Performance: Dundee's Brandon Whitman
January 26, 2018
Brandon Whitman
Dundee senior – Wrestling
Whitman is fast approaching an opportunity to join one of the elite groups of achievers in any sport in MHSAA history. With a chance at becoming the 23rd four-time individual wrestling champion a little more than a month away, Whitman continued his undefeated run of this season by winning the Most Valuable Performer at the upper weights at last weekend’s Hudson Super 16 – earning this week’s Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Whitman, wrestling last weekend and mostly this season at 215 pounds, and occasionally as a heavyweight, is 27-0 this season and 180-3 over his high school career. He is ranked No. 3 nationally at 220 pounds by InterMat, with MHSAA Division 3 championships the last two seasons at 189 pounds and a win at 171 as a freshman. His most impressive victories this winter arguably are against Cody Howard of Lakewood St. Edward (Ohio), a nationally-ranked 195-pounder headed for Virginia Tech, and twice over Temperance Bedford heavyweight Austin Emerson, another nationally-ranked foe who will continue next season at Eastern Michigan University. Whitman also earned the 100th pin of his high school career in Wednesday’s dual meet win over Hudson.
Dundee as a team is ranked No. 1 in Division 3 this season and competing for its fourth MHSAA title in six seasons after finishing runner-up at last year’s Final on a tie-breaker in the championship match. Whitman will continue his academic and wrestling careers at the University of North Carolina. He carries a 3.9 grade-point average and intends to study physical therapy.
Coach Tim Roberts said: “It isn't about him. It's about all of us. He's doing his best to get better, and his ego has never gotten in the way of his success. He’s endlessly getting better, (asking) ‘how can I learn more about this sport and get better?’ I feel lucky; I’ve been able to coach a lot of great people, and he ranks as one of best people inside and outside of it. … Watching him come out of his shell more, how he treats other people, it’s great. As a freshman he was really good, obviously; he’s even better now. Even yesterday, he was asking questions trying to get better. It’s very impressive, how he handles himself. I’m just really happy I’ve had the opportunity to have this four years with him.”
Performance Point: “It’s been fun. I’ve been trying to get the best matches I could get so I can see what areas I need to improve on. … One of the big things with Emerson is I learned that I need to relax a little bit more. In some of those bigger matches, I tend to go out and try to sprint pretty much the whole match – and I get tired towards the end because the body’s not really meant to sprint for that long. The first time I wrestled him, I went out there and I got a takedown right away, took out a lot of energy. The second time I was a lot more relaxed. I picked and chose where I went and made my attacks, and it worked out a lot better. I ended up beating him 8-1 instead of 3-2, and I felt like I competed and I was able to go a lot longer than I usually am.”
On the verge of history: “It’s nice. It’s cool. But the ultimate goal is to just to keep getting better and better, and improving where you need to improve. Being the best that you can be. It will set goals for other kids coming up to try to work towards that and try to beat my records. That’s kinda cool.”
Humility counts: “(It’s) just the way I’d say my parents raised me. Nobody really likes when kids are cocky. They like a humble person who can compete at high levels but they are nice to people and can carry themselves well, and that’s how I’ve been raised.”
In this together: “This year I feel we’re having a lot more fun. We’re going out there and scoring points, and competing a lot harder than I think previous years too. Doing it for a cause greater than yourself, I think that’s helped a lot too. Because if you’re doing it for yourself, you can get nervous. But if you’re doing it for your team and for your friends, that can help take some of the pressure off.”
Ready to help: “I want to go into physical therapy. My brother’s been in physical therapy quite a few times. I’ve been in it quite a few times now. It’s interesting, and I want to being able to help other sports people, or anyone be able to recover as fast as they can to get them back doing what they do.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize 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.
Previous 2017-18 honorees:
January 18: Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa swimming - Read
January 11: Lexi Niepoth, Bellaire basketball - Read
November 30: La'Darius Jefferson, Muskegon football - Read
November 23: Ashley Turak, Farmington Hills Harrison swimming - Read
November 16: Bryce Veasley, West Bloomfield football - Read
November 9: Jose Penaloza, Holland soccer - Read
November 2: Karenna Duffey, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North cross country - Read
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City Central golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Dundee's Brandon Whitman scores a takedown during the Temperance Bedford Tournament this season. (Middle) Whitman pins Lakewood St. Edward's Cody Howard during the Detroit Catholic Central Super Duals. (Photos courtesy of Dundee wrestling.)
