Team Wrestling Finals Take Flight at Wings
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
February 22, 2019
KALAMAZOO — Thirty-two teams, more than 9,000 spectators and 60 to 75 volunteers will converge at Wings Event Center this weekend for the MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals.
Volunteers gathered at the venue Thursday, setting up two of the three arenas and making sure everything was in working order in preparation for Friday’s Quarterfinals and Saturday’s Semifinals and Finals.
And tournament director Mike Garvey – who before retiring last year served as an athletic director for more than two decades at four area high schools, plus led Lawton to the Class D wrestling title in 1990 – can rattle off the details like a tour guide.
“There are 10 warm-up mats in ‘The Valley,’” Garvey pointed out Thursday. “That’s where the teams also weigh in.
“We have four registered MHSAA referees who are going to inspect the kids for skin diseases, which they always do for wrestlers, and weigh them in.
“There’s a doctor who has volunteered because if a referee says no … we say ‘Go see the doc,’ which is nice.”
And that's just the start of the setup that comes with hosting one of the MHSAA’s most popular championship showcases.
The tournament is a collaboration of the MHSAA, Wings Event Center and Discover Kalamazoo, and the event is in its second year of a four-year contract with the facility. Saturday's 3:45 p.m. championship matches will close a three-week team tournament with champions celebrated in four divisions.
Last year’s Finals drew a championship-record attendance of 9,469.
"There’s no way you can miss Wings Event Center right off I-94,” said Dan Hutcheson, assistant director of the MHSAA. “Parking, the facilities. In general, this is a great place for us. Probably the most important thing for us is the people who work here. They’ve been so good to us, especially Rob (Underwood, Wings Event Center general manager) and Melissa (Janecke, special events coordinator).”
Garvey started planning this year’s event the day after last year’s championships finished. He started getting commitments from volunteers in the fall.
Providing memorable experiences for wrestlers, officials and fans are main priorities, and that means covering every detail from weigh-ins to concessions to where teams will stay and parents will park.
Garvey has volunteers who act as liaisons for each team, greeting them, distributing their packets and familiarizing them with the venue.
How does he get so many volunteers?
“I beg,” he said, laughing. “I say that in jest because people are thrilled to be part of this. I emailed all the ADs and wrestling coaches in the area, and they’ve just jumped in.
“Also the Kalamazoo wrestling officials association has jumped in as well, not as referees (but) as volunteers. Chris Furlong, the wrestling coach at Portage Northern, has been invaluable.”
The main action will take place in the stadium, where four mats are showcased on risers.
“It’s like the movie ‘Hoosiers’ when the guy opened the door at Butler and the kids walked in and were awestruck,” Garvey said. “That’s how these kids look, especially for the first time.”
There is more to the tournament than the wrestlers.
Portage Northern softball players are selling programs, and the concession stands in the arena are open.
“Teams can bring in their own food, and we have a place for them to eat (in the area above the third rink),” Garvey said.
Referees have their own space in the ECHL Kalamazoo Wings locker room, and “Portage Northern wrestling moms are setting up something for the refs in the locker room so they can just go back there for their food,” Garvey said.
Taco John’s will cater lunches for the volunteers, which Garvey calls “Garv’s Guys.”
Garvey also selects singers of the national anthem before each round.
South Haven’s Jim McCloughan, who received the Medal of Honor in 2017 for his service in Vietnam, will sing before the Division 2 and 3 Quarterfinals.
Martin junior Aleyca Morey and Loy Norrix sophomore Sierra Ward will perform before the other two divisions on Friday. Saturday’s anthem singers will be Portage Central junior Ciara Williams, Mattawan junior Thomas Lamb and St. Augustine fifth grader Marissa Toweson.
Discover Kalamazoo, a tourist information center, also is involved in the tournament playing a key role in many behind-the-scenes necessities.
“Our office is very engaged with helping place the participating teams and coaches into hotels,” said Greg Ayers, president/CEO of Discover Kalamazoo. “Of the 32 teams, most all of them will have at least one night (and some two nights) in our local hotels.
“While we don't have any specific number(s) regarding the economic impact of the event, we know 32 teams, their fans and others will have impact on area hotels, restaurants, retail, gas stations, etc.”
Ayers anticipates another large crowd this weekend.
“(With) three teams (Schoolcraft, Dowagiac and Niles) in our backyard, we anticipate big crowds to be in attendance supporting their teams,” he said.
Hutcheson, who wrestled at Ferris State University and spent three years at the Olympic training center, can look at the tournament from several vantage points
“When I look at an event like this, I look at it as a past wrestler, as a past coach, as an AD, and as a spectator,” he said.
