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.)
Hudson Remains Team to Beat in D4
February 23, 2019
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
KALAMAZOO – When Scott Marry took over the wrestling duties at Hudson High School 31 years ago, he knew he had to build a foundation to make his program a success.
He had to get his Tigers young and prepare them for the demands of wrestling, knowing that someday they would perform on the state's largest stage.
So when he was handed his team’s eighth – and third straight – Division 4 championship trophy Saturday after Hudson beat Clinton 45-19 in the Final at Wings Event Center, he made sure one of the championship photos had two rows of young Tigers in it, with smiles wide and raising their index finger high in the air claiming victory.
"There is definitely a climate going on right now, from the youth program all the way up through Hudson," said Marry, whose team ended the year with a 20-7 record. "We don't worry about how many kids we have; the kids work hard. You get them, then season them, get them tough and callus them. A meet like today’s is no different than our practice room. Our room is really tough."
Carson Price was one of those young Tigers who felt the excitement when Hudson was winning five straight titles from 2008-13.
He wanted to be part of the winning, and played a big part in the victory over Clinton when he earned a pin in 3 minutes, 23 seconds at 171 pounds.
That was one of six pins Hudson had over the Redskins.
"We peak at the right time," Price said. "Our guys love each other, and this is a tradition. I have been wrestling since I was a 4-year-old little kid and dreaming about this stuff since I was 6. Today we had all those little kids sitting up there, dreaming with us, and now they are the next wave."
All the seasoning does pay off at the most important times for Hudson.
Of the six pins, four came in a row between 215 pounds and 112. During that stretch, Kyle Moll, Isiah Krizek, Payton Rogers and Bronson Marry all secured falls that turned a 14-9 Clinton lead into a 33-14 advantage for the Tigers.
From there, who was going to win the title was a formality.
“The coin flip was big, and that is a great team," said Clinton coach Jeff Rolland, whose team ended its year with a 30-5 record. "When they get going, they get going, and that (the four pins in a row by Hudson) was a tough stretch for us. We got wins at 140, 145, 160 and 189 and it was close and we felt good. I don't feel like we underperformed today. We got beat."
Starting at 140 pounds, the Redskins did jump out to a 14-9 lead thanks to wins from Kent McCombs at 140, Riley Jeffrey at 145, Braydon Randolph at 160 and Logan Badge at 189.
That's when the Tigers flexed their muscles and showed the Wings Event Center crowd how well they can pin from the cradle.
"We didn't know we were going to get pins, but we knew those rubber matches would be in those places," Marry said. "So we knew there would be a shift in the scoring. This is not like football; you can't get caught up in a 14-point deficit, knowing that you have four weight classes in a row where you can score 24 points."
And that is what Hudson did to show everyone it remains the team to beat in Division 4, even though the Tigers came into the weekend as the third seed. Clinton was seeded number one.
"Everyone keeps asking about the seeds," Rolland said. "Until someone beats them, they are the one everyone is chasing."
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudson's Carson Price works toward a win at 171 pounds during the Division 4 championship match. (Middle) Another Tigers wrestler controls his opponent Saturday. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)