Shores' Karel Blazes Smart Path to Stardom
January 5, 2016
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Samuel Karel is not only the epitome of a true student-athlete. He is also proof that there are many different roads to becoming a high school all-stater.
Especially in wrestling.
“You don’t always have to be the most athletic or the most naturally talented to win the match,” explained Karel, a senior returning all-state wrestler for Muskegon Mona Shores, who is 15-3 with 10 pins this season at 160 pounds.
“You can put in time and effort and find a way to come out ahead.”
Karel has certainly done that, improving from a mediocre grappler as a freshman to a legitimate MHSAA title contender as a senior. But his ascent has been aided by an often overlooked skill in athletics, an intangible which has decided more games and matches than anything else in prep sports but is not as readily apparent as size and speed.
That skill is intelligence.
In addition to pursuing his championship dream on the mat, Karel sports a gaudy 4.24 grade-point average while juggling a class load featuring four Advanced Placement classes – AP Statistics, AP Literature, AP Environmental Science and AP Microeconomics.
Mona Shores coach Blake Groenhout said Karel brings that cerebral approach to the wrestling mat, which has enabled him to figure out a way to beat many opponents who possess superior athletic ability.
“Samuel’s biggest strength is that he is a real technician,” explained Groenhout, who said Karel has always been good on his feet but has improved on the mat. “He works really hard, and he’s always thinking ahead and is able to pull off some big wins in that way.”
A great example of that came at last year’s Division 1 Individual Finals, when Karel found himself in the infamous “blood round” where a victory would make him an all-stater as a top-eight placer at 152 pounds. Unfortunately, his opponent had beaten him 9-2 just one week earlier at Individual Regionals.
This time, Karel fought a smarter match.
The low-scoring bout turned into a chess match, which played into Karel’s hands. Karel scored a takedown in the first period, while his opponent evened the score in the second – and the score remained 2-2 until just a handful of seconds remained. With overtime looking like a certainty, Karel was able to get away for an escape and a 3-2 victory as time expired.
“I was jumping around and going crazy after that,” Karel said with a laugh.
It was quite an achievement for someone who couldn’t even manage a winning record his freshman year, finishing 14-14 at 145 pounds. He improved to 28-10 his sophomore year at 160 pounds, including city and Ottawa-Kent Conference Black titles, but fell one win short of making it to the MHSAA Finals. He finished 44-9 last year at 152 pounds, repeating as city and conference champion and capping things off with his 8th-place finish at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Making all-state was a notable athletic achievement since most of his accolades have come as a student.
Karel was one of three Muskegon-area high school seniors to be named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist this fall. He will find out this spring if he is a finalist for a National Merit Scholarship pool, which totals $32 million.
He credits his experience in sports – both as a standout and team captain on the wrestling team and as a reserve and role player on the Sailors’ football team – for giving him discipline and resilience to be successful in school and the rest of his life.
“Wrestling can get boring, working on the same things over and over, so you have to find a way to keep it new and fresh,” said Karel. “I try to have fun in the room every day and try to think back to what motivated me when I first started wrestling.”
Two more secret weapons for Karel are his family and faith.
The youngest of Paul and Deb Karel’s four children, he has plenty of support from older sisters Martha and Lydia, both students at Lee University in Tennessee, and older brother Simon, a freshman offensive lineman at Trinity College near Chicago.
The Karels have been fixtures in the Mona Shores district for almost 20 years and even longer at Olivet Evangelical Free Church, where Samuel plays guitar and drums at church services (“Music takes away my stress,” he explained).
Karel also will be heading out of state for college, as he will join the club wrestling program at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. He plans to major in mathematics and then pursue a career as a mathematician (possibly working for the National Security Agency) or an actuary.
For right now, he is focused on making the most of his final high school season on the mat.
Karel reached the coveted 100-win plateau last month at the Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern Invitational. Last week, he finished 3-1 at Grandville’s tournament to improve to 15-3 with 10 pins this season.
As a team captain, he also wants to help two of his teammates try to close out their senior seasons as all-state wrestlers. Sean Halverson is 11-2 at 112 pounds, and Nick Brown is 10-6 at 215 pounds. Those two, along with Karel, form the “Big 3” for Mona Shores wrestling, Groenhout said.
“I made him a captain as a junior, which is rare, but he has such great dedication and enthusiasm for the sport,” Groenhout explained. “He is the one who sets the standard. Our younger guys, like (standout freshman) Josh Hill, they all want to be like Sam.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Mona Shores senior Samuel Karel, the youngest of Deb and Steve Karel's four children, has won more than 100 matches already in his career, with most of his senior season still to come. (Middle) Karel is a standout on and off the wrestling mat. The senior returning all-stater, also a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, recently won his 100th career match. (Photos courtesy of the Karel family.)
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.
Perhaps 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.
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.
“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 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.)