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.)

Finals Qualifiers Show Strength of Muskegon Catholic Central's Gains on Mat

By Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com

March 2, 2023

Muskegon Catholic Central is the smallest wrestling school in Muskegon County, with just 124 students in the high school.

West MichiganIt also happens to be the only school in the county with two individual Regional champions in senior David Hill (157 pounds) and junior Easten Cook (165 pounds), who hope to add all-state honors to their resume when they compete at the MHSAA Individual Finals on Friday and Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit.

Now, don’t expect wrestling to usurp football as the sport of choice at MCC – which with 12 state titles during the playoff era is behind only now-closed Farmington Hills Harrison’s 13 championships – but throw in another Finals qualifier in senior Zach Michael (175) and the Crusaders grapplers boast three headed to Ford Field, not bad for a school which had only four wrestlers in the entire program in 2019.

“It’s been a great year for our program and our school, and we’re having a blast,” said fifth-year MCC coach Barry Kieft, who is assisted by PJ Mitchell.

“Those three state qualifiers are all stud football players. That sends a great message to the younger kids that wrestling will make you better on the football field.”

Hill was a star running back for the Crusaders’ Division 6 District finalist football team this fall, who had to get over a stigma to become a star on the mat.

“I used to be a germaphobe, so it’s hard to believe I even started wrestling,” said Hill, who is 32-7 this season and has 107 career wins. “But at some point, something changed. I love the independent part of it. You have to go out there and do it; you can’t blame anything on other people.”

Muskegon Catholic Central wrestling coach Barry Kieft. Hill, the son of former Muskegon Reeths-Puffer all-state running back DeMarkeo Hill, who led the Rockets to the Class A championship in 1992 and tragically died of brain cancer five years ago at the age of 44, calls his dad his athletic hero and his inspiration before every match.

David Hill made short work of the field at 157 pounds at the Feb. 11 Division 4 Regional at Ithaca, including a pin at the 1:00 mark in the championship match.

This will be his second appearance at the Individual Finals, after placing fourth at Regionals last year. He believes his experience, speed and unorthodox style give him a shot at the title.

“I have a unique style, that’s for sure,” said Hill, a three-sport athlete who also runs track in the spring. “My coaches don’t know what to say to me because a lot of what I do isn’t conventional wrestling moves. So they just say, ‘Go out there and wrestle like David Hill.’”

Cook, meanwhile, is a conventional tactician at 165, the next weight class up from Hill.

Cook, a starting guard and linebacker on the football field, embraces the mental and physical challenges of wrestling.

“I think my biggest strength is my mental preparation and thinking things through,” said Cook, who got started in the sport in fifth grade when he was hanging around his older brother and now-MCC assistant coach, Aiden Cook. “I like the hardships that come with wrestling and seeing if you are strong enough to overcome it.”

Easten Cook, who as his name suggests, loves to experiment with different foods (right now, he and Hill eat a small granola bar dipped in honey before each match), won his Regional championship match 9-4.

Cook sports his team’s best record at 37-7, with city, District and Regional titles. He has 82 career wins.

The third member of the Crusaders’ Finals trio is Michael, who has a 32-9 season record and 89 career wins.

In addition to the three qualifiers, MCC also had two wrestlers eclipse the 20-win plateau this season in juniors Andrew Rosema (138) and Sawyer Hanson (190).

That additional depth nearly pushed the Crusaders to a team District championship Feb. 8. MCC downed Holton, 52-18, in the District Semifinal, before a narrow loss to Ravenna, 42-36, in the championship match.

Kieft said his team’s three Finals qualifiers are all ultra-competitive and have pushed each other to greater heights.

“They just pound each other in practice, sometimes too much,” Kieft said with a laugh, thinking of some of the trio’s practice battles in the wrestling room above MCC’s James Morse Jr. auxiliary gymnasium. “We had to go to 30-second rounds when they practice because if they go 1 minute, it gets too intense.”

Kieft said another reason for his team’s postseason success is a regular season of competing against larger schools.

Kieft, 71, has also been an assistant football and baseball coach at MCC in recent years. He recently decided to retire from coaching those two sports, but plans to continue leading the wrestling program.

“People ask me all the time: “Don’t you want to be in Florida during the winter?’,” said Kieft, who was an assistant wrestling coach at Fruitport in the 1990s. “No, I love doing this. I’ve been down there in the sun and all that, but I miss this. I enjoy being with the wrestling kids.”

Tom KendraTom 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) Easten Cook’s arm is raised in victory after a match this season. (Middle) Muskegon Catholic Central wrestling coach Barry Kieft. (Below) David Hill works to establish control during a match against Whitehall. (Photos courtesy of Karen Kieft.)