White Pigeon Emerging as D4 Hopeful
January 10, 2017
Ten years removed from a Regional Finals appearance, the White Pigeon wrestling program has awakened from its hibernation.
The Chiefs’ 18-7 overall record isn’t particularly astonishing. But given that several losses were to bigger schools outside of the state of Michigan, including three to Indiana squads this past weekend, it’s a solid mark so far.
A victory over third-ranked (in Division 4) Decatur earlier this year opened White Pigeon’s eyes as to how good it could be this winter.
“The kids’ resiliency and perseverance,” 14th-year head coach Jay Sosinski said when asked what has stood out to him this season. “It doesn’t matter to them who they’re going up against. Big or small, good or bad, they go out there and wrestle hard and give it their best. That’s all I’ve ever asked of any of my teams. They do it probably better than any team I’ve had before on a consistent basis.”
To put that statement in context, Sosinski hypes his team as often as most people stick to their New Year’s resolutions.
There’s no denying that confidence has trickled down to the individual wrestlers, four of whom are among the top-10 ranked athletes in their respective weight classes in Division 4 by MichiganGrappler.com.
Ranked No. 3 at 130 pounds, sophomore Kyle Black is 22-2 on the year and eyeing a return trip to the MHSAA Finals. He’ll likely drop down to 125 to do so. Classmate Evan Atherton is ranked No. 10 at 130 but has since moved to 125.
“It makes us feel good,” Atherton, who is 20-3, said of the high praise from Sosinski, “because they used to talk about how there used to only be three kids on the team. “I’m pretty excited about it. It pushes me harder.”
Junior Nate Weber is 21-4 and ranked No. 6 at 135. He, too, will probably move down a class by the end of the year in order to try to get back to the Palace of Auburn Hills. Meanwhile, senior Hunter Rummler, ranked No. 7 at 171, just eclipsed the 100-victory mark for his career over the weekend and is pushing toward his first Individual Finals appearance.
Especially for the young men in the lower weights, stiffer competition is rarely found outside their own practices this year.
“We do a lot of live wrestling in the room, and it sure helps to have those guys around with all the variety it brings,” Weber said. “Me, Evan and Kyle all wrestle different styles. We see all these different techniques, and it sets us up to wrestle all these other teams.”
Black had just one word to describe practice sessions: “Intense.”
The other word that came up frequently was inspiration. The source? Sosinski.
“I would never have guessed that is the answer they would have given,” Sosinski said with a laugh. “As a wrestler myself and growing up in the sport, when people get beat, either as an individual or a team, I know how that feels. They beat themselves up and are upset. Me being upset with them or screaming and yelling at them doesn’t make them feel any better.
“I believe it probably makes them feel worse and can have a negative effect. My goal is to help them reach their goals. I’m happiest when I see them reach their goals and their potential. If being more soft-spoken and more of a fatherly type figure and voice does that, and it has worked so far, that’s what I’ll continue to do.”
With only two seniors on the varsity roster, the Chiefs are undefeated in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference. Rummler, who said reaching the century mark “hasn’t really hit me yet,” knows the strength of the team is in the lower and middle weights, which includes stalwarts Hunter Jourdan, Sebastian Castro and Carlos Castro, and feels a responsibility to hold up his end of the bargain.
For Rummler, a gifted running back and sprinter, most of the battle is mental — a fight he admits struggling with last season. Sosinski believes the senior is primed for a noteworthy finish to his career.
“He is confident,” Sosinski said. “I believe he has high goals and expectations of himself. He is confident he will meet those goals. Sometimes you need that swag, I guess. If I had to take a guess at (what’s different this year), just from knowing him for four years, it’s just his mentality.”
The same can be said for the rest of the wrestlers on the team, many of whom have sacrificed for the betterment of the squad.
“They want to be good as a team, and that’s first and foremost,” Sosinski said. “They have their own individual goals in their head, but they’re finding a way to do both.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) White Pigeon’s Kyle Black works to gain control during a match against Berrien Springs. (Middle) Evan Atherton, here working from the top, also powers the Chiefs’ strong lower weights. (Photos courtesy of Wes Morgan.)
Whitehall Pair Making Memorable Marks
March 2, 2016
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Reiley Brown has three brothers of his own.
