Trombley Prevents History, Makes His Own
March 5, 2016
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
AUBURN HILLS – Jarrett Trombley ended a bit of history Saturday night at the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
And along the way, he kept his own bit of history going.
The Lake Fenton sophomore beat Grand Rapids Catholic Central senior Devin Schroder 6-4 in overtime, preventing Schroder from winning his fourth MHSAA championship and becoming just the 22nd wrestler to accomplish that feat.
And Trombley won his second straight Division 3 Finals title, to go with the 112-pound championship he earned last year while wrestling for Corunna High School.
"Pretty much everyone knew who won this match would be a (four-time) champion, whether it was me in two years or him today," Trombley said. "I'm just really happy to hold him back from history and make some of my own history today."
It wasn't easy, though, as the match went into an extra period, where Trombley secured the win with a takedown.
"That's why we work so hard, Trombley said. "We were both very well-conditioned athletes; it just came down to whoever had the most heart."
103
Champion: Anthony Gallagher, Perry, Jr. (42-1)
Decision, 2-0, over A.J. Geyer, Lake Fenton, Jr. (51-9)
After shaking hands with the opposing coaches, Anthony Gallagher sprinted across the mat and jumped into his coach's arms.
He first wanted to share his special moment with two people who helped realize his dream.
"This is amazing," Gallagher said. "My coaches and I put so much work into this. So much blood, sweat and tears, and to finally see what I've wanted to accomplish since the start of the year is amazing."
What's even more amazing is that Gallagher is the first wrestling MHSAA champion at Perry High School in 41 years.
112
Champion: Spencer Good, Jackson Lumen Christi, Jr. (43-4)
Decision, 6-3, over Blain Wood, Caro, Soph. (51-6)
Good was better than good; he was great this weekend in Auburn Hills. And because of that, the Jackson Lumen Christi junior is a champion.
Good said it was old-fashioned work ethic that helped him come out on top in his weight class this weekend, and it showed in the Final as he took the match to Wood from the start.
"I am so thrilled with this; this is the best feeling I have felt in my life," Good said. "There is so much work and effort put into this sport, and this is the dream behind it all. You put in so much work, to finally accomplish this, it's a big deal."
125
Champion: Aaron Kilburn, Richmond, Sr. (44-4)
Decision, 7-1, over Trevor Robinson, Shepherd, Fr. (49-6)
Kilburn is a man of few words. He let's his talking be done on the mat.
Kilburn won his second title with a workmanlike 7-1 decision.
The Richmond senior won his first title at 112 pounds at the end of his sophomore season.
"It feels a little different this time since it’s my senior year," Kilburn said "Going out with a bang, that's a bonus."
Even though it was Kilburn's day, he looked back at Richmond history to get through his last year.
"Watching him (Richmond 4-time champion Devin Skatzka) dominate this tournament for four years helped," Kilburn said of his former teammate who accomplished that feat last year. "He just dominated this tournament, and showed me."
130
Champion: Alex Martinez, Ida, Sr. (45-0)
Decision, 4-3 OT, over Kole Krauss, Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Sr. (43-2)
As a freshman, Martinez advanced to the Finals, only to lose a tough match and finish runner-up.
It took two long years to get back to wrestling Saturday night at The Palace for a championship, but that's where Martinez found himself, wrestling Krauss for the title at 130 pounds.
The match went to overtime, and Martinez rode Krauss out for a hard-fought 4-3 victory.
"I got the early takedown in the first, and that's what I knew I had to do right away to win," Martinez said. "I wrestled him earlier in the season, and that's how I beat him then; I got an early takedown in the first.
"Then in the second period I rode him out," he added. "In the third period, I got a little gassed, I'm not going to lie. Triple overtime, I was stuck on bottom all match, so I went on top and that is usually my best position. I got that side headlock, and got it done."
135
Champion: Reiley Brown, Whitehall, Sr. (51-1)
Decision, 2-1 OT, over Matt Santos, Saginaw Swan Valley, Sr. (51-2)
It was a battle of returning champions at 135 pounds, and the match would not disappoint, as Brown rode out Santos in triple overtime for the win, 2-1.
"I expected that match completely," said Brown, who will be wrestling at Central Michigan University next year. "I knew we were going to be defensive on our feet. I knew it was going to be close, and I knew it was going to come down to the mat wrestling like it did. Whitehall is known to be dominant on top, that is what we work at."
140
Champion: Jwan Britton, Whitehall, Sr. (51-2)
Decision, 5-4, over Zach Blevins, Dundee, Sr. (49-5)
Britton didn't get a chance to watch teammate Reiley Brown win his MHSAA title. He was busy in the tunnel of The Palace warming up for his match as Brown was finishing off Matt Santos.
But Britton knew something special happened for the Whitehall wrestling program, and he wanted to keep that feeling going in his match.
And that happened, as Britton beat Blevins on a late takedown.
