St. Johns' Hall Joins Champion Elite
March 1, 2014
By Jeff Chaney
Special to Second Half
AUBURN HILLS, MI – It's a moment Zac Hall said he will never forget.
Hall joined elite company by winning his fourth MHSAA individual wrestling championship, when he beat Greenville's Alec Ward 12-2 in the 140-pound title match in Division 2 at the Finals on Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The St. Johns senior became just the 18th Michigan wrestler to win four MHSAA Finals titles, and when the referee raised his hand after his victory, the large crowd at The Palace rose to their feet and applauded loudly in appreciation.
“That is the most amazing feeling in the world. I'll remember that moment for the rest of my life,” Hall said. “I don't know how many people are here, thousands, and they were all clapping for me. That is the most awesome feeling.”
This marks the third straight year a wrestler has won his fourth title. Last year Fowlerville heavyweight Adam Coon accomplished it, and two years ago it was Hall's former St. Johns teammate Taylor Massa.
“All that hard work and time you put in in the (practice room), it pays off,” Hall said. “When your buddies want you to hang out, and instead you are in the room grinding, that all just paid off here.”
103
Champion: Dominic LaJoie, Gaylord, Fr. (50-1)
Decision, 11-7 over Dalton Roberts, Fowlerville, Sr. (46-6)
LaJoie is well on his way to becoming a four-time champion, as he built a large early lead over Roberts and held on for a 11-7 win.
LaJoie scored the match's first seven points, and then fought off a furious Roberts rally in the third period.
“I just came out and went as hard as I could,” LaJoie said. “This feels really awesome. I owe a lot to my dad (Jerry LaJoie), my coaches and my partners in the room. This is a great feeling.”
112
Champion: Lucas Hall, Lowell, Soph. (37-0)
Fall, 2:19 over Bryan LaVearn, Ortonville Brandon, Soph. (50-2)
Hall didn't listen to all the nay-sayers. He knew he had what it takes to win an MHSAA title and went out and proved that by pinning LaVearn in their 112-pound title match.
Hall used one of his signature moves, “the high flyer,” to pin LaVearn for the win.
“People have been trying to get into my head, posting stuff on Twitter and Facebook, but you can't let that get to you,” Hall said. “You just need to keep your head and keep looking forward. I know I had a bull’s eye on my back because I came in undefeated and ranked number one. You can't let all that get in your head; you just have to keep after it.”
119
Champion: Mason Smith, Clio, Jr. (55-0)
Decision, 3-1 over Jacob Chapman, Flint Kearsley, Jr. (35-6)
Returning champion Smith overcame a bit of familiarity to win his second straight title, as he beat Chapman for the title with a work-man-like 3-1 win.
“The hardest thing is we've wrestled six times, and we both know what both of us are going to do,” Smith said. “So you have to do what you can do.
“I started with a gameplan, and was not that comfortable with it, so I changed it. I said I would do whatever felt right – score more points.”
125
Champion: Nick Pipes, Warren Woods-Tower, Sr. (48-5)
Decision, 6-1 over Patrick Blommel, Stevensville Lakeshore, Sr. (38-6)
Pipes finally got his medal, and it was a big one.
The four-time Finals qualifier failed to place in the top eight in his first three trips to The Palace, but won a championship on his fourth try.
“I'll take not placing in my first three years to win it now,” Pipes said. “I knew coming in that I qualified three times before this and was always the underdog. But this year being ranked first, and everyone thought I was going to win it, that helped my confidence.”
130
Champion: Austin Thompson, Marysville, Jr. (52-1)
Decision, 8-7 UTB over Jaedin Sklapsky, Eaton Rapids, Jr. (49-2)
Thompson chose down in the ultimate tiebreaker and escaped Sklapsky for an 8-7 win.
“A year ago I wouldn't have chosen down,” said Thompson, who is in his first year at Marysville. “I wasn't very good on the mat, but I've made a lot of improvements on the mat since I've moved to Marysville.”
135
Champion: Austin Melton, DeWitt, Soph. (48-3)
Major Decision, 13-4 over Collin Lieber, Croswell-Lexington, Fr. (50-2)
The gameplan was simple Melton.
Score, and score early, and that is exactly what he did in winning the 135-pound championship.
A takedown and a near-fall in the first period turned a five-point early lead into a 13-3 win and a title.
“My coaches just told me to do what I've been doing every match, which is to take it to him,” Melton said. “To score as much points as possible, so that I can get up as much as you can.”
145
Champion: Steve Bleise, Chelsea, Sr. (49-0)
Decision, 12-5 over Mark Bozzo St. Johns, Sr. (38-8)
Last year Bleise was beaten in the Finals by a St. Johns wrestler, Logan Massa. But not this year.
Bleise had a phrase running through his head as he ran to the mat for the 145-pound title match against Bozzo.
