Performance: DCC's Kevon Davenport
February 28, 2019
Kevon Davenport
Detroit Catholic Central senior – Wrestling
As he had the past two years, Davenport played a major part in Detroit Catholic Central claiming its third straight Division 1 team championship Saturday at Wings Event Center. The nationally-regarded 145-pounder picked up three victories on the weekend, all wrestling up at 152 pounds, in earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Davenport won with a pin in 4 minutes, 50 seconds against Clarkston’s Jacob Billette in the Quarterfinal, a 21-5 technical fall against Westland John Glenn’s Brenten Polk in the Semifinal and a 7-3 decision against Brighton’s Victor Grabowski in the Final. Those victories improved Davenport’s record this season to 34-1, with his only defeat coming against an opponent from Indiana by 5-2 decision while wrestling up at 160 pounds.
What also made this season’s team championship special was Davenport was able to compete with his brother Kamron, a freshman who wrestles at 125 pounds. Now Kevon gets a chance to finish on an individually historic note. Davenport will bring a 167-10 career record into this weekend’s Individual Finals at Ford Field, where he will attempt to become the 25th or 26th wrestler – and first from DCC – to win four MHSAA titles (Hudson’s Jordan Hamdan also will try to win his fourth). Davenport’s first three championships came at 119, 130 and 145 pounds, and he’s the top seed at 145 with matches set to begin Friday. Davenport carries a 3.0 GPA and has signed to continue his career next season at University of Nebraska, where he intends to study sports media and communications.
Coach Mitch Hancock said: “Kevon is an incredibly gifted and hard-working young man. He's very well-liked and respected by his peers and amongst his teachers here at Catholic Central. Kevon has the opportunity this weekend to do something very special, and we are proud of the hard work, dedication, and focus he's put into representing himself, his family and Catholic Central in an incredible way. I consider it a blessing to be a part of Kevon's life. He's an incredibly mature, selfless, and caring person. His personality shines brightly, and he is very respectful and humble. Kevon has incredible mentors in his father Kevon and mother Izetta.”
Performance Point: “We tried to stay even keeled, not get too high or too low,” Davenport said of the championship match against Brighton. “We had a mindset on dominating, and I felt like in the matches that we won, we controlled the pace, we did our thing and tried our best to wrestle our style. We were just trying to come out with a mindset of dominating and having fun.”
Starting strong: “I think it had a huge impact on the dual, being able to get the momentum rolling and kind of keep things going from there. We talked a lot about that. Momentum is a big thing for us, so that’s really important to us.”
Bringing brother on the ride: “That was really fun. (Kamron) was a little down on himself because he lost, but he clinched the dual for us. He didn’t get pinned, so that clinched the dual for us. I think it was really cool just being able to experience this entire season, my last high school season, with my brother. I think it was a great feeling.”
Not much time to celebrate: “It feels great, but at the end of the day, I’ve still got one more week, I’ve still got history to chase. Next weekend, I look forward to being crowned the first four-time champ in CC history. It feels great, but at the end of the day, we still have work to be done.”
Focus on 4: “It would mean a lot (to win a fourth championship). It’s something that I worked a lot for, as far as coming up through middle school. That’s always everybody’s goal coming up, being a four-time champ, and you want to chase that goal. For it to be so close to me and such an attainable goal, it’s really unfathomable, especially at CC.”
- Paul Costanzo, Second Half correspondent
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Kevon Davenport works toward a pin during the Shamrocks’ Quarterfinal win over Clarkston on Friday. (Middle) Davenport’s arm is raised in victory at Wings Event Center. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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.)