Whitman, Trombley Join 4-Time Legends
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 3, 2018
DETROIT – Brandon Whitman and Jarrett Trombley will both be headed to the state of North Carolina this fall.
Before leaving, however, they put on one more show Saturday night for wrestling fans at the MHSAA Individual Championships.
Lake Fenton’s Trombley and Dundee’s Whitman became the 23rd and 24th wrestlers in state history to win four Individual Finals titles, claiming their final Division 3 crowns in the end zone at Ford Field.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Whitman, who will wrestle at the University of North Carolina next year. “Ever since you were little you were watching some of these (four-time state champions). I watched Lincoln Olson (Davison) and I watched Ben Freeman (Walled Lake Central) last year, I was on a bunch of teams with Ben, so it was nice to be up there with those people and know that your work was paying off.”
Whitman (47-0) defeated Richmond senior Colton McKiernan (40-3) at 215 pounds 6-0 in a rematch of last season’s 189-pound final. He also won at 189 as a sophomore and 171 as a freshman, and accumulated 202 victories in his Dundee career, adding two Team Finals championships as well.
On the weekend, Whitman was dominant, winning by forfeit in his first match before pinning his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents in 20 and 7 seconds, respectively.
“It just shows that the work I put in is more than the people that I compete with,” Whitman said. “I put in hours upon hours of work, and it shows. When you put in the work, good things will come.”
Trombley (59-0), who is headed to North Carolina State, was dominant as well at 130 pounds, winning by technical fall in each of his first three matches before defeating Dundee sophomore Christian Killion (34-9) 8-2 in the title match.
“It’s just amazing to get this accomplishment and be here with my friends and family and just celebrate,” he said. “Not many people have been here before.”
Trombley won titles at 112, 119 and 130 pounds his previous three seasons, and admitted there were some nerves before he headed out on the mat.
“I tried not to (put pressure on himself) but toward the start time of my match, I got a little bit more nervous and more nervous,” he said. “But it was definitely all worth it now.”
103
Champion: Hunter Assenmacher, Ida, Soph. (53-0)
Decision, 7-2 over Robbie Altland, Hart, Jr. (51-1)
Assenmacher said he’d been waiting for his MHSAA championship moment since he first stepped on a mat at 4 years old.
A year ago, he came up one match short. This year, however, nothing was able to slow him down as he rolled to an unbeaten season.
“I’m just so thankful for everybody who pushed me through the season and helped me get to where I am right now,” said Assenmacher, who jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period.
“I knew I had to keep pushing the pace, but I didn’t want to give up something stupid, so I just kind of played it safe but made sure I wasn’t taking anything off of him.”
112
Champion: Sean Spidle, Flint Powers, Soph. (40-3)
Major decision, 12-3, over Tyler Swiderski, Dundee, Fr. (33-11)
With two titles in two seasons, Spidle knows the four-timer talk is going to start following him around. But he’s not ready to focus on that quite yet.
“I’m not going to really think about that,” Spidle said. “I’m just going to try to take it one match at a time. Sure the goal is to win states each year, but I’m just going to try to not think about that and take it one match at a time.”
Last year’s 103-pound champion jumped out to an early lead against Swiderski, and had a confident look on his face following a big move in the first period.
“I think the turning point was when I took him down and got back points,” Spidle said. “I felt pretty good throughout the match, but that really gave me a huge confidence booster.”
119
Champion: Dametrius Castillo, Alma, Fr. (38-6)
Decision, 3-2, over Kyle Schaaf, Clare, Jr. (52-3)
After helping Alma reach the Team Quarterfinals for the first time in school history, Castillo came up with some more history in the individual tournament, claiming the Panthers’ first title since 1993.
“It means that it doesn’t matter how big your school is or how small your school is, if you come out here to wrestle and work for it, you can come out here and win,” Castillo said. “I think now that we’ve shown everybody that we’re here to wrestle and we’re coming up big and bringing up a lot of people, it shows them they have a chance and makes them want work harder every day in practice.”
Castillo took a 3-2 lead late in the match, and held off a late headlock attempt by Schaaf.
“I knew he was going to try and throw it,” Castillo said. “I was just waiting for it to lock him up and hold on so I didn’t get a stalling call. I just knew I had go out there and still be offensive and not get a stalling call to win.”
125
Champion: Dakota Greer, Howard City Tri-County, Sr. (43-2)
Decision, 9-2, over Reese Wallis, Montrose, Sr. (49-2)
After finishing off his third championship and a marvelous high school career, one could forgive Greer for taking some extra time behind the mat following his 9-2 win against Wallis.