“I told myself going out to the mat, I wasn't going to take second again,” Bleise said. “That really got my mindset going. I couldn't imagine coming off that mat not winning again.”
152
Champion: Logan Massa, St. Johns, Jr. (51-0)
Fall, 1:56 over Dillon Ellsworth, Lapeer East, Jr. (58-3)
Massa said it helps his psyche to have his brother on the side of the mat for his big matches.
And why not when your brother is a four-time undefeated champion, Taylor Massa.
It's helped two years in a row now, as Logan Massa won his second straight MHSAA championship with his brother in his corner.
“It's awesome to have him in my corner,” Logan Massa said. “It is really cool that (St. Johns coach Derek Phillips) lets me do it. It makes you feel more comfortable having him in my corner.”
160
Champion: Logan Ritchie, New Boston Huron, Jr. (57-2)
Decision, 2-1 over Tobias Barnes, Romulus Summit Academy, Sr. (56-2)
Ritchie kept the pressure on Barnes, and it paid off with a title.
Ritchie was awarded a penalty point late in the third period that allowed him to beat Barnes 2-1.
“I knew he liked to back up in space, and I just kept keeping the pressure on,” Ritchie said. “I know this time of the year they will call stalling. Maybe not in Districts, but they will down here.”
171
Champion: Max Dean, Lowell, Soph. (34-2)
Decision, 14-8 over Devon Pingel, North Branch, Soph. (55-2)
It was a battle of two super sophomores in the 171-pound title match, as Dean got the best of Pingel 14-8.
It was Dean's first MHSAA championship, while Pingel now has a runner-up finish to go with his title from 2013.
“I have a lot of respect for Devon Pingel,” Dean said. “He is always on the attack, and he is always coming. I got a little broken down last (period), but that is a credit to him. Fortunately, I built a little bit of a lead and was able to counter.”
Dean built a 8-2 lead and held on for the win.
189
Champion: Angus Arthur, St. Johns, Jr. (47-0)
Decision, 5-2 over Garett Stehley, Lowell, Sr. (31-2)
Two years ago, Arthur and Stehley were teammates on the Lowell wrestling team. Saturday they were opponents trying to win the 189-pound title.
And in a match that came down to the wire, Arthur hung on for a 3-2 win to win his second straight title.
Stehley was runner-up for the second straight year.
“It's the best feeling in the world,” Arthur said. “I know Garett is a hard wrestler, and this is his second year (he has taken second), so I knew he would come out strong. … I just kept on my attacks.”
215
Champion: Josh Colegrove, Lowell, Jr. (35-1)
Fall, 1:50 over Jacob Alarie, Bay City Western, Sr. (45-7)
Last year, Colegrove missed the Finals, recovering from surgery on an injured knee he suffered in football.
So when he won the title at 215 pounds with a pin over Alarie, he let out a huge yell and jumped into his coaches’ arms.
“This feels awesome; all my hard work to get back is paying off,” Colegrove said.
Colegrove also pointed to the sky in his celebration.
“My grandpa (Bill Colegrove) passed away a couple of years ago, after my freshman year,” Colegrove said. “I won this for him, because he was a big part of my life. He was always there for me.”
285
Champion: Chris Hendricks, Fruitport, Sr. (45-1)
Decision, 6-3 over Preston Pelham, Tecumseh, Sr. (55-2)
Fruitport has another heavyweight champion.
Hendricks accomplished that by beating Pelham 6-3 in a hard-fought battle of athletic 285-pounders.
From 1994-97, Matt Brink won three MHSAA titles for the school in the heavyweight division.
“All the work I put in, it's paying off now,” Hendricks said. “All the people that have come up to work with me, former champions, my coaches, my workout partners, I wouldn't have done this without all of them. I owe this all to them.”
PHOTO: (Top) St. Johns' Zac Hall was among flag bearers during the grand march before Saturday's MHSAA Individual Finals. (Middle) Hall's hand is raised as he finishes his fourth title. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
'Best' Algonac Unbeatable So Far as Highly-Anticipated Drive for Finals Begins
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 10, 2022
Jake Kasner knows the hard work is still ahead for him and his Algonac wrestling teammates.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate what the Muskrats already have accomplished.
“It’s great,” the Algonac senior 152-pounder said. “We had a couple tournaments cut short, and we had some teammates out – really the only dual we had our whole team was against Richmond. Everyone has been stepping up when we need them, and we continue to win duals whenever possible. I’m very proud of our team in that way.”
Algonac is 21-0 and ranked No. 4 in Division 3 and won Wednesday’s Team District with a championship victory over Clawson. The team collected hardware throughout the year and finished a program-best second in the Macomb County Invitational.
While that incredible season did not include a Blue Water Area Conference championship, the Muskrats were 5-0 in the league, including a win against perennial state power Richmond, something no BWAC team had achieved since 2004.