"I didn't even get to watch his (Brown's) match, but we both had a plan to come out here and wrestle for a championship," Britton said. "My coach said I was better on my feet, so when he was up by one in the third because I cut him early, I knew I could win on my feet."
145
Champion: Kanen Storr, Leslie, Sr. (58-0)
Technical fall, 17-2, over Jaycob Sharp, Remus Chippewa Hills, Soph. (50-7)
On a night when several past champions, and a few multiple champions like Schroder and Lowell senior Lucas Hall went down to defeat, Storr, a returning two-time champ, was not about to fall by way of the upset.
"Sitting back in that tunnel, watching all these upsets go down, it's a crazy thing," Storr said. "Guys I thought would never lose, went down. But they may have let up, they might have gave those extra points up that they shouldn't have. Going into my match, I really changed my mindset to score and get a comfortable lead, to score, score and score."
152
Champion: Sean Sterling, Dundee, Jr. (47-4)
Decision, 4-2 OT, over Collin Lieber, Croswell-Lexington, Jr. (54-1)
Sterling reached into his school's past for inspiration for what he did Saturday night, earn a championship with a 4-2 overtime win over the previously undefeated Lieber.
Now he will be an inspiration for Dundee's future.
"The entrance to our building, there is a picture of every state champ, and every day I walk into school and look at every single one of them," Sterling said. "And now I am going to be one of them. Knowing that some kid will be looking up at me now, that's cool."
160
Champion: Foster Karmon, Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Sr. (34-0)
Decision, 9-3, over Tyler Childs, Birch Run, Sr. (43-9)
Karmon has had a great high school career that spanned over two schools.
He started by winning an MHSAA title his sophomore year, and then carried that success over to Catholic Central his past two years.
He won his third overall title, and second at GRCC.
"I don't think it's really set in completely," Karmon said. "It's been a good career. I had a good time at Allegan, and a good time at Catholic Central. Each program had upside. A lot of history at Allegan, and a lot of good workout partners at Catholic Central. And a lot of good coaches at both."
171
Champion: Daniel Thompson, Lake Odessa Lakewood, Jr. (49-2)
Decision, 6-5 OT, over Adam McCann, Midland Bullock Creek, Sr. (53-1)
Thomson picked up a little scouting report from a friend, Lapeer senior Devon Pingel, that helped him win Saturday.
"That helped me a lot. I owe a lot to him, because my focus was to stay aggressive progressively throughout the match. That helped a lot when we got into overtime," Thompson said.
Unfortunately, Thompson's friend Pingel was losing his championship match a mat away from Thompson.
189
Champion: Brandon Whitman, Dundee, Soph. (48-1)
Decision, 2-1, over Jared Roehl, Millington, Jr. (44-2)
When two reigning champions meet on the mat, the margin of error shrinks, and the matter of victory can be as little as a little more work and effort to pull out the win.
That was the case when Whitman and Roehl met for Roehl's title Saturday night.
Whitman, who won at 171 last year, found that little bit extra in beating Roehl by the score of 2-1.
"That was tough," Whitman said. "At the beginning of the year we kind of figured we were going to face him, and we knew we were going to have a tough time with him. I knew I had to practice harder to get the job done."
215
Champion: Quintin Wilber, Montrose, Sr. (48-4)
Decision, 8-2, over Tyden Ferris, Delton Kellogg, Soph. (54-3)
Wilber not only showed his great athleticism during his 8-2 win, but also after, completing a near-perfect back flip to seal it.
And during the post-match interview, Wilber wanted to flip some of the credit to the people he said helped him realize his dream of a title.
"This feels real good," Wilber said after his win. "I went in with the mindset I could do it, and I went in and got after it. I want to thank my (workout partners) for pushing me and getting after me. And to all my teammates, thank you."
285
Champion: Trent Hillger, Lake Fenton, Jr. (63-0)
Fall, 1:27, over Maddox Maki, Williamston, Sr. (45-6)
Hillger may have had the most impressive weekend of any champion in any division at The Palace.
He pinned his way to his second championship, including a fall against reigning heavyweight champion Maki in the Final in one minute, 27 seconds.
Hillger won his first title at 215 pounds last year.
"Being a state champ last year, I wanted to come back as a returning state champ and not lose my title," Hillger said "I wanted to be aggressive and use my speed to my advantage. Coming up from a lighter weight class, a lot of these heavyweights are slower, and I wanted to go out there and wrestle my match."
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTO: Lake Fenton’s Jarrett Trombly works against his Semifinal opponent Friday on his way to claiming a second MHSAA championship Saturday. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Coaching Cousins Build on Macomb Roots
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
January 18, 2018
MACOMB – Success must begin somewhere.
And for the Macomb Dakota wrestling program, its beginnings can be traced to a church in Mount Clemens nearly 25 years ago.
Ed Skowneski, a longtime educator in Macomb County who was a football star at Wayne State University during the 1970s, got with a few buddies and formed a youth wrestling program named the Bad Boys Wrestling Club.