But the returning MHSAA champion wrestler at Whitehall High School said it might be more accurate for this article to include his fellow senior teammate Jwan Britton as a fourth sibling.
“We are the closest thing to brothers,” said Brown of his good friend and daily training partner – referring both to their time together on the Whitehall High mats and also the makeshift mat which Brown has set up in the pole barn behind his house.
“We really go at it and push each other to get better every day. I owe a lot of my success to him.”
Brown, 47-1, is seeking a second straight Division 3 individual championship, this time at 135 pounds, at this weekend’s MHSAA Individual Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The only thing that would make such a repeat sweeter is if Britton, who is 47-2 and a Regional champion at 140 pounds, could follow right behind him with a Finals championship of his own.
“At this point, it’s really hard to mention Reiley and his accomplishments without talking about Jwan,” said Whitehall coach Cliff Sandee, who is in his 10th year and has guided the Vikings to the Team Semifinals three of the past six.
Rare back-to-back championships for teammates would be a fitting end for Brown and Britton, who have been the backbone of a tremendous four-year run for the Whitehall wrestling program.
As a team, the Vikings achieved all of their goals this winter, including their 10th consecutive Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City Wrestling title. Whitehall, which finished 26-2 in duals, won its fourth straight West Michigan Conference and District titles, and then added a Regional championship.
The culmination of this season’s work led last weekend to Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, which hosted the MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals and also happens to be the school where Brown will wrestle next year when he becomes the first Whitehall wrestler to go on to a Division I college program.
It was almost “one and done” at CMU, as things looked mighty bleak against Richmond in Friday’s Quarterfinal match.
Richmond built a seemingly insurmountable 29-9 lead before the Vikings came roaring back to score the final 28 points, winning the final six bouts for an emotional 37-29 win. Whitehall’s victory was significant as Richmond and Dundee have dominated Division 3 team wrestling over the past decade, combining to win eight of the past 10 Team Finals titles.
“That was a huge win for us on a state level, because Richmond is such a great program,” said Sandee. “We want to be at team state every year; that’s the kind of program we want. I have six seniors this year, but we also have our most talented middle school group coming in, so we’re excited.”
Fittingly, unheralded junior Dominick Haynes started the comeback, pinning state-ranked Graham Barton at 130 pounds. That stunning six points led right into the strength of the Vikings’ lineup, with a pin from Brown and a major decision for Britton.
The Vikings dug another big hole in Saturday morning’s Semifinal. But a second miracle comeback was not in the cards against powerful Dundee, which raced out front 27-3 and held on for a 39-18 victory. Dundee then dispatched Remus Chippewa Hills 40-16 in the Final for its ninth team wrestling title and third in the past four years.
However, buddies Brown and Britton certainly got the attention of the Dundee faithful and many other wrestling gurus with big wins near the end of that dual. Brown rallied for a last-minute, 3-2 win over Tylor Orrison at 135, and then Britton used a takedown in the waning seconds to beat Zach Blevins, 4-3, in what could end up a preview of this weekend’s individual title match at 140 pounds.
Whitehall has two other Regional champions in JoJo Dowdell (145) and Hunter Bower (103).
Brown is the best known of the Vikings on the state level, taking second at 103 in his freshman year and third at 119 as a sophomore before breaking through for the 125-pound Division 3 championship as a junior. He comes into this weekend with the pressure of great expectations to go with a 181-12 career record.
“I try to use that pressure as a positive and feed off of it, to prove myself,” said Brown, who plans to study human resources at CMU. “I actually felt way more pressure going into team state, because my match there affects a lot more than just me.”
Besides, he has always felt right at home on a wrestling mat.
While many kids have basketball hoops in their driveways, how many can say they have their very own wrestling mat – along with an exercise bike and a heater – in a pole barn out back?
“My dad set it up out there when I was going into high school,” said Brown. “I’ve had some great battles out there with Jwan and my brothers over the years. Hopefully that extra work I’ve put in at home will pay off this weekend.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Whitehall's Reiley Brown works to gain control in his match Saturday against Dundee's Tylor Orrison. (Middle) Jwan Britton (right) lines up to start his match against Zach Blevins during the Division 3 Team Semifinal. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)