Standard Bearer of a 4-Time Champ
March 2, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
AUBURN HILLS – Adam Coon attended the MHSAA Individual Finals for the first time as a seventh grader, the son of a successful coach who knew what it took to grow a champion.
And Adam hoped to become one too. But he really wanted to know what it took to become the wrestler who carried the American flag during the athletes’ Grand March before the matches began.
“I told him the guys up there are the best in the state. So you’re probably going to have to be a four-timer,” Fowlerville coach Dan Coon recalled. “You better show yourself that you’re a four-timer and worthy to carry the American flag.”
Adam Coon did carry the flag into The Palace of Auburn Hills before Saturday’s Individual Finals. And only a few minutes later, he became just the 17th MHSAA wrestler to finish his high school career with a championship won every season.
Coon pinned Eaton Rapids senior Trent Hurd in 1:13 to win the championship at 285 pounds and finish this winter 55-0. He pinned every opponent he faced this season, and ended with a career record of 211-3 – with a 194-match winning streak dating to his freshman year that ranks as seventh-longest in MHSAA history.
All four of Coon’s championships came at either 285 or 215 pounds, making him also the first of that elite group to win his four at the heaviest weights.
Carrying in the flag was “a dream comes true.” But winning the titles was pretty great too.
“Since I got that first one, I was going to see if I could get the fourth,” Coon said. “I just got the opportunity, and I took advantage of it. Praise God, I got the fourth.”
Dan Coon has been the one to keep Adam grounded, especially with pressure mounting this season. Before they took the mat Saturday, Dad reminded son of something he’d heard: “The sun will always rise tomorrow. Just a whole lot brighter when you win.”
Adam’s other childhood dream had been to get a lot closer to seeing what that bright sun looks like. He’ll study aerospace engineering while wrestling at the University of Michigan, and has been set on designing a spacecraft to accommodate taller astronauts since finding out as a child that he’d probably end up too sizable to make the trip.
Dan is looking forward to watching what his son will accomplish next, be it on the mat or beyond while using the lessons he learned during these championship runs.
“Is he going to stop wrestling? No. It will never leave him now,” Dan Coon said. “He’s always going to be a wrestler.”
Eaton Rapids’ Hurd finished 43-12. Click for full results, and read below for recaps of each championship match and comments from all the winners.
103
Champion: Joe Garcia, Adrian, Jr. (31-1)
Fall, 2:53, over Ian Parker, St. Johns, Fr. (48-3)
Garcia was the MHSAA runner-up in 2011. He then came in fifth at his weight in 2012 – but didn’t get that longed-for chance to return to the championship match and come away with a win.
Until Saturday. An offseason of increased preparation and conditioning and a switch in strategy from that freshman Final gave him the edge to win his first MHSAA title.
“It lets me know my hard work paid off,” Garcia said. “My freshman year, I was more focused on defense. And this year, I focused more on the attack. I didn’t stop moving.”
112
Champion: Mason Smith, Clio, Soph. (55-4)
Fall, 3:30, over Zeth Dean, Lowell, Fr. (40-6)
Smith felt pretty good about his chances of coming into his first season, 2011-12, and winning an MHSAA championship. And he nearly got that opportunity, before finishing fourth at 103 pounds.
Now, thanks to some push by his coaches, he feels set up to make a run at finishing with three titles instead.
“Last year, I was really lazy. I didn’t want to do anything. I thought I’d just win,” Smith said. “My coach came at me pretty hard, all of them. None of them let me just sit around and do nothing like I did last year.
“(Now,) I’m going to come back hard and go for it.”
119
Champion: Bailey Jack, Lowell, Jr. (39-8)
Decision, 6-4, over Dean Somers, Lapeer West, Sr. (46-2)
Only 56 wrestlers in Michigan can say they finished the season with an Individual Finals win. And Jack will take it, especially coming off the disappointment of his Red Arrows losing to St. Johns in the Team Final a week ago.
Jack offered praise for Somers, a runner-up in 2012 – “He’s tough everywhere. You don’t make it to the Finals being a sissy,” – and thankful for the jumpstart he received to prepare for next winter.
“It’s a great bounce-back, morally, for me,” Jack said. “Now I can go into the offseason working just as hard as I did this year.”
125
Champion: Zac Hall, St. Johns, Jr. (48-0)
Technical Fall, 23-8, over JacQuan Moore, St. Clair Shores Lakeshore, Sr. (44-4)
Over the course of just a few minutes Saturday, Zac Hall put himself on the cusp of making some incredible history next season.
Not only will Hall be shooting to become the 18th wrestler to win four MHSAA championships. He’ll also try to become perhaps only the second (more research to come) to win four individual titles and wrestle for four team champions as well.
Hall had previously won his individual titles at 112 and 103. Davison’s Brent Metcalf won individual titles from 2002-05 and was on team champions as well all four seasons.
“One kid’s ever done it, so that’s a pretty incredible class to be put with,” Hall said. “(But) you get here at the Palace, anything can happen. … You’ve just got to be smart, keep your head.
“I had three matches where I thought I was going to pin the kid. Kids fight at another level when you get here. They don’t get easier.”
130
Champion: Jacob Schmitt, St. Johns, Sr. (51-0)
Fall, 0:47, Christian Schoenherr, Bay City Western, Soph. (42-8)
Schmitt admitted his final high school season flew by this winter. He’ll continue to wrestle at the college level – for Northwestern – but first has finished a legacy that stacks up with the best.
He capped the weekend with his third MHSAA individual title – he also won 103 in 2010 and 125 last season – to go with four team championships. Schmitt also was runner-up at 112 as a sophomore.