Imlay City's D'Ambrosio: Calm, Cool & Contending for School's 1st Mat Championship
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 7, 2024
Dominic D’Ambrosio’s answer when asked at 5 years old if he wanted to start wrestling was probably a clue for what was to come.
“I remember when my dad asked me if I wanted to wrestle,” D’Ambrosio said. “I think I just said, ‘Sure.’”
It’s not that D’Ambrosio would be nonchalant or aloof when it came to wrestling. He’s quite the opposite, actually. The work he’s put in has him unbeaten at 43-0 as a senior, ranked among the top four at 138 pounds in Division 3, and threatening to become the Spartans’ first Individual Finals champion.
The clue was that D’Ambrosio was going to be calm and cool on the mat, and have a grounded view of the sport off it, which has also helped him reach those heights.
“When I was younger, I got an award for being a cool cucumber – the Cool as a Cucumber award,” he said. “When I lose, I just look at it as I can get better from it. At the end of the day, it’s just a game. It’s serious, the work you put into it, but it’s not so serious. If you lose, you just want to get better. I just like to get the work done.”
To be fair, D’Ambrosio doesn’t do much losing.
He’s dropped just nine matches during his four-year career, compared to 159 wins, and a third of those losses came against Dundee four-time Finals champion Braeden Davis, who is now unbeaten and ranked No. 5 in the country at 125 pounds as a true freshman at Penn State.
D’Ambrosio was 14-0 as a freshman when COVID-19 ended the Spartans’ 2020-21 season short of the postseason. He placed third at the Finals as a sophomore, and fifth as a junior.
He has his eyes on the ultimate prize this year, and for a moment he allowed the thought to get him out of his even-keeled nature. But even that doesn’t last long.
“It would be pretty special,” he said. “I’ve been working hard for it. But, either way, I’m just going to go and leave it all out there.”
D’Ambrosio is the son of Imlay City coach Tony D’Ambrosio, which in some cases could create more pressure. But not this one. And a lot of that could be credited to Tony.
“We always tried to keep the pressure low and just have fun,” said Tony D’Ambrosio, who is in his 10th year at the helm in Imlay City. “We just focus on getting better. He’s always just wrestled. It’s just how he is. Dominic doesn’t even look at the brackets. He doesn’t find out who he’s wrestling until he shakes hands.”
What happens after they shake hands isn’t what one would expect from someone who could win that same Cool as a Cucumber award every year.
D’Ambrosio’s matches typically don’t last long. Of his 159 wins, 105 have come by pin, including all three of his wins at the 2023 Individual Finals. As a junior, he set the school pin record at 41. This season, 32 of his 43 wins have been by pinfall.
Just four of his matches have gone beyond the first period this season, and only two of those have gone the distance.
“This year, he’s really been turning it all on,” Tony D’Ambrosio said. “He didn’t start pinning a lot until later on into middle school and high school. It’s just basic stuff, not anything fancy. He’s a nice kid, but when he’s on the mat, he’s going to turn you over.”
Dominic isn’t a thrower, and his pins aren’t the result of catching an opponent in anything fluky. He’s just meticulous, and able to take advantage of any opening he’s given.
“I’m (working on a half Nelson) 100 times, 200 times during the week, so I’ll be able to hit it during the weekend,” he said. “If I got somebody’s head, nobody is getting out of it. I can just flow really well into a pinning sequence.”
As he pins his way through the season, D’Ambrosio is racking up awards. He’s been named Most Valuable Wrestler at four tournaments bouncing between 138 and 144, and at one point found himself ranked No. 1 by Michigan Grappler at 138.
As you would expect, he hasn’t allowed that to get to his head, and as his father puts it, “the only ranking that matters is the podium.”
With District tournaments this week, D’Ambrosio now can focus 100 percent of his efforts on getting to the top of that podium. But don’t expect the pressure to mount in his house or on the mat.
“It would be special,” Tony D’Ambrosio said. “But, again, as long as he goes out there and just does what he does, and does his best – it’s kind of like the NCAAs, you have to have a good weekend. It doesn’t dictate who you are. It would be awesome, and it’s a great goal to have. It would be a great goal to accomplish and be the first (from Imlay City). But wherever he ends up, I’m going to be proud of what he’s done.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Imlay City’s Dominic D’Ambrosio, right, wrestles to a fifth-place finish at 132 pounds in Division 3 last season at Ford Field. (Middle) D’Ambrosio, right, takes to the mat during his early years in the sport. (Below) D’Ambrosio, right, works to pin an opponent. (Top photo by High School Sports Scene; other photos courtesy of the D’Ambrosio family.)