Richmond Takes Latest Dramatic D3 Final
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 25, 2017
MOUNT PLEASANT – It took 14 matches and eight steps through the dual meet tiebreaker criteria Saturday to decide the latest edition of the wrestling rivalry between Richmond and Dundee.
But when Criteria H showed a 17-8 advantage for Richmond in total first points scored, it was Blue Devils coach Brandon Day who turned to his team with a triumphant fist in the air, sending the Richmond wrestlers and crowd into hysterics.
“I walked to the table and (Dundee coach Tim Roberts) told me, ‘You already won,’” Day said. “I told him, ‘We’ve got to quit doing this.’”
Richmond prevailed in the back-and-forth Division 3 title match, which ended tied at 28 following a 4-3 win from Richmond 130-pound sophomore Hayden Bastian. The title is Richmond’s eighth, and first since 2015 when it defeated Dundee in somehow less dramatic fashion with a pair of pins in the final two matches.
“It’s crazy, you don’t know what’s going to happen – it’s like the lottery,” said Richmond senior 112-pounder Roy Costello, who had one of those pins in 2015, and won a 3-2 decision on Saturday night. “It’s really suspenseful, your heart’s beating 100 mph, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The two teams were deadlocked through the first seven criteria, which includes three varieties of penalty points assessed, total matches won, pinfalls, technical falls and major decisions. It was fitting for a rivalry that has dominated Division 3 since 2006, with the teams now having combined to win 10 of the last 12 titles -- Richmond with six and Dundee with four. Of those 10, seven were won against the other.
“Our programs are intertwined now because we’ve wrestled each other so many times in this situation,” Roberts said. “Today they were that much better than us. It’s pretty close, but they did that much better than us today, so they get to be champs this year. It’s close, but they won.”
The dual was tied three times over the final five matches -- 22-22, 25-25 and 28-28. The final tie was forced by Bastian, who recorded a takedown with less than 30 seconds remaining to send the match to the scorebooks.
“I was stressed -- I was so nervous that I wasn’t going to get a takedown,” said Bastian, who didn’t know if his win would give his team the title. “I’m fairly new to the sport. I started wrestling in seventh grade. I don’t really know much. My first match I didn’t really know what I was doing. I don’t know almost anything, I just go out there and wrestle my best.”
Bastian’s coach had plenty of confidence in him before sending him out onto the mat.
“Hayden Bastian is the best kid in the state nobody knows about,” Day said. “He made 130 for the first time here this weekend, and that was the difference.”
Added Costello: “Hayden performed awesome this whole weekend. Even though he’s not a state qualifier, he performed awesome.”
Dundee jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the match, getting pins from Sean Sterling at 160 pounds and Brandon Whitman at 189, a major decision at 145 from Tylor Orrison and decisions from Zachary Bellaire at 140 and Kyle Motylinski at 171.
Even with the lead, however, Roberts didn’t feel safe.
“We knew we needed more,” Roberts said. “We needed another win down there that we didn’t get. We knew we were kind of in trouble at 22-9. At 119 and 125, our guys did a nice job and came away with wins there, but we knew we were one win short when it was 22-9.”
Richmond stormed back to tie the dual with a major decision from Colton McKiernan at 215, a decision from Tyler Marino at 285 and a pin from Austin Kilburn at 103.
Kilburn’s pin ended a wild match against Dundee’s Caleb Fairchild, which saw both wrestlers taken to their backs in the opening period. Kilburn, a freshman, regained his composure and scored seven more points before getting the pin with 41 seconds left in the match.
Costello’s win put the Blue Devils up 25-22, but Daniel Jaworski (119) and Christian Killion (125) each won decisions for the Vikings to give them the 28-25 lead heading into the final match.
Richmond opened the dual with a pin from senior Owen Vannatter at 135 pounds, and after Dundee took a 7-6 lead with its wins from Bellaire and Orrison, Richmond sophomore Eric Barr pulled off an upset at 152 with a 3-2 win against Dundee’s Alex Motylinski.
“Eric Barr!” Day shouted. “Eric Barr knocked off No. 3 in the state. (Barr) didn’t make it out of our Regional. That was huge.”
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dundee (left) and Richmond faced off Saturday for the eighth time over the last decade of Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Dundee’s Sean Sterling works toward a pin during his match at 160. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Sandusky's Ryan Repeats, Aims for 4
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2020
Logan Ryan had to learn how to handle losing.
After a youth career that saw her win multiple national wrestling honors, including the NUWAY Nationals in 2017, Ryan’s freshman year competing at 140 and 145 pounds proved to be difficult.
“I got destroyed that year,” the Sandusky sophomore said.
Now the losses are much less frequent, but she has figured out how to turn them into positives.
“When I get beat, I just feel like that’s an opportunity for me to fix what I do wrong in a match,” she said. “I think it does really good for me to fix my mistakes and see what happens. Honestly, I feel like wrestling the boys in high school makes me tougher. The boys are stronger than me, it roughs me up and it makes me more aggressive and prepared for everything else.”