“It went quick this year, but I’m happy with the way I went out. With a pin in the first period, I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “I would say (this season) started out rough for us, with those losses. (St. Johns finished 22-4). But we kept it together as a team, pulled through at the end, great teammates pushing each other all the time.”
135
Champion: Logan Massa, St. Johns, Soph. (42-2)
Fall, 2:45, over Steve Bleise, Chelsea, Jr. (45-1)
Massa knew something about competing in an MHSAA Final – he finished runner-up at 119 last season. But the coach in his corner knew a little bit more.
Brother Taylor Massa returned to The Palace to sit in Logan’s corner, a year after the former finished his high school career as the 16th to win four MHSAA titles.
“He’s knows the environment real well. He helps me out a lot,” Logan said.
“I wasn’t going to let (last year) happen again. I trained harder, and I was just going to train as hard as I could until I got it.”
140
Champion: Kyle Simaz, Allegan, Jr. (61-1)
Major Decision, 22-13, over Adam Nichols, Lapeer West, Sr. (50-5)
“We got one folks; good deal,” a relieved Simaz said after capping his third MHSAA Finals appearance with his first win.
Simaz had finished runner-up at 130 pounds last season and at 119 in 2011. And not long into Saturday’s championship match, Nichols nearly pinned him.
But by staying on his feet – Simaz’s strength – he turned the tide of the match quickly in his favor.
“I was really disappointed to start the match off like that. That’s a bad note. But luckily we came though that and pulled off a victory,” Simaz said.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to get one of these, so I’m very relieved. I feel like a lot of stuff came off my shoulders.”
145
Champion: Ben Whitford, St. Johns, Sr. (37-0)
Technical Fall, 22-7, over Casey Burandt, Niles, Sr. (31-2)
Whitford also celebrated winning a fourth state-level championship Saturday. He clinched his second MHSAA title to go with his championship last season at 140 and two he won while living in Illinois as a freshman and sophomore.
He keeps up with some friends he wrestled with while in Illinois. But he’s definitely a Michigan guy now, and signed to join U-M next season.
“It’s a weird feeling that it’s all over,” Whitford said. “For the last two years, I don’t think I would’ve improved more, had better friends, or been able to do the things we’ve done without the guys around me. And I’m just proud to be back in St. Johns.”
152
Champion: Josh Pennell, St. Johns, Sr. (40-0)
Fall, 1:44, over Fritzel Findeisen, Niles, Sr. (49-6)
Pennell has been a significant part of St. Johns’ program through all four team championships, and finished third individually the last two seasons after placing second at 119 as a freshman.
But the Michigan State recruit felt like it was inevitable that like many of his teammates, he’d get an individual title too. And in his final high school match, he made that hope come true.
“It’s long overdue, I felt like. And what a better year than senior year,” Pennell said. “I wasn’t going to stop until I had a state title.
“I thought about (the last few years) a lot. I was able to come back and wrestle and win my match for third. Those were all very close matches, and all I thought about was winning it and winning those close matches.”
160
Champion: Devon Pingel, North Branch, Fr. (40-3)
Decision, 10-5, over Jordan Sullivan, Coopersville, Sr. (39-3)
Pingel explained that he’d wrestled on a similarly large stage before –prior to high school, when he won a tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
But he was excited about the opportunities that could come with finishing his first trip to The Palace with an MHSAA title as a freshman.
“I learned to push myself a lot harder,” Pingel said. “I wanted to be a four-time state champ. I got a start to it.”
171
Champion: Angus Arthur, St. Johns, Soph. (46-3)
Decision, 5-2, over Brett Dempsey, Mattawan, Sr. (55-1)
It’s fair to say Arthur, for one of the few times this season, was the underdog in his championship match. Dempsey finished third at 171 in 2012 and hadn't lost this winter.
But it’s been a fun two weeks for the Redwings, given their team title won in Battle Creek. And Arthur felt confidence in the preparation he’d received facing some of the toughest teams in the state this season.
“I felt like I was (the underdog). (But) I didn't really look at the record,” he said. “I knew I could win, and I just went out there.”
189
Champion: Payne Hayden, St. Johns, Sr. (45-1)
11-9, Decision, over Garett Stehley, Lowell, Jr. (30-1)
For once, Hayden said, he felt “great” at the end of an MHSAA Finals.
He’d had plenty of success before, making the Semifinals his first two seasons and finishing runner-up at 215 a year ago. But ending number one was an entirely different experience.
“Every year, I’ve had seven losses no matter what age. (But) I’ve always been right at the top of the podium,” Hayden said. “It feels good right now to finally get that chip off my shoulder.”
Hayden finished undefeated in Michigan this winter. His lone loss came to Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward’s Domenic Abounader, who he’ll wrestle with next season at U-M.
215
Champion: Brian Moran, Fowlerville, Sr. (56-0)
Decision, 11-5, over Taylor Kornoely, Lowell, Sr. (36-1)
The unfortunate circumstance of Saturday’s final Division 2 match was that one senior was going to finish his final season with a loss and just shy of winning his first MHSAA title.
Moran led 6-4 with a period remaining before pulling away. And the emotion of the moment wasn’t lost on the Gladiators’ standout, who lost to teammate Adam Coon at this weight in the 2010 championship match and finished fourth at his weight last season.
“Since I’ve been in fourth grade, I’ve put my heart and soul in this sport. And to leave this sport at that type of note, on top, it’s amazing," Moran said. "I’ve been striving for this my whole high school career. I don’t care if it’s a state title. I feel like I just won the Olympics."
PHOTO: Fowlerville senior Adam Coon has his arm raised after winning his fourth MHSAA title Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
'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.)