Richmond: 'Nothing Compares to This'

February 28, 2015

By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half 

BATTLE CREEK – With the MHSAA Division 3 wrestling championship at stake, Richmond senior Connor Behem had his Dundee opponent on his back Saturday afternoon at Kellogg Arena.

It was the first minute of their match, and the Dundee wrestler frantically was trying to raise his hand, as if he were reaching for a championship but in reality simply trying to avoid a pin. Behem, meanwhile, was using his wrestling repertoire as he tried to pin his opponent’s shoulders to the mat.

“Time was going by really slowly,” Behem said. “It felt like an hour when he was on his back, but I knew it was only a few seconds.” 

Finally, 67 seconds into the match, Behem got the pin, not only ending an incredible comeback that netted Richmond the MHSAA championship but writing a script that Hollywood would have a tough time turning down.

Richmond edged Dundee 27-25 for its seventh Finals championship and fourth in the past six years.

Richmond faced Dundee in the Final for the third year in a row, and Dundee, the two-time defending champion, had a comfortable 25-12 lead with three matches left. 

“I thought it was slipping away,” Richmond coach Brandon Day said. “For them to come out and do what they did, I’m so proud of them.”

After a decision by Adam Boyd and a pin by Roy Costello, Richmond pulled within 25-21 going into the final match at 112 pounds. Richmond needed a pin by Behem to win the championship, and when he pinned Wallace, the Richmond bench and crowd erupted with joy. 

“I kind of broke down emotionally,” Behem said. “It felt so good, words can’t even describe it.”

Behem’s knee locked up in the morning practice, and Roberts did not use him in the 32-19 victory over Remus Chippewa Hills in the Semifinal match.

“His ACL and meniscus are completely torn,” Day said. “He has practiced one day in the last three weeks. We were lucky enough to be able to sit him in the semis. ... Sacrifice won this for us, no doubt.” 

Behem played off the injury, as his euphoria likely dampened any pain he might have been feeling.

“My knee is a little bummed, but it’s all right,” he said. 

Boyd began the big comeback with a 3-0 victory over Gabe Heiserman at 285. Although a pin would have been huge, Richmond needed at least a decision to stay alive in the match.

“Everyone was telling me I had to get six, and it kind of got in my head a little bit,” Boyd said. “I kind of got away and started talking to our coach and Devin Skatzka, and they calmed me back down and said just get the win, and I got the win.” 

Next up was Costello at 103, and he wasted little time in deciding his match with a pin in 31 seconds.

“It was like do or die. I knew I had to do it,” Costello said. “I was so happy as soon as I locked that up. Then I just told Connor good luck. 

“I knew Connor was going to get that pin, but once the referee hit that mat, I was up. I was so happy I cried for joy.”

Behem took the mat with the weight of the entire wrestling program on his back and his weakened right knee. He felt it. 

“I was nervous, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I saw my teammates get it done before me, so that helped me. I saw Roy pick up the pin and Adam pick up a big win, so once I got on the mat, all my nerves went away. It felt good.

“I could not have went out my senior year any better than this. Individuals (Finals) are pretty crazy, but nothing compares to team state finals. Nothing.” 

Richmond, which finished 32-5, won just six of the 14 matches in the Final but picked up nine bonus points with three pins. Skatzka, a three-time individual MHSAA champion, had the other pin in 56 seconds over Kyle Reinhart at 160 pounds.

Skatzka said the entire team was computing what it would take for the Blue Devils to erase the late 13-point deficit. 

“We all were counting it up in our head,” Skatzka said. “We knew we had our matches at 103 and 112, and we were kind of counting on pins from them, and it happened just how we counted on them.

“I can’t even describe what it felt like. It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever been through. I’ve won three state titles in my life and the team state title my freshman year. Nothing has been more exciting than this. Nothing compares to this.” 

Richmond’s other victories came on decisions by Aaron Kilburn at 125 and Austin Pawlak at 152.

Dundee, which has been in the MHSAA Finals in eight of the past nine years, ended its season at 25-6. Of their eight wins in the Final, only one registered more than the three points. Sophomore Sean Sterling scored a 22-9 major decision at 145 pounds. 

The seven other victories picked up by Dundee were by Drew Scholl (119), Drew Mandell (130), Kenny Reinhart (135), Zach Blevins (140), Donny Mandell (171), Brandon Whitman (189) and Tye Thompson (215).

“It was a good dual,” Dundee coach Tim Roberts said. “We end up having great duals every year. They have a great team and do a great job over there, and they have a great coach, obviously. 

“They did a super job, I have to give them credit.”

Six Dundee wrestlers finished 3-0 over the weekend: Donny Mandell, Reinhart, Blevins, Sterling, Whitman and Thompson. Skatzka and Costello were the only Richmond wrestlers to go 3-0 for the weekend. 

“I am so proud of the effort from everybody from top to bottom,” Day said. “We gave up bonus points one match, and we had three falls.

“That’s how you win state titles.”

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PHOTO: Richmond poses with its MHSAA Division 3 championship trophy Saturday at Kellogg Arena. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

Senior Pair's Selfless Leadership Crucial to Benzie Central's Historic Run

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

March 3, 2023

It is pretty well-known now that a historic wrestling run by Benzie Central came to an end in a Division 4 Quarterfinal last weekend.

