This Time, for the 1st Time, it's Hartland
February 27, 2016
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
MOUNT PLEASANT – Todd Cheney sat on his chair in silence and wiped tears from his face.
With sophomore 119-pounder Carter Hankins losing by just a decision to Davison returning MHSAA individual champion A.J. Facundo, Cheney knew his Hartland wrestling team has locked up the Division 1 championship at the Team Wrestling Finals at Central Michigan University's McGuirk Arena Saturday evening.
The reason for the tears: it finally happened for Cheney and his program. His team won a title after so many near-misses, beating Davison 36-23.
"That runner-up stuff was for the birds," Cheney said. "Just to look at the kids’ faces, and to see everything that they worked for – this was huge."
For 15 straight years, Cheney's Hartland teams qualified for the Finals. During that time, the Eagles made it to the Semifinal round 12 times, and five times were MHSAA runner-up, including after a heart-breaking loss to Brighton in last year's Division 1 championship match.
But this team was focused, and Davison coach Roy Hall knew that coming in.
"Those guys made a commitment, they cut down to scratch weight and they were focused for this," Hall said. "They came here on a mission this weekend."
After falling behind 3-0, Hartland went on a huge run, getting a decision from Reece Hughes at 140 pounds and pins from Sage Castillo at 145, Logan Vish at 152 and Lucas LaForge at 160.
That made the score 21-3, and the Eagles (34-1) never looked back.
"That was huge," Cheney said of the three straight pins. "We pinned them at 152 and 160 last time, and we beat them by one. This was good to get them early."
Cheney said the way some of his wrestlers lost was big as well, like Hankins and freshman Corey Cavanaugh, who lost by technical fall to past MHSAA individual champion Max Johnson but did not give up a pin and six points.
"Gosh, these kids, I hope you get pictures of their faces," an emotional Cheney said. "This means so much."
Hartland and Davison (24-5) earned their way to the Final with two totally different Semifinal wins.
Hartland had little trouble in beating Oxford 42-19, as the Eagles won the first four matches to jump out to a 20-point lead, and never looked back from there.
In all, Hartland won 10 of 14 matches wrestled against Oxford, five of those by bonus points, and three by pin (Castillo at 152 pounds, Vish at 160 and Brandon Krol at heavyweight).
In the other Semifinal, another highly anticipated match in Division 1, Davison beat Detroit Catholic Central 29-25. Kurt Schlak secured the win for the Cardinals with a 16-8 major decision over Tyler Johnson in the final match of the dual at 145 pounds.
That Semifinal was tight throughout, as each team won seven matches. But of Davison's seven wins, four were bonus-point wins (by major decision or pin), while the Shamrocks had only two bonus-point match wins.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Logan Vish celebrates a pin at 152 pounds that put Hartland up 15-3. (Middle) Hartland coach Todd Cheney (right) and assistant Garnet Potter share a moment during the Eagles’ first championship win. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com; bottom photo by Jeff Chaney.)
Performance: DCC's Kevon Davenport
February 28, 2019
Kevon Davenport
Detroit Catholic Central senior – Wrestling
As he had the past two years, Davenport played a major part in Detroit Catholic Central claiming its third straight Division 1 team championship Saturday at Wings Event Center. The nationally-regarded 145-pounder picked up three victories on the weekend, all wrestling up at 152 pounds, in earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Davenport won with a pin in 4 minutes, 50 seconds against Clarkston’s Jacob Billette in the Quarterfinal, a 21-5 technical fall against Westland John Glenn’s Brenten Polk in the Semifinal and a 7-3 decision against Brighton’s Victor Grabowski in the Final. Those victories improved Davenport’s record this season to 34-1, with his only defeat coming against an opponent from Indiana by 5-2 decision while wrestling up at 160 pounds.
What also made this season’s team championship special was Davenport was able to compete with his brother Kamron, a freshman who wrestles at 125 pounds. Now Kevon gets a chance to finish on an individually historic note. Davenport will bring a 167-10 career record into this weekend’s Individual Finals at Ford Field, where he will attempt to become the 25th or 26th wrestler – and first from DCC – to win four MHSAA titles (Hudson’s Jordan Hamdan also will try to win his fourth). Davenport’s first three championships came at 119, 130 and 145 pounds, and he’s the top seed at 145 with matches set to begin Friday. Davenport carries a 3.0 GPA and has signed to continue his career next season at University of Nebraska, where he intends to study sports media and communications.
Coach Mitch Hancock said: “Kevon is an incredibly gifted and hard-working young man. He's very well-liked and respected by his peers and amongst his teachers here at Catholic Central. Kevon has the opportunity this weekend to do something very special, and we are proud of the hard work, dedication, and focus he's put into representing himself, his family and Catholic Central in an incredible way. I consider it a blessing to be a part of Kevon's life. He's an incredibly mature, selfless, and caring person. His personality shines brightly, and he is very respectful and humble. Kevon has incredible mentors in his father Kevon and mother Izetta.”
Performance Point: “We tried to stay even keeled, not get too high or too low,” Davenport said of the championship match against Brighton. “We had a mindset on dominating, and I felt like in the matches that we won, we controlled the pace, we did our thing and tried our best to wrestle our style. We were just trying to come out with a mindset of dominating and having fun.”
Starting strong: “I think it had a huge impact on the dual, being able to get the momentum rolling and kind of keep things going from there. We talked a lot about that. Momentum is a big thing for us, so that’s really important to us.”
Bringing brother on the ride: “That was really fun. (Kamron) was a little down on himself because he lost, but he clinched the dual for us. He didn’t get pinned, so that clinched the dual for us. I think it was really cool just being able to experience this entire season, my last high school season, with my brother. I think it was a great feeling.”
Not much time to celebrate: “It feels great, but at the end of the day, I’ve still got one more week, I’ve still got history to chase. Next weekend, I look forward to being crowned the first four-time champ in CC history. It feels great, but at the end of the day, we still have work to be done.”
Focus on 4: “It would mean a lot (to win a fourth championship). It’s something that I worked a lot for, as far as coming up through middle school. That’s always everybody’s goal coming up, being a four-time champ, and you want to chase that goal. For it to be so close to me and such an attainable goal, it’s really unfathomable, especially at CC.”
- Paul Costanzo, Second Half correspondent
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Kevon Davenport works toward a pin during the Shamrocks’ Quarterfinal win over Clarkston on Friday. (Middle) Davenport’s arm is raised in victory at Wings Event Center. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)