshore by 7.5 points to win the 2012 Berrien County Invitational, repeated last weekend by finishing 62 points ahead of the field.
Even as Hesson admits his program still has a ways to go to join Lakeshore as a regular southwestern Michigan power, he likes to think the Vikings are headed that way. The next month could tell more of how far they've come.
“ We've had some pretty good teams going all the way back to my first year. But Lakeshore had better teams; they were stacked,” Hesson said. “Not to take away anything from them, but they made us better … another notch or two or three.”
PHOTO: Niles' Fritzel Findeisen (in white) wrestles during last season's MHSAA Division 2 Individual Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
D3 Preview: 2 More Seek Induction Into 4-Time Champs Club
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 3, 2022
No matches draw in more of the Ford Field wrestling crowd than those featuring potential four-time MHSAA Finals champs. And spectators will have multiple opportunities to watch history this weekend in Division 3.
Clinton’s Logan Badge and Dundee’s Casey Swiderski are seeking to become the next four-time title winners, joining a list that has grown to 30 since Mount Pleasant’s Mike Mills became the first in 1979.
With the starting weight 189 pounds, Badge – whose team wrestled in Division 4 his first three seasons before moving into Division 3 this winter – could have a chance to celebrate in the first match of the final round Saturday afternoon.
The Grand March on Friday begins at 10 a.m., with wrestling through semifinals that evening. Wrestling begins again at 9 a.m. Saturday with championship matches at 3:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at Ford Field. All matches will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv, and we’ll talk to all 14 champions in each division for our Second Half coverage published later that evening and overnight. See the MHSAA Wrestling Finals page for more information and to follow results this weekend.
112 Connor Younts, Clinton sophomore (40-7) – Last year’s 103-pound champ in Division 4 won a Regional championship two weeks ago and could run into the top seed in this bracket in the semifinals.
119 Braeden Davis, Dundee junior (37-2) – He’s looking to add a third Finals championship after winning 112 as a sophomore and 103 as a freshman.
130 Kade Chinavare, Dundee junior (32-3) – Last year’s winner at 119 gives this bracket two 2021 champs set up to potentially decide the title. Chinavare also finished third at 112 as a freshman.
130 Zachary Gibson, Lake Odessa Lakewood senior (35-0) – The top seed at this weight won at 125 last year and is a combined 88-1 over the last two. He’s also earned fifth places at 112 and 103 and has a 179-15 career record.
140 Ryker Johnecheck, Williamston senior (34-2) – He’s looking to follow up last year’s undefeated run to the 130 title with his third championship after also winning 125 as a sophomore.
145 Aiden Davis, Dundee junior (39-0) – The top seed at 145 is wrestling for his second title after winning 135 last year and finishing the 125 runner-up as a freshman.
152 Casey Swiderski, Dundee senior (41-0) – His past championships were at 145 last year, 135 in 2020 and 103 in 2019, and he’s bringing a career record of 154-3 into the weekend.
160 Connor Owens, Flint Powers Catholic junior (14-0) – After losing by decision in last season’s 160 championship match, he’s back as the top seed and with that his only defeat since his freshman season when he finished fourth at 140.
189 Logan Badge, Clinton senior (33-5) – He’s seeking his third title at 189 after winning that weight in Division 4 the last two seasons and 215 in Division 4 as a freshman. He'll also no doubt be eager to get back on the mat coming off a rare defeat, to Alma's Jacob Munger during last weekend's Team Semifinals.
285 Levi Harber, Montrose senior (40-4) – The top seed at this weight is returning after finishing runner-up last season, to go with a third place at 215 as a sophomore.
Other 2021 champions: 112 Kade Kluce, Dundee sophomore (37-6, 103 last year); 135 Coy Perry, Clinton sophomore (44-8, 112 in Division 4 last year).
Other 2021 runners-up: 103 Talan Parsons, Ovid-Elsie sophomore (33-1, 103 last year); 119 Gavyn Merchant, Kingsley sophomore (33-3, 112 last year); 119 Connor Busz, Clinton junior (45-2, 112 in Division 4 last year); 125 Zak Shadley, Clinton junior (39-10, 119 in Division 4 last year); 135 Caeleb Ishmael, Coloma senior (43-3, 125 last year); 160 Kent McCombs, Clinton senior (30-2, 145 in Division 4 last year); 171 Randy Pyrzewski, Gladwin senior (46-2, 171 last year).
Additional No. 1 seeds: 112 Easton Moran, Yale senior (48-2); 125 Cameron Chinavare, Dundee sophomore (35-2); 135 Aidan Bernard, Montrose senior (42-1); 171 Randy Pyrzewski, Gladwin senior (46-2); 215 Hunter Huguelet, Gladwin senior (40-1).
Also undefeated: 145 Cody Ueberroth, Saginaw Swan Valley junior (43-0); 160 Nick Marienfeld, Napoleon senior (51-0).
PHOTO Dundee's Casey Swiderski gains control of his opponent during Saturday's Team Semifinal win over Imlay City. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)