“We’ve been trying to harp on consistency,” Algonac coach Brian Ranger said. “In past years, we had some tough teams where one week they looked amazing, and the next week not so much. We’ve been working to have that same, consistent effort every week and being the best version of ourselves. We don’t have kids worry so much about the other teams. We’re good enough now where if we wrestle to the best of our abilities, we can wrestle with anyone. We’re making sure we bring the same championship-level effort every time.”
Ranger took over at Algonac before the 2011-12 season, inheriting a program with no youth feeder system and 11 high school wrestlers.
Over his first 10 seasons, Ranger turned the program around, winning five District championships and – along with the help of his friend and assistant coach Ken Thomas – built the youth program to more than 70 wrestlers.
Algonac spent plenty of time over those 10 years among the top teams in the BWAC and ranked among the top 10 in Division 3.
The team also ended each of those previous 10 seasons with a District or Regional loss against Richmond.
“For whatever reason, we never wrestled as well as we should have at the end of the season against Richmond, and it pained me,” Ranger said. “I was always kind of searching every offseason for why we weren’t performing better against some of these better teams. This year, we focused on being the best us. If we’re the best us, we’re pretty hard to beat.”
Algonac’s best could be enough to end the streak this year, but it’s tough to fault the Muskrats for previous defeats. Richmond – the alma mater of both Ranger and Thomas – has won eight Division 3 Finals titles since 2000 and has been a Division 3 finalist eight of the past 10 seasons.
The Blue Devils won the BWAC title this year, taking first at the league tournament and edging Algonac in dual points thanks to the Muskrats having to cancel an early-season league date against Imlay City and Croswell-Lexington.
Richmond may be waiting for the Muskrats in the Regional Final, but first must wrestle No. 10-ranked Yale, the tournament host next Wednesday. On the other side of the bracket, Algonac will face Imlay City, which Ranger considers a top-10 caliber team.
While Algonac may have put a target on its back with the earlier win against Richmond, the bigger takeaway could be the confidence gained by the Muskrats heading into the postseason.
“It was a little bit more of a mental victory, if anything,” Ranger said. “For so long, we haven’t performed when it came to a match like that. We’re still proving to ourselves that we are good enough for those moments.”
The Muskrats are a young team, with 10 underclassmen in the starting lineup, including seven freshmen. The final five matches against Richmond were wrestled by Algonac underclassmen, as they pulled out a 31-29 victory. Six freshmen – Chris Campbell (second, 103), Sky Langewicz (fourth, 103), Lucky Gartin (third, 112), Steve Shannon (third, 119), Alex Bright (third, 125) and Reid Hiltunen (second, 160) – placed at the BWAC tournament.
“I saw it coming,” said Kasner, who won a BWAC title at 152. “We’ve had all the younger kids coming up through the youth program. There was a big gap the last few years in the lower weights, and we knew we were going to get a lot of that filled, so if you ask me, this isn’t really a surprise. (The younger wrestlers) come to practice every day, and we expect the same thing from them as we expect from everyone else. They give it their all every day, including the Richmond match.”
Those younger contributors not only came up through the Algonac youth program, they thrived while taking part.
“My young kids, this is kind of all they know,” Ranger said. “They’re not super surprised; they’re kind of used to it. I think it’s surprising to some people around our community and other communities. I think (this season) took that belief to another level, but they kind of already had that inside of them, that we’re this good and we need to be like this every year.”
As the talent base was building, Ranger also was working on himself as a coach. The former Elmhurst University wrestler has been tweaking his approach over the past decade – not so much in what he physically teaches, but the mental aspect.
“I’ve always known how to show wrestling moves, but it was kind of some of that mental preparation – how to get them ready mentally and physically, how to peak at the right time,” Ranger said. “Most of my philosophy I use here has been stolen from about 27 different people, plus (former Richmond coach George Hamblin), and my college coach was a Division I national champion. I still haven’t learned it all. I’m also trying to stay positive in the corner as much as I can. I’m an emotional guy, and if something goes wrong, I used to wear that in my body language too often.”
That emotion is sure to come out, though, if the Muskrats can accomplish what is now in front of them – advancing to the Team Wrestling Finals for the first time in program history.
“We all love (the coaches), everyone on our team,” Kasner said. “They work so hard for our team. Coach Thomas drives 45 minutes just to get to practice every day. To (beat their alma mater) for them after all the years and all the stuff they did for us, we were happy for them, too.
“We’ve prepared all season and took it one day at a time. We’re going to be ready. We’ve been ready. I think we have a good shot to be the first team to make it to team state from Algonac. But there’s no for sures.”
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) Algonac coach Brian Ranger gives Alex Bright a pep talk this season. (Middle) The Muskrats’ Lucky Gartin works for a pin. (Photos courtesy of the Algonac wrestling program.)