Sturgis Finds Place Among State's Elite
March 1, 2016
By Wes Morgan
Special for Second Half
In his ninth year guiding the Sturgis wrestling team, Bryan Boughton still didn’t feel as if he belonged to the fraternity of accomplished coaches who also led their respective teams into the MHSAA Division 2 Quarterfinals on Friday.
Nobody paid much attention to him or his eighth-seeded Trojans, who were there for the first time in school history. Even perennial power and defending champion Lowell overlooked Sturgis in that opening matchup at Central Michigan University.
In the end, Sturgis didn’t have nearly enough firepower to overtake Lowell, which won the Quarterfinal match, 52-18, before eventually beating second-seeded St. Johns on Saturday for the championship.
“We did some damage to Lowell and actually got the coach’s attention,” Boughton said.
The Trojans, who finished the year 27-8 overall and second to Allegan in the Wolverine Conference, held an 18-10 lead through the first six weight classes against Lowell, but a gang of state-ranked wrestlers in the lower weights for the Red Arrows proved to be far more than Sturgis could handle.
After the disappointment of losing began to subside, the Trojans recognized how much of an accomplishment it was to reach the big stage.
“It was a really cool experience,” said senior Cole Campbell, a winner by pin at 189 pounds vs. Lowell. “We were already facing the number one school in D2, so our coach wasn't really on us like it was a must win. “It was more of a, 'You know what's coming; go out and wrestle,' attitude towards it.
“Our main goal this year was to win Regionals, and we accomplished that, so anything after was really a bonus. The atmosphere was a lot different than a normal match, too. A lot of eyes are on you and big swings in momentum match by match. We actually got to start in the tougher part of our lineup, so we were going back and forth through the first half of the dual.”
The 2014-15 season was integral for the Sturgis program. With a school record of 35 dual-meet victories, Boughton believed last year would be the breakout campaign for the Trojans. A Regional championship bout against Niles, however, proved to be the wrong matchup for the Trojans.
With the bulk of its lineup returning intact this winter, including strong upper weights with the likes of seniors Luke Carver (160 pounds), Campbell, Anthony Neal (215) and Jake Stevens (285), Sturgis hoped to pair its better team with a more favorable postseason path.
That all came together when Sturgis thumped Vicksburg by 69 points and topped Mattawan, 40-27, in the District tournament before eking past Stevensville-Lakeshore, 30-27, and soundly defeating Battle Creek Harper Creek at Regionals.
“Wrestling is all about matchups and how people line up,” Boughton said. “I thought we were going to have to face Niles again. But when I found out Lakeshore beat them, I was like, ‘Ooh, we might actually have a chance at this.’”
Boughton said the Trojans started to believe again. He also noticed they were “fresh, fat and happy” at a time of year when a lot of grapplers are struggling with diminished energy reserves from making weight.
“They got the fire and everybody did their job, things went our way and we were able to take advantage of it because we were prepared,” Boughton explained.
And they had more than just the “Four Horsemen,” as Boughton called his stalwarts at the upper weights. Wrestlers such as Noah Gleason (135) and Koehl Meek (145), as they had been all season, were key cogs in the Trojans’ successful march toward March.
“The experience was great,” said Carver, who along with Neal and Stevens, will compete this week at the Individual Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills. “It was something that when I was a freshman I never thought we could accomplish. We have a special group in the room, the kind of kids who might not be the most skilled or strongest, but have heart.
“I think that's what made the difference for us this year. Drawing Lowell was hard, but I think we displayed that message that we don't roll over for anyone. As a captain, I couldn't be more proud of our team and I look forward to watching them grow from here.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cole Carver works toward a win at 160 pounds Friday against Lowell in a Division 2 Quarterfinal. (Middle) Cole Campbell’s hand is raised after he wins his match at 189 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Niles' Season History in the Making
February 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Before every match this season, coach Todd Hesson has reminded his Niles wrestlers of the opportunities before them.
Calling every face-off a chance to make history has been more than just encouragement. This season is looking good to go down as the best in the Vikings’ long history.
Niles has won a school-record 29 matches, with just one loss. Last weekend, for the first time, the Vikings repeated as Berrien County Invitational champions. They wrestle in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference tournament Saturday, and next week will attempt to win their District for the second straight season – which also would be a first.
“All of these kids have stuck together,” said Hesson, who was promoted to varsity coach in 2007-08. “When these seniors started, they took a beating. But we haven’t changed the competition. They've just weathered the storm.”
“We had 20 (wins) exactly, 20-16 (when they were freshmen). It was not a pretty record. But we saw a big jump (from them) as sophomores.”
And the rest, literally, is history.
The list of teams Niles has beaten this winter compares well with the best slates in the state – Division 1 No. 10 Battle Creek Lakeview, Division 2 No. 2 Lowell, No. 4 Allegan and formerly-ranked Mason, and Division 3 No. 3 Whitehall and No. 9 Saginaw Swan Valley. The lone loss came to Shelby, the No. 5 team in Division 3, 31-29.
Four seniors anchor the Niles lineup, including three MHSAA Finals qualifiers from last season. Total, four Vikings made the individual Finals a year ago – seniors Ryan Casey, Fritzel Findeisen and Casey Burandt and sophomore Brendon Meek.
Casey is 39-0 this season at 189 pounds and has tied the school career record with 76 pins. He’s ranked fourth in Division 2 at his weight class, with Burandt fourth at 145 pounds despite missing significant time with a broken hand and Findeisen sixth at 152. Senior Derek Scott is ranked seventh at 285 pounds and senior Nick Zimmerman is sixth at 119.
“They’re a tough group of kids. They work hard,” Hesson said. “Quite honestly, and I say it all the time, but I’m blessed with a good group of kids. They do what you ask.”
All four classes contribute to the Vikings' line-up, and the team bond grew strong over the summer during a week-long camp hosted by former University of Wisconsin All-American Jeff Jordan. Niles wrestlers entered Jordan’s Ohio facility and left only for morning runs and meals, even sleeping on the mats at night – although Hesson “cheated” a few times by sleeping in the team van.
Some of his wrestlers may not have been too excited about the camp at the time, but understand its worth after what they've accomplished this season. Hesson said they’ll return this summer.
And by then, the Vikings could surely be able to boast that this was their best season ever.
Banners hang in Niles wrestling room highlighting the team’s District and Regional championships. The Regional banner lists only two seasons – 1935 and 1960. Niles has never advanced to MHSAA Team Finals weekend since the team championship format was added in 1988.
An obstacle often has been powerful Stevensville Lakeshore, a Division 2 Quarterfinalist the last five seasons. But Niles, after beating Lakeshore by 7.5 points to win the 2012 Berrien County Invitational, repeated last weekend by finishing 62 points ahead of the field.
Even as Hesson admits his program still has a ways to go to join Lakeshore as a regular southwestern Michigan power, he likes to think the Vikings are headed that way. The next month could tell more of how far they've come.
“ We've had some pretty good teams going all the way back to my first year. But Lakeshore had better teams; they were stacked,” Hesson said. “Not to take away anything from them, but they made us better … another notch or two or three.”
PHOTO: Niles' Fritzel Findeisen (in white) wrestles during last season's MHSAA Division 2 Individual Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)