This program would eventually produce six MHSAA champions and approximately 20 others who reached the Individual Finals. It also helped inspire two of those wrestlers to become coaches at the high school level.
Eddie Skowneski, Ed's son, leads the Macomb Dakota program ranked No. 3 in Division 1 this week by Michigan Grappler. Nephew Anthony Biondo assists top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central.
Before the Bad Boys – which would eventually evolve into Team All Sport – there were pockets in the county where the sport thrived, such as Fraser High where Al Kastl had built a strong program. But for the most part, Macomb County was a step or two behind nearby counties such as Genesee, Lapeer, Oakland and Wayne, where the sport had well-established programs like Clarkston, Davison, Detroit Catholic Central, Hazel Park, Lake Orion, Montrose, New Lothrop and others.
Skowneski teamed with people like Bob Palazzolo, Rick Julien – an assistant under Kastl at Fraser who later became Fraser’s head coach – and later, Vince Biondo, Skowneski’s roommate in college, to organize a competitive youth program.
“We had some good kids back then,” Skowneski said. “We had six state champions come out of there. We practiced twice a week at the church, but it was more like a hall or reception room. After one year we moved to Fraser, Mark Twain Elementary (School), where I was a principal. That made it easier, for travel and everything. We had our own mats in the school, and it started to grow.”
A team from Macomb County has yet to reach an MHSAA Division 1 Final, but they’re getting close. Last season Dakota reached a Division 1 Semifinal for the first time, and it was just the third time a Macomb County team had advanced that far in the top division/classification.
Two other county schools fared well last season, too, in other divisions. Warren Woods Tower lost in the Division 2 Final to Lowell, and Richmond won the Division 3 title.
Skowneski’s motivation to become a coach came from his son, Eddie, and, later, his nephew Anthony Biondo, Vince Biondo’s son. Eddie Skowneski got his start with the Bad Boys at age 9 with his cousin who is two years younger. The two became best friends and would become two of the county’s top wrestlers during the early to mid-2000s at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley.
Each would reach the Individual Finals three times. In 2003, Skowneski won the 140-pound title over fellow county wrestler Justin Petrone of Roseville, 1-0. Biondo was a three-time champion placing first at 103 in 2003, first at 112 the next season and first at 145 in 2006.
Skowneski would earn a scholarship to Michigan State University, where he was a three-year starter. Biondo went to University of Michigan and was a three-time NCAA Tournament qualifier. His best season came as a senior when he went 2-2 at the NCAAs and earned his 100th career win.
“Those Bad Boys days, those were some great times,” Anthony Biondo said. “It was a great group of kids. I just remember being in that church with Uncle Ed. I really wasn’t into wrestling when I started. I was into hockey and football. I started going there one day a week, and it just grew. My first year wrestling (at Chippewa Valley), I won the state title. It was just that one-on-one thing that I liked. My dad was a huge goal-setting type of guy, and I just kept at it.”
Their wrestling careers didn’t stop after graduation. Skowneski became an assistant coach at Fraser for one season then went to Warren DeLaSalle for two as an assistant before becoming the head coach at Dakota in 2012. Biondo is in his seventh season as an assistant coach at Detroit Catholic Central, the top-ranked team and reigning champion in Division 1.
Eddie Skowneski, 31, said he’s had a number of mentors throughout his wrestling career who have contributed to him becoming the coach he is today. His father is one, but he also said his high school coach John Jeffire at Chippewa Valley, St. Clair Shores Lakeview football coach Pat Threet and his college coaches all have had their influence.
When Ed Skowneski retired as school principal at Mark Twain in 2015, his son quickly found him a part-time job as his assistant at Dakota to keep him active.
“He’s always been a great coach,” Eddie said. “Coaching with my dad, it never really stopped. With him, it’s the little things. He always said, if you have good technique, you can beat someone who is more physical than you are. With my dad, he goes to each person and shows them the proper technique. With me, sure I want them to work and train hard. But I want my wrestlers to do it the right way.”
Ed Skowneski got out of coaching when his son went to high school. He said he had taken his son as far as he could and that it was better to have Eddie continue his progression with someone else as his coach.
Now that Ed’s back in it, coaching with his son no less, he couldn’t be happier.
“When he first got the job at Dakota, I thought of helping him but I just didn’t have the time,” Ed Skowneski said. “I’m enjoying it now. I’m not the head coach. He has the issues. I just work with the kids. It’s fantastic. It’s rewarding. We have a great group of kids and good parents.
“I look forward to the tournaments, which sometimes keeps me up at night. It’s nice that my son and I can do this together.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: Longtime coach Ed Skowneski stands with son Eddie (left) and nephew Anthony Biondo after a youth event when they were children. (Middle) Father and son hold up Eddie’s bracket sheet after he won the Division 1 championship at 145 pounds in 2006; to the right, they pose together during Biondo’s wedding. (Below) Ed Skowneski and Biondo, also before the latter’s wedding. (Photos provided by the Skowneski family.)