“Right now, I’m just resting,” he said. “Trying to get my breath, trying to take it all in.”
Greer didn’t rest much on the mat, controlling his match from start to finish and adding to the 119-pound title he won a year ago and the 103-pound title he won in 2015.
“It was just a matter of figuring him out,” Greer said. “He was more of a defensive wrestler that was staying away from me, so it was more of just once I kind of figured it out and felt comfortable out there, I was in control for sure.”
135
Champion: Stoney Buell, Dundee, Fr. (43-4)
Decision, 6-1, over Trevor Robinson, Shepherd, Jr. (42-4)
On the night his teammate won a fourth Finals title, Buell took his first step toward accomplishing the feat as well.
“Brandon (Whitman) just told me don’t wrestle the crowd, just wrestle the opponent,” Buell said of the pre-match advice he received. “‘You’re not facing the crowd, you’re facing your opponent. And just have fun. Be thankful.’”
Buell took control of the match with near-fall points in the second period.
“I felt more comfortable, but I probably should have attacked more,” Buell said. “Just to separate the match and let him know that I’m the best in the state right now.”
140
Champion: Mason Breece, Birch Run, Sr. (57-3)
Decision, 2-1, over Nick Felt, Shelby, Jr. (50-5)
For 5 minutes and 58 seconds, Breece couldn’t break through Felt’s defense. But in those final seconds, the Birch Run senior saw an opening and took it.
“I knew I was running out of time, and I just had to score,” Breece said. “He put himself in a bad position and I capitalized. As soon as I got that lock locked up and I was ready for it, he just made a mistake and I caught it.”
Breece’s late takedown finished off a strong career that, up until Saturday night, was missing one key piece.
“I’ve been a contender for a couple years now,” he said. “And it feels great to finally get what was coming my way.”
145
Champion: Alex Roberts, Richmond, Sr. (36-5)
Decision, 5-3, over Sean Trombley, Lake Fenton, Jr. (48-2)
Alex Roberts doesn’t give up many points, so when a five-point move opened some breathing room for him, he knew the title was his to lose.
“I felt comfortable,” Roberts said. “I know that I’m hard to score on, and if I was going to give up anything, it wouldn’t be enough for him.”
Roberts finished sixth a year ago and fourth as a sophomore. After Saturday’s win, his post-match emotion was palpable.
“I can’t even describe it,” he said. “I wanted to be a state champ since I was a little kid, and finally the hard work paid off.”
152
Champion: DJ Daniels, Caro, Jr. (58-2)
Fall, 3:45, over Zachary Bellaire, Dundee, Sr. (42-8)
Daniels didn’t have the opportunity to stop Bellaire from winning the 140-pound title a year ago, but he was still plenty motivated to take on the guy who took home the bracket he wanted in 2017.
“He won my chart last year, so there was a little bit of vengeance there,” Daniels said. “I knew the match would be won on our feet, and apparently it was.”
Daniels took advantage of a Bellaire shot attempt, catching the returning champion and taking him to his back late in the second period where he finished off the match with a pin.
“It felt great,” Daniels said. “There’s nothing like it. You don’t even think about it until it’s over.”
160
Champion: Jackson Nevadomski, Lake Fenton, Sr. (43-2)
Fall, 2:59, over Tylor Orrison, Dundee, Sr. (44-4)
Nevadomski made a B-line to the Lake Fenton cheering section to celebrate with his family after claiming his first championship.
“They’ve done everything for me to get to this point – parents, coaches and friends,” Nevadomski said. “I just figured they should be the first to celebrate for me.”
Nevadomski had defeated Orrison, the 2017 145-pound champion, in the Regional Final two weeks ago, and took some notes while he did, which led to the second-period pin.
“When I was on top I got a couple wings in, so I knew if I could get on top and get those wings in, then I just needed to switch them up a little, so we worked on that in practice the last couple weeks,” he said. “We worked on running the chicken wing and coming over with a half. I guess it worked out for me.”
171
Champion: Owen Guilford, Portland, Jr. (40-1)
Major decision, 10-1, over Robert Granberry, Remus Chippewa Hills, Sr. (45-6)
Guilford said there wasn’t a special strategy heading into his title match. But when you’ve had as much success as he has this season, it’s best to not stray too much from what’s worked.
