Teammates, Gracious Opponents As Well
March 2, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
AUBURN HILLS — It was a surreal scene at the edge of the mat when Austin Eicher and Jacob Gorial met for the 130-pound title in the MHSAA Division 1 wrestling tournament Saturday at The Palace.
Coaches can often get quite animated when their wrestlers are going for a championship. But the coaches in Eicher's and Gorial's corners sat quietly in their chairs, occasionally smiling as they took in the action as passive observers. One coach even got up to grab a cup of water while the match was in progress.
None of the four coaches watching matside was taking sides, not when both competing wrestlers wore the blue and gold of Hartland High School.
"We're both teammates," Gorial said. "It would've been unfair."
In only the sixth MHSAA championship match involving teammates, Eicher won a 5-0 decision over Gorial.
Eicher, a junior who finished 52-1, was the 119-pound runner-up last season. The teammates never met this season, with Eicher winning the District and Regional finals over Gorial by injury default.
"It was definitely different," Eicher said. "He's one of my best friends. We both wanted it. We've been working hard this whole year. It was both of our goals to win the state championship. I took something away from him, but I wasn't going to let him take it away from me.
"Once we're out there, we're just wrestling. We know we're friends before the match when we're warming up, but once we're wrestling, it's go time."
Gorial, a sophomore who finished 56-5, credited Eicher for making him a better wrestler in practice.
"I'm glad Austin won," Gorial said. "He worked hard. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here right now."
Click for full results, and read below for recaps of each championship match and comments from all the winners.
285
Champion: Robert Coe, Detroit Catholic Central, Sr. (45-4)
Decision, 3-0, over Parker Tillman, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, Jr. (41-4)
Coe had a tougher battle this year against Tillman, but still prevailed to win the championship. Coe pinned Tillman at the 2:16 mark in a first-round match in last year's MHSAA Final.
Coe used an escape to break a 0-0 stalemate with less than 30 seconds remaining in the match.
"I was a little nervous at the beginning of the match," Coe said. "He came out really strong. He's bigger than I remember. I pinned him last year here. He got better this year."
103
Champion: Benny Gomez, Holt, Soph. (47-0)
Fall, 1:25, over Michael Volyanyuk, Farmington Hills Harrison, Soph. (45-8)
Gomez got his only pin in four matches at The Palace in the championship, but he was nonetheless dominant with two majority decisions and a 9-3 victory before the final.
He finished fourth at 103 pounds last year.
"It's still kind of hard to believe," Gomez said. "I had a lot of close matches this year, in and out of state. I grew and basically just competed all summer, no breaks, and pushed myself to get to this level."
112
Champion: Lincoln Olson, Davison, Soph. (46-2)
Decision, 10-4, over Kyle Gillies, Westland John Glenn, Sr. (55-1)
Olson held up two fingers toward the Davison cheering section after adding this year's 112 title to the 103-pound crown he won as a freshman.
He did so by handing Gillies his only loss in 56 matches this season. Olson also beat Gillies in the quarterfinals last year.
"Last season, I kind of shocked the world," Olson said. "No one knew me. Not much was expected of me. This year, they knew who I am. A lot of kids were content just getting beat by a few points."
119
Champion: Shayne Wireman, Holt, Sr. (46-0)
Decision, 6-3, over Mitch Rogaliner, Temperance Bedford, Sr. (48-3)
Wireman's victory gave him a 2-2 career record against Rogaliner in a rivalry that always seems to take place on a big stage.
Wireman beat Rogaliner 2-1 in the 103-pound final in 2011 before Rogaliner got revenge with a third-period pin in the 112-pound semifinals last year.
"It's always a fun match against him," Wireman said. "We're 2-2 against each other. We've dominated this weight class. We know each other very well."
Wireman will wrestle at Eastern Michigan, while Rogaliner is heading to Michigan State. "So we'll probably meet each other again," Wireman said.
125
Champion: Zach Henderson, Hudsonville, Sr. (40-7)
Decision, 6-4, over Martin Rodriquez, Holt, Jr. (17-1)
Henderson won three of his four matches at The Palace by two points or fewer to pull the upset.
Rodriquez beat Henderson by seven points in the Regional final to take an unbeaten record to The Palace.
"My brother looked on (Michigan) Grappler and said I wasn't favored to win at all," Henderson said. "I didn't think anything of it. He told me midway through. I'd already won twice. People were just speaking
wisdom and God's word to me. That gave me confidence."