Northern Lower PeninsulaPerhaps equally known is the Huskies qualified 11 grapplers for the Individual Finals taking place today and Saturday at Ford Field.

But not many are familiar with the story of senior athletes Wyatt Noffsinger and Austin Smith — the undisputed motivational leaders of the team — and their personal Benzie wrestling history.

The story began when Noffsinger was an eighth grader.  He took a trip with a friend and his father to watch the MHSAA Finals. And it is ending this weekend with Noffsinger and Smith watching — and cheering on — their teammates at the championship event.

Noffsinger and Smith did not qualify for this weekend’s competition. Noffsinger fell one point shy in his 175-pound bracket at the Individual Regional. And Smith graciously had opted to give up his spot in the postseason lineup to Noffsinger.

Last year Smith was among 12 Benzie wrestlers who advanced to Regionals. And injuries kept Noffsinger off the mat.

“It’s a proud moment for me as a coach,” said 10-year veteran coach Josh Lovendusky. “These two guys haven’t missed a practice in the postseason because they knew they had to be there for the team to help them train so they can be ready for the Finals.

“They don’t have to be there — they put their team first,” he continued. “They’re giving up their time to make sure their teammates are successful.

Smith and Noffsinger help as officials at a youth wrestling tournament this week. Noffsinger and Smith represent what the Huskies – who made their first-ever appearance at Team Finals weekend – are all about, according to Lovendusky, who now shares his coaching duties with co-coach Cody Vandonkelaar.

“It is what we’ve been trying to embody this entire season,” Lovendusky said. “Coaching for as long as I have, I have never seen somebody as selfless as these two individuals have been this season.”

Smith may get the honor of being the most selfless. He voluntarily gave up his slot wrestling at 144 pounds for his friend Noffsinger, nicknamed “Cheddar.”

Teams may send only 14 competitors into the individual tournament (not counting the girls division). Benzie’s postseason roster was developed by team vote, and Smith was originally selected. After stewing on it for a few days and recalling how Noffsinger – who wrestles at 175 pounds – didn’t get a shot at Districts or Regionals last year, Smith approached Vandonkelaar about making the change.

“I only felt right that we both get three chances at (the postseason),” Smith said of his decision. “I don’t get four and he only gets two.

“I just thought it would be fair if we both went three for three.”

Both Smith and Noffsinger are thrilled the coaches made the roster change, especially since it resulted in a nail-biting finish in the “blood round” – the round that determines the final two qualifiers who will advance or be done. As luck would have it, Noffsinger faced a teammate in his Finals-qualifying match hosted by Charlevoix, and lost by one point.

“Cheddar exceeded my expectations, to be honest,” Smith said.  “It came down to one point. 

“I was on the end of my seat, and whoever lost I’d feel bad for and whoever won I’d feel awesome for,” Smith continued.  “He came up a little bit short, and I am just happy he got a shot to go.”

Noffsinger is at the top of his class academically and led the Huskies to academic all-state recognition this year. The three-sport star is grateful Smith yielded his spot. 

“Austin didn’t have to do that,” Noffsinger said. “I wasn’t expecting it.

 Smith celebrates a match win, while Noffsinger attempts to break free from an opponent. “It completely says a lot about who he is as a man … who he is as a friend,” he continued. “I was so grateful.”

Without Smith, Noffsinger is quick to point out, he would not have had the chance to fulfill the dream of competing at the Finals that began with that eighth-grade trip.

“Knowing that I was going to have the last shot to make it was a huge sense of relief and gratitude for him as a friend to give me that opportunity,” Noffsinger said. “I wanted to win really bad and make it.

“And the same time, it hurts knowing if you do win, you’re going to take a teammate’s shot at making it – and it really hurt knowing your dream was gone,” Noffsinger said of falling one point short. “It is still cool because we made it as a team, and it will be awesome to be down there for the experience and the amazing atmosphere.”

Lovendusky is quick to point out the two seniors represent much more leadership than any coach could ever request.

“These two individuals are the unsung, motivational leaders of this team,” Lovendusky said.  “At the team states neither one of them wrestled, but they were the absolute loudest. 

“They made sure the team was ready to go,” Lovendusky continued. “You can’t ask for better senior leadership than kids giving everything they have even though they didn’t have the opportunity to wrestle, and they were a pivotal part of what our team did.”

Smith and Noffsinger have one more leadership task to complete when the Individual Finals are over. They’ll lead the charge into the Brazilian steak house that’s become a tradition for the Huskies team.

They’re looking forward to the large serving of steak on a skewer.  And they will celebrate this year’s team making history.

“It’s all-you-can-eat meat, and it’s an awesome experience,” said Noffsinger.

Tom SpencerTom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) From left: Benzie Central co-coach Cody Vandonkelaar, Wyatt Noffsinger, Austin Smith and co-coach Josh Lovendusky show off the program’s hardware won this winter. (Middle) Smith and Noffsinger help as officials at a youth wrestling tournament this week. (Below) Smith celebrates a match win, while Noffsinger attempts to break free from an opponent. (Photos courtesy of Jill Robinson and Shane Iverson.)