“Just trust your training,” Guilford said. “That’s what Coach has instilled in me. We knew we could win that match, so just trusted our training, stuck together and pulled it off in the end.”
Guilford had a big lead heading into the final period, and remained calm to claim his school’s first title since 2000.
“Maybe if anything, stay cautious, don’t try anything stupid,” he said. “It only takes one move to lose in wrestling.”
189
Champion: Ethan Weatherspoon, Napoleon, Jr. (54-0)
Decision, 6-4 (SV), over Brockton Cook, Birch Run, Jr. (56-5)
Weatherspoon hasn’t been in many tight matches this season, but when he found himself in a dogfight against Cook on the state’s biggest stage, he dug deep enough to pull out the win.
“It was just all in my head for a second,” Weatherspoon said. “Being in a big championship match, you just have to relax. That’s what I started to do, and that’s when I started getting my rhythm.”
Weatherspoon was able to get a takedown early in the sudden-victory overtime, but Cook led early, putting a scare into the unbeaten wrestler.
“I just told myself, ‘Hey, you gotta do it,’” he said. “’All that work you put in, I’m getting what I put out.’ I was not about to stop right there.”
285
Champion: Tyler Marino, Richmond, Sr. (31-5)
Decision, 5-1, over Tyden Ferris, Delton Kellogg, Sr. (45-2)
Marino was one match short of his championship goal a year ago, but the motivation that created helped push him over the top in his final season.
“It feels great, coming from being second last year to winning it this year; it’s all I’ve been training for and it feels amazing,” Marino said. “You just have to make yourself calm before the match. I just listen to music, keep myself calm and do what I do.”
Marino won four low-scoring matches on the weekend, something he’s excelled at all year.
“I’m always attacking and trying to draw the stalling calls,” he said. “I do active stalling. Active stalling is a huge part of wrestling. You’re moving, but you’re really not trying to score, you’re just showing the ref that you’re doing what you’ve got to do.”
PHOTOS: Dundee's Brandon Whitman (left) and Lake Fenton's Jarrett Trombley receive salutes from the Ford Field crowd after becoming the latest four-time MHSAA Finals champions Saturday. (Middle) Whitman and Trombley take a quick photo together during a quieter moment. (Top photos by HighSchoolSportsScene.com, middle photo by Michelle Campbell.)
Past Shepherd Standout Moeggenberg Directs Wrestling's Return to Glen Lake
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
February 2, 2024
Showing support for school athletic programs is nothing new for the Glen Lake community.
And the Lakers faithful have welcomed back another team this winter that’s earning those cheers for the first time in more than 20 years.
That’s because wrestling hasn’t been offered at Maple City Glen Lake High School since 2001. But it’s back now, and quickly gaining momentum at a school known in part for its longstanding athletic success.
Nobody understands all of this more than Liz Moeggenberg, perhaps the most decorated athlete in the school’s history. As Liz Shimek and a graduate of the class of 2002, she was the winner of the statewide Miss Basketball Award. Her senior year also was the last that Glen Lake offered wrestling before the program returned this winter.
She went on to Michigan State University where she was a two-time All-America selection. She led the Spartans to the 2005 NCAA championship game, and later played in the WNBA. At MSU, she met her future husband Luke, a wrestler for the Spartans. The Moeggenbergs returned to the Glen Lake area after college and Liz’s professional and international basketball career.
Today the Moeggenbergs have five children — three of whom are competitive wrestlers. And Luke is the Lakers' head wrestling coach.
Liz, who served as the Lakers assistant basketball coach for years leading up to last season’s Division 4 championship run, was in an unfamiliar place Jan. 24 when Glen Lake hosted its first wrestling match in decades – the bleachers. The long-awaited moment featured Frankfort, Mancelona and Grayling in a quad meet.
“The community support has been pretty phenomenal,” Liz said. “It was amazing to see all the people that came out to that first home meet, and it was pretty cool to see that energy in the gym.”
Luke Moeggenberg wrestled in high school for Shepherd and was the Division 3 runner-up at 140 pounds in 2001 before going on to compete at MSU. He started the Glen Lake youth program a few years back and had dreams and hopes of starting a varsity program.
Originally the Moeggenbergs joined the Benzie County youth program. They wrestled there until they had enough wrestlers to start one for Glen Lake. The Lakers launched both a middle school and varsity program this winter.