135
Champion: Ken Bade, Detroit Catholic Central, Sr. (40-7)
Decision, 4-3 OT, over Matt Miller, Davison, Jr. (29-7)
A point awarded for stalling sent this match to overtime, and another awarded for grabbing head gear decided the title winner.
It was a strange ending for Bade's third MHSAA championship. He won at 125 in 2011 and 130 in 2012.
"There's no way you can prepare for that, except coach telling us throughout the year that you have to stay composed, you have to keep your cool," Bade said. "I stayed composed and was ready to go and went back on the line."
140
Champion: Malik Amine, Detroit Catholic Central, Jr. (40-6)
Decision, 11-6, over Eric Rybarz, New Baltimore Anchor Bay, Sr. (54-3)
Amine lost 9-6 to Alex Pantaleo of Canton in last year's 135-pound final, a loss that fueled the Catholic Central junior for the past 12 months.
"I used it as a driving force to have it affect my head in practice when I didn't want to do any more sprints or didn't want to do more shots," Amine said. "I had to push myself to be better."
Amine was fifth at 112 pounds in 2011.
145
Champion: Travis Mann, Westland John Glenn, Sr. (32-3)
Decision, 10-4, over Andrew Napieraj, Birmingham Brother Rice, Sr. (50-3)
Most high school wrestlers don't drop a weight class the following season, but Mann did so successfully.
Mann was fourth at 152 pounds last year before winning the 145 title on Saturday. Two of Mann's three losses were to Livonia Franklin's Jordan Atienza, the 152-pound runner-up.
"It's the greatest feeling ever," Mann said. "I've been training for this since I was 4 years old. I finally got it my senior year."
152
Champion: Nick Vandermeer, Clarkston, Sr. (44-5)
Fall, 4:17, over Jordan Atienza, Livonia Franklin, Jr. (58-1)
Vandermeer averted disaster and turned it into a championship, rolling out of a near-pin to record a pin of his own against the previously-unbeaten Atienza.
"I almost felt myself getting pinned," Vandermeer said. "I was warned he throws with his upper body. I didn't expect to be rolling. I had to get out, but I was able to re-roll him and catch him pretty much."
Vandermeer joined his brother, Matt, as MHSAA champions. Matt was the 171-pound champion in 2011.
160
Champion: Jordan Cooks, Davison, Jr. (43-1)
Decision, 8-5, over Logan Marcicki, Detroit Catholic Central, Jr. (35-6)
Cooks beat Marcicki for the second straight week to repeat as 160-pound champion.
Cooks scored a 5-3 decision over Marcicki in the team championship match, one that Catholic Central ultimately won.
"It feels amazing," Cooks said. "It feels a lot better than the first one. It means a lot, being my second one."
171
Champion: Drew Garcia, Detroit Catholic Central, Jr. (52-0)
Decision, 8-2, over Mitchel Thomas, Hartland, Sr. (59-2)
Garcia won Catholic Central's fourth and final individual championship of the day, repeating as the 171-pound winner.
Garcia brought big-time experience to The Palace, having also finished as the 152-pound runner-up in 2011. Thomas gave Garcia one of his tougher matches in a perfect junior campaign.
"He was good," Garcia said. "I wrestled him early in the year. He was one of the only kids who didn't gas in the third period, so I knew I'd have to wrestle a full six minutes. He's a tough kid."
189
Champion: Shwan Shadaia, Rochester, Jr. (54-1)
Decision, 4-3, over Chris Calvano, Clarkston, Sr. (40-5)
Shadaia became only the second Rochester wrestler to win an MHSAA title when he broke a 3-3 tie with an escape in the final seconds. Calvano had tied the match moments earlier.
"We drill these kinds of situations in practice all the time – 20 seconds, 15 seconds to win the state championship," Shadaia said. "That's what I took it as - another practice."
Rochester's only other champion was Shane Camera, a Class A winner in 1987 and 1989.
215
Champion: Brandon Sunday, Temperance Bedford, Sr. (51-1)
Decision, 5-4 OT, over Jordon Brandon, Westland John Glenn, Jr. (55-5)
Sunday stayed alive when Brandon was penalized for stalling with 10 seconds left in the third period, tying the match at 3-3. Sunday won by getting an escape with 20 seconds left in the final overtime
period.