“I try to think of all the different lenses you have to look through at an event, then we try to do the best we can.”
Wings Event Center has become a “Home of Wrestling,” Underwood said. “They like it, and we like it.
“The convenience off I-94, the great hotels we have around here with more opening, the seats in this venue, the concessions and bathrooms have made it a great location.”
Wings Event Center hosts five MYWAY youth wrestling events a year, and it was through Dave Dean, that organization’s president, that the MHSAA Finals began looking to Kalamazoo.
“My relationship with Dave Dean in MYWAY led me to Dan Hutcheson, and we started our conversations a couple years ago and here we are,” Underwood said. “It’s a great event, and we love having it here.”
Underwood has become a fan and spectator of the event.
“Once you start watching, it’s hard to walk away from it,” he said. “The team event is really neat because of the camaraderie with the wrestlers and the coaches and their following. When you look in the stands and just see color blocking for that team and the support, that’s cool to see.”
“(The MHSAA) does one (tournament) here and (individual championships) at Ford Field, so I guess we’re in good company.”
Garvey said he always wanted to run an MHSAA Finals tournament and jumped at the job when it went to Kalamazoo.
This year is especially special for Garvey.
“One of the neat things for me this year is that Schoolcraft has qualified,” he said “Their coach, Rob Ling, was a Lawton wrestler (with Garvey as coach), and he’s one of my boys.
“It makes me feel very proud. That’s a bonus for me.”
Ayers said more than half the teams are returning to Kalamazoo this year and “those teams and their fans are gaining familiarity with our community (hotels, restaurants, etc.)
“Having high school-aged students in our community provides excellent opportunities to introduce Kalamazoo. It can lead to prospective students for WMU, Kalamazoo College and Kalamazoo Valley Community College.”
Garvey said his team is always trying to improve.
“Last year everybody who came to this tournament as participants said it was the best Team Finals ever,” he said. “Being competitors, we want it to be better every year.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) By Thursday evening, Wings Event Center awaited this weekend's MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals. (Middle) Clockwise from left: Lowell's Curt Cummings sets up the clocks. Portage Northern junior Shane Lisk, left, and senior Cameron Migliaccio clean the mats. Wings Event Center special events coordinator Melissa Janecke tapes the mats. Portage Northern senior wrestler Quinten Baughman continues the process of mat cleaning. (Below) Mike Garvey, left, and Rob Underwood. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)
Past Shepherd Standout Moeggenberg Directs Wrestling's Return to Glen Lake
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
February 2, 2024
Showing support for school athletic programs is nothing new for the Glen Lake community.
And the Lakers faithful have welcomed back another team this winter that’s earning those cheers for the first time in more than 20 years.
That’s because wrestling hasn’t been offered at Maple City Glen Lake High School since 2001. But it’s back now, and quickly gaining momentum at a school known in part for its longstanding athletic success.
Nobody understands all of this more than Liz Moeggenberg, perhaps the most decorated athlete in the school’s history. As Liz Shimek and a graduate of the class of 2002, she was the winner of the statewide Miss Basketball Award. Her senior year also was the last that Glen Lake offered wrestling before the program returned this winter.
She went on to Michigan State University where she was a two-time All-America selection. She led the Spartans to the 2005 NCAA championship game, and later played in the WNBA. At MSU, she met her future husband Luke, a wrestler for the Spartans. The Moeggenbergs returned to the Glen Lake area after college and Liz’s professional and international basketball career.
Today the Moeggenbergs have five children — three of whom are competitive wrestlers. And Luke is the Lakers' head wrestling coach.
Liz, who served as the Lakers assistant basketball coach for years leading up to last season’s Division 4 championship run, was in an unfamiliar place Jan. 24 when Glen Lake hosted its first wrestling match in decades – the bleachers. The long-awaited moment featured Frankfort, Mancelona and Grayling in a quad meet.
“The community support has been pretty phenomenal,” Liz said. “It was amazing to see all the people that came out to that first home meet, and it was pretty cool to see that energy in the gym.”
Luke Moeggenberg wrestled in high school for Shepherd and was the Division 3 runner-up at 140 pounds in 2001 before going on to compete at MSU. He started the Glen Lake youth program a few years back and had dreams and hopes of starting a varsity program.
Originally the Moeggenbergs joined the Benzie County youth program. They wrestled there until they had enough wrestlers to start one for Glen Lake. The Lakers launched both a middle school and varsity program this winter.
