Performance of the Week: Detroit Mumford's Ja'Marcus Smith
March 11, 2022
Ja'Marcus Smith ♦ Detroit Mumford
Wrestling ♦ Senior
Smith entered last weekend’s Individual Wrestling Finals at Ford Field as the top seed at 103 pounds in Division 2, and he finished Saturday as the first Finals champion from the Detroit Public School League. He improved to 19-1 this season with a major decision in his first match, a decision in his semifinal, then a pin in his championship match to claim the title.
A three-time Finals placer, Smith previously finished fifth at 112 pounds as a junior and eighth at 112 as a sophomore. He was leading Saturday’s championship match 10-1 before getting the pin with one second left in the final period. He won 10 matches by fall this season and six more by technical fall.
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2021-22 Honorees
March 2: David Schaberg, Holt bowling - Report
Feb. 24: Adelaide McRoberts, Kingsford swimming - Report
Feb. 17: Christopher Kavanaugh, Petoskey hockey - Report
Feb. 10: Ira Jenkins, Whitehall wrestling - Report
Feb. 3: Emma Stewart, Salem gymnastics - Report
Jan. 28: Tyler Ray, Pinckney swimming - Report
Jan. 21: Elle Craven, Traverse City Central skiing - Report
Jan. 14: Nevaeh Williams, Mount Clemens basketball - Report
Dec. 2: Lucas Dunn, Chelsea football - Report
Nov. 25: Riley Nugent, Plainwell swimming - Report
Nov. 18: Harper Murray, Ann Arbor Skyline volleyball - Report
Nov. 11: Abby VanderKooi, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian cross country - Report
Nov. 4: Arianne Olson, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Oct. 28: Jack Guggemos, Okemos soccer - Report
Oct. 21: Sachiv Kumar, Northville tennis - Report
Oct. 14: Kate Brody, Grand Blanc golf - Report
Oct. 7: Lilly Nelson, Negaunee tennis - Report
Sept. 30: Stella Chapman, Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming - Report
Sept. 23: Riley Hough, Hartland cross country - Report
Sept. 16: Josie Bloom, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Report
(Top photo courtesy of the Detroit Mumford wrestling program; head shot by HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Dundee Continues Winning Ways with 7th-Consecutive D3 Final Victory
By
Jeff Chaney
Special for MHSAA.com
February 24, 2024
KALAMAZOO -- One thing Dundee’s wrestling community knows about is winning.
The Vikings continued to make history in Division 3 on Saturday at the Wings Event Center, as they won their seventh-straight team title with a 49-20 clincher over Whitehall in the championship match.
In total, Dundee has won nine of the past 11 Division 3 team titles, and 16 Finals championships overall.
"This is a special group of kids, and a special community," Dundee co-coach Garrett Stevens said. "Every time we do something like this, it's just a special chapter, and I am thankful to be a part of it."
One of those special – and talented – athletes, Kade Kluce, got things started for Dundee in the Final with a hard-fought 8-2 opening win over Whitehall's Nolan Taranko in their 126-pound match.
Kluce, a senior, has played a major part of four team titles, and will look to join an exclusive group next week at Ford Field when he tries to win his fourth individual championship. If he accomplishes that feat, he will join former Vikings Braeden Davis, Casey Swiderski and Stoney Buell as well as Lowell's Austin Boone and Davison's Brent Metcalf as the only wrestlers in the state of Michigan to win four individual and four team titles.
"That's my biggest goal I have right now, aside from being in college," Kluce said. "That's what I have worked so hard for ever since I got to high school."
Kluce said it's easy to have goals and work hard at Dundee.
"This is a family," Kluce added. "We do everything together, and we have great leadership that helps us be a part of everyone's matches."
That strong camaraderie was on display all weekend for the Vikings, as they defeated Lake Odessa Lakewood in the Quarterfinal on Friday 58-18, followed by a 49-22 win over Constantine in the Saturday morning Semifinal.
Then in the championship match, Dundee won 10 of 14 bouts – none bigger than what senior Aiden Massingill achieved at 215 pounds, defeating an Individual Finals qualifier to give the Vikings a 32-18 lead.
That seemed to ease a little tension, as Whitehall had put up a nice fight by winning three of the previous four matches.
"I just told my kids to go out there and wrestle hard, and they did that," said Whitehall coach Justin Zeerip, whose team finished with a 29-4 record. "To be in the Finals three of the last four years has been awesome."
To make it three in the past four, Whitehall met an old foe in its Semifinal match.
"I was proud of our team for beating Clinton in the Semifinals," Zeerip said. "We beat them by one point earlier in the year and then beat them by 20 in the Semifinals. I was proud of how our kids wrestled this weekend."
But the weekend belonged to Dundee -- again.
"Winning like this starts at home," said Stevens, whose team ended with an 18-5 record. "You need to get your sleep, discipline in your diet, and do well in the classroom. Then you have to stay healthy and put in the work. And if you do all the things right and at the end of the day you get your hand raised -- that's winning."
PHOTOS (Top) Dundee’s Aiden Massingill has his arm raised in victory after a key win at 215 pounds Saturday. (Middle) Whitehall’s Gavin Craner, left, controls his match at 175. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)