"It was crazy," Sunday said. "I just wrestled that kid in the team Regionals and individual Regionals. It was close every single time, two or less points. Definitely, he's my toughest opponent this year.
He's only a junior. He wrestles like he's in college."
Sunday was the 189-pound runner-up last year.
PHOTO: Hartland's Austin Eicher (right) works to take down teammate, and for this match opponent, Jacob Gorial during Saturday's Division 1 Individual Finals. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Bullock Creek's Brooks Turns Heartbreak Into Motivation
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
December 9, 2021
It didn’t take long for Peyton Brooks to turn disappointment into motivation.
This past spring, he was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Division 3 at 152 pounds, but on the day before the Regional tournament, the Bullock Creek star had his junior season cut short because of a positive COVID-19 test on the team.
“I got home, and I was kind of disappointed and I was really down on myself for about a day,” Brooks said. “I saw no point in feeling that way, so I actually started using that feeling to better myself for the next year.”
It’s now next year, and Brooks – a Finals runner-up in 2020 – is focused on putting himself in a position to finish what he started and reach the top of the podium.
“I think I’ve been putting a little bit of extra work in, going harder in practice,” he said. “I want to make sure I do everything right. I know it’s my senior year, and it’s my last chance to win a state championship, so I want to do everything to make sure that happens.”
Brooks seemed to have done all he could a year ago, as well. He was 24-0 through the Individual District, and had helped lead Bullock Creek to its first Team District title in 10 years. In the District Final, he defeated Sanford Meridian’s Nick Dodman 5-2. Dodman went on to win the Individual Finals title at 152.
But as the Lancers were going through their final day of preparation for the Individual Regional, one team member’s rapid test came back positive. The timing meant there was no way for Brooks, or his teammates who were close contacts, to get cleared.
“Last year was a crazy year all the way around,” Bullock Creek coach Alan Curtis said. “There were a lot of other teams that got hit earlier in the season than we did. We just happened to catch it at the end of the season. It’s kind of like everybody was waiting for it to happen, but hoping it didn’t. There’s really not much you can say, and it’s really nobody’s fault. It is what it is. We kind of looked at every option we had to get him down there, but when it came down to it, our hands were tied.”
While Brooks was disappointed in how things ended, he remained positive about the season.
“Personally, I was just happy to have a season,” he said. “We started two or three months late – we started in February when the postseason would normally be – so I tried not to take any meet or anything for granted. I felt like I had a chance of not being able to compete at all.”
Not taking things for granted is something Brooks has carried into this winter. His work ethic has always been exemplary, Curtis said, but there is an added focus as Brooks prepares for his final wrestling season.
“Right from the first practice of the season, he stays after every practice – he gets guys to stay after and work with him,” Curtis said. “He goes through our whole practice, then he stays after another half hour with whoever he can get.”
Wrestling isn’t the only thing Brooks excels at, as he also was a standout running back and linebacker for the Bullock Creek football team. He said he’s keeping his options open in terms of playing at the next level, as he hasn’t decided which sport he will continue. Playing both, though, has been a benefit.
“I think they both helped me in both sports,” said Brooks, who also is a sprinter on the track team. “I think wrestling has helped me more with football. It’s made me a better athlete with my work ethic, athleticism, balance, speed and footwork. It’s really made me a better player.”
With his focus on football through the fall, there is the challenge of getting down to weight for Brooks. He plays at about 180 pounds on the gridiron but plans to wrestle at 160 for the majority of this season. A drop to 152 also isn’t out of the question.
“He’s one that I never have to worry about his weight,” Curtis said. “He knows what he needs to do, and he doesn’t starve himself. He does it the right way. He works out on his own at home. His work ethic is phenomenal.”
No matter the weight Brooks comes in at, he figures to be among the favorites to win an individual title. If he’s able to pull it off, he admitted the combination of it being his senior year and the events of a year ago would make it that much more special.
His coach agreed.
“I think it would be amazing,” Curtis said. “He doesn’t normally show a lot of emotion, but I think that would get to him, because he’s worked so hard.
“He should have had it last year. I don’t know if he feels like he was robbed, but he knows he should have won it last year. That’s going to give that extra drive this year to get it done.”
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) Midland Bullock Creek’s Peyton Brooks, far right, raises his hand signifying a win last winter. (Middle) Brooks attempts to bring down an opponent during the 2020 Individual Finals. (Photos provided by the Bullock Creek wrestling program.)