For years, the young Moeggenberg wrestlers – Lamdin, 12, Fletcher, 10 and Cade, 8 – traveled for practices and competitions with their father, who recalls some very special times. The car rides regularly included discussions on how the boys and their youth teammates might impact the future of Glen Lake high school sports.
“The question would come up from my three boys, ‘When are we going to get wrestling at Glen Lake?’” the coach recalled. “I said actually, if we were ever to get wresting at Glen Lake, it would be because of you guys and all the three boys … they just got quiet.”
Coach Moeggenberg noted it may be years before the boys fully comprehend what they helped start.
“It got pretty emotional when wrestling got voted in by the school board,” he said. “I still don’t think the boys realize what they’ve done.”
The interest shown in wrestling by their oldest son, Lamdin, now a sixth grader on the middle school team, sparked the effort to bring wrestling back to the school’s athletic offerings. Also helping provide momentum was Josh Bullard, who comes from a long line of outstanding Bullard wrestlers in Shepherd’s history. He’s been a big help to Moeggenberg since getting his two sons involved way back in the Benzie travel days. Greg Ford and Kaleb Foss serve as youth coaches, and Moeggenberg has built a varsity staff including assistants Ethan Smith, Jaime Smith and Lance Bies. Ethan Smith is the middle school coach as well.
“I made it pretty clear if we’re going to get a program going I need everybody’s support and everybody to buy in and give it a chance,” Moeggenberg said.
Administrative changes played a big role in Glen Lake bringing back wrestling, Moeggenberg noted. Of particular significance was Jaimie Smith coming aboard as the Lakers’ athletic director. Smith, who now serves as the high school principal, was Frankfort’s wrestling coach previously. Her husband Ethan was previously an assistant coach at Frankfort and Traverse City Central.
The Smiths’ adopted daughter Emily Alaimo is one of 13 student-athletes on the roster. Alaimo, a junior, entered the season as the only Glen Laked competitor with high school wrestling experience. She was a part of the Frankfort program when her parents coached, and then on last year’s Glen Lake championship basketball team.
“Emily is the only one who’s had experience competing at all,” Moeggenberg said. “She has really been our most successful wrestler.”
The Lakers will compete this weekend in the Highland/Mid Michigan Conference Tournament against Evart, Lake City, Manton, Mancelona, Roscommon, LeRoy Pine River, Kingsley, Benzie Central, McBain, Frankfort and Houghton Lake. They’ll be led by freshman Abraham Feeney (132 pounds) and sophomore Caden Sheehan (138). Feeney is leading the team in wins, and Sheehan joined the Lakers after the holiday break. They are practice partners.
“Those kids go 100 percent every day in practice, and it shows when they get into competition,” Moeggenberg pointed out. “They figured out amongst themselves what it takes to be successful already.”
Conference titles and postseason accomplishments are not yet on the Lakers’ radar. They are taking one day at a time, learning how to compete on the mat safely.
“My focus has been really trying to get our team into a position where they are safe to compete,” the first-year coach said. “When you’re talking three months of wrestling experience to this point and you are competing against kids that have maybe been wrestling 12 years, our focus has been getting our kids to compete with a little bit of confidence and in a safe manner.”
Glen Lake has a rich history of success – including MHSAA Finals titles – in sports like football, basketball, soccer, softball and track. The gym is full of banners recognizing those accomplishments.
There also is a banner recognizing Lakers with individual state wrestling titles – and Coach Moeggenberg is expecting the other sports’ successes to bode well for the restarted wrestling program.
“I think all the past successes and the current successes of our sports programs reflect heavy community support of student-athletes,” he said. “That basically makes the coach’s job easier.
“Having the support of the community and the support of the administration, ultimately it allows you to focus on what’s important – teaching student-athletes,” he continued. “It is helping us to create a good foundation for a successful program in the future.”
The measurement for success right now is simply experience and daily individual improvement.
“The kids know what this does for the community and what it has done for our family,” Moeggenberg said. “I don’t want our kids to have their mindset to be on wins and losses and conference titles and District championships.
“I want their mindset to be on progress every match,” he continued. “As we get more experience and have some of our middle school kids who are products of our youth program with some more mat time, it will start to evolve into more of a competitive-based goal.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Glen Lake's Max Galla and his Mancelona opponent lock up Jan. 24 during the Lakers' first home meet in more than two decades. (Middle) Glen Lake coach Luke Moeggenberg instructs one of his wrestlers on the mat. (Below) Glen Lake’s Emily Alaimo takes on her Mancelona opponent. (Photos by Trudy Galla Photography.)