For years, the young Moeggenberg wrestlers – Lamdin, 12, Fletcher, 10 and Cade, 8 – traveled for practices and competitions with their father, who recalls some very special times. The car rides regularly included discussions on how the boys and their youth teammates might impact the future of Glen Lake high school sports.
“The question would come up from my three boys, ‘When are we going to get wrestling at Glen Lake?’” the coach recalled. “I said actually, if we were ever to get wresting at Glen Lake, it would be because of you guys and all the three boys … they just got quiet.”
Coach Moeggenberg noted it may be years before the boys fully comprehend what they helped start.
“It got pretty emotional when wrestling got voted in by the school board,” he said. “I still don’t think the boys realize what they’ve done.”
The interest shown in wrestling by their oldest son, Lamdin, now a sixth grader on the middle school team, sparked the effort to bring wrestling back to the school’s athletic offerings. Also helping provide momentum was Josh Bullard, who comes from a long line of outstanding Bullard wrestlers in Shepherd’s history. He’s been a big help to Moeggenberg since getting his two sons involved way back in the Benzie travel days. Greg Ford and Kaleb Foss serve as youth coaches, and Moeggenberg has built a varsity staff including assistants Ethan Smith, Jaime Smith and Lance Bies. Ethan Smith is the middle school coach as well.
“I made it pretty clear if we’re going to get a program going I need everybody’s support and everybody to buy in and give it a chance,” Moeggenberg said.
Administrative changes played a big role in Glen Lake bringing back wrestling, Moeggenberg noted. Of particular significance was Jaimie Smith coming aboard as the Lakers’ athletic director. Smith, who now serves as the high school principal, was Frankfort’s wrestling coach previously. Her husband Ethan was previously an assistant coach at Frankfort and Traverse City Central.
The Smiths’ adopted daughter Emily Alaimo is one of 13 student-athletes on the roster. Alaimo, a junior, entered the season as the only Glen Laked competitor with high school wrestling experience. She was a part of the Frankfort program when her parents coached, and then on last year’s Glen Lake championship basketball team.
“Emily is the only one who’s had experience competing at all,” Moeggenberg said. “She has really been our most successful wrestler.”
The Lakers will compete this weekend in the Highland/Mid Michigan Conference Tournament against Evart, Lake City, Manton, Mancelona, Roscommon, LeRoy Pine River, Kingsley, Benzie Central, McBain, Frankfort and Houghton Lake. They’ll be led by freshman Abraham Feeney (132 pounds) and sophomore Caden Sheehan (138). Feeney is leading the team in wins, and Sheehan joined the Lakers after the holiday break. They are practice partners.
“Those kids go 100 percent every day in practice, and it shows when they get into competition,” Moeggenberg pointed out. “They figured out amongst themselves what it takes to be successful already.”
Conference titles and postseason accomplishments are not yet on the Lakers’ radar. They are taking one day at a time, learning how to compete on the mat safely.
“My focus has been really trying to get our team into a position where they are safe to compete,” the first-year coach said. “When you’re talking three months of wrestling experience to this point and you are competing against kids that have maybe been wrestling 12 years, our focus has been getting our kids to compete with a little bit of confidence and in a safe manner.”
Glen Lake has a rich history of success – including MHSAA Finals titles – in sports like football, basketball, soccer, softball and track. The gym is full of banners recognizing those accomplishments.
There also is a banner recognizing Lakers with individual state wrestling titles – and Coach Moeggenberg is expecting the other sports’ successes to bode well for the restarted wrestling program.
“I think all the past successes and the current successes of our sports programs reflect heavy community support of student-athletes,” he said. “That basically makes the coach’s job easier.
“Having the support of the community and the support of the administration, ultimately it allows you to focus on what’s important – teaching student-athletes,” he continued. “It is helping us to create a good foundation for a successful program in the future.”
The measurement for success right now is simply experience and daily individual improvement.
“The kids know what this does for the community and what it has done for our family,” Moeggenberg said. “I don’t want our kids to have their mindset to be on wins and losses and conference titles and District championships.
“I want their mindset to be on progress every match,” he continued. “As we get more experience and have some of our middle school kids who are products of our youth program with some more mat time, it will start to evolve into more of a competitive-based goal.”
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) Glen Lake's Max Galla and his Mancelona opponent lock up Jan. 24 during the Lakers' first home meet in more than two decades. (Middle) Glen Lake coach Luke Moeggenberg instructs one of his wrestlers on the mat. (Below) Glen Lake’s Emily Alaimo takes on her Mancelona opponent. (Photos by Trudy Galla Photography.)