Ryan is 25-5 on the year, and while the MHSAA postseason is about to begin, she’s already claimed a state championship this season. Ryan won the 145-pound title at the Michigan Wrestling Association High School Girls State Championship on Feb. 2 in Adrian. It was her second straight title at the event, which was in its second year.
“It was pretty awesome,” she said. “I was super happy to win it again and wrestle really good. I still feel like there’s more room to improve.”
Ryan defeated Shelbi Daniels of Chesaning 8-2 in the championship match. She was the second seed entering the tournament and won by pin and technical fall in her first two matches before winning a 3-0 decision in the semifinals.
She could have made weight at 138 pounds, but her dad, Jeff, who is the assistant coach at Sandusky, said they decided to enter at 145 because of the depth of that weight class.
“We wrestle the best; that’s our whole idea of it,” Jeff Ryan said. “She went after the best and beat all the ones she wanted to.”
A year ago, Ryan won the title at 160 pounds. She was one of three freshmen to win a title last year, and this year, only she and Eliana Bommarito of Hartland (235 and 270) were able to repeat.
That leaves them both with an opportunity to become the state’s first four-time girls state champions.
“I don’t know who my opponents are going to be, which freshmen are coming in, but I definitely thought about that after I won the second one,” Ryan said. “I definitely think about becoming a four-time state champion. That would be awesome.”
There were four other repeat champions, including Ryan’s cousin, Kendra Ryan of Fenton, who won at 107 pounds. Sparta’s Rayan Sahagun (102), Southgate Anderson’s JoJo Palshan (117) and Lowell’s Reese Gonzales (132) also won their second title in as many years.
Sandusky coach Adam Filkins was excited with how much the meet grew from its first year to its second and noted that it follows a trend around the state with girls in wrestling.
“Last year, we started our first girls division at our tournament, and we more than doubled that this year,” he said. “They’ve doubled the amount of girls at the state finals. There has been a crazy amount of growth, way more than I would have expected. There’s a great push behind it, and there seems to be no resistance.”
Opportunities are also growing at the next level, as there are about 60 colleges which now have a women’s wrestling program.
“I think it’s amazing – I think it’s awesome,” said Ryan, who added her ultimate goal is to make the United States Olympic team. “I think more girls that have never experienced anything like wrestling should definitely try.”
As the postseason gets underway with Team District tournaments Wednesday and Thursday, and the Individual Districts on Saturday, Logan Ryan said her goal is to qualify for the Regional. She said she plans to move down to 135 pounds for the individual tournament.
“I lost in the blood round last year,” she said. “We have a tough region and district.”
As she looks further into the future, however, the goal is to be wrestling at Ford Field – along with the rest of the girls who have been competing at Adrian.
“Girls wrestling is coming,” Ryan said. “It’s big, and it’s growing.”
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) Sandusky’s Logan Ryan, top, maintains control over her opponent. (Middle) Ryan’s arm is raised in victory. (Photos courtesy of the Sandusky wrestling program.)
MWA Girls State Championship finals results
97 pounds
Champion: Emme Hicks, Saline, Fr.
Fall, 4:56, over MaKenzie German, Jr., Clinton
102
Champion: Rayana Sahagun, Sparta, Sr.
Fall, 3:20, over Makayla Wiltse, Mio, Sr.
107
Champion: Kendra Ryan, Fenton, Jr.
Fall, 0:51, over Hannah Becker, Forest Hills Central, Sr.
112
Champion: Hannah Arledge-Teran, Fowlerville, Soph.
Decision, 6-4, over Casey Boni, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, Soph.
117
Champion: Jojo Palshan, Southgate Anderson, Sr.
Decision, 6-0, over Alana Nuorala, Ishpeming Westwood, Jr.
122
Champion: Autumn Teague, Holly, Sr.
Decision, 6-1, over Lydia Roope, Bay City Western, Fr.
127
Champion: Sylvia Pierce, Temperance Bedford, Jr.
Fall, 2:41, over Taylor Randolph, Clinton, Soph.
132
Champion: Reese Gonzales, Lowell, Jr.
Fall, 2:20, over Ellyana Kuzma, Gibraltar Carlson, Sr.
138
Champion: Alicia Pieper, Waterford Kettering, Jr.
Decision, 5-1, over Bella Wazny, Hemlock, Soph.
155
Champion: Maritza Gallegos, Salem, Jr.
Decision, 9-5, over Brynn Green, Howell, Fr.
168
Champion: Khloe Williams, Clio, Fr.
Major decision, 12-3, over Bo Geibe, Constantine, Soph.
184
Champion: Kailyn Garrett, South Lyon, Soph.
Fall, 1:33, over Grace Middleton, Mayville, Sr.
270
Champion: Eliana Bommarito, Hartland, Soph.
Fall, 0:40, over Teresa Rodriguez, Parchment, Jr.