10 to Remember: Winter 2012-13
April 4, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This winter in Michigan will be remembered by some as lasting seemingly forever. But at least we had plenty to enjoy over the five weeks from the end of February through March.
Below are 10 stories from this winter's Finals that we're likely to recall for years to come. They aren't necessarily the 10 most exciting moments, but rather 10 stories of particular significance covering every sport the MHSAA sponsors during this mostly-indoor season.
A few that just missed the list: Livonia Stevenson winning that hockey town's first hockey title, St. Ignace's first perfect girls basketball finish, Flint Beecher's last-second success in the Class C Boys Basketball Final, East Grand Rapids' four-point win in Division 3 swimming and diving and the emergence of Troy's Christina Shabet as the MHSAA's top gymnast.
There are plenty of others we could mention as well. Feel free to post about them after checking out our 10.
Saline Seniors Leave Mark
One of the most impressive swimming and diving classes in MHSAA history finished its high school career March 9 in Holland the same way it began four seasons ago. Saline won its fourth-straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship anchored by seniors David Boland, Josh Ehrman, Michael Bundas and Adam Whitener, who combined hold four Division 1 Finals individual and two relay records. Ehrman finished his prep career with the all-class/division records in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke, and those four hold the all-class/division record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:30.01 – good also for third in the national record book. Click to read more.
Fowlerville’s Coon Finishes with 4
Only 16 others had accomplished what Fowlerville’s Adam Coon achieved to finish his MHSAA wrestling career. And none had done so wrestling at the heaviest weights. On March 2 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Coon became the 17th athlete to win four MHSAA wrestling individual titles by picking up his second at 285 pounds after also winning two at 215. He finished his career with a record of 211-3 and won 194 straight matches dating to his freshman season. Click to read more.
Comets Shine for 6th Consecutive Gymnastics Win
Despite graduating the Division 1 all-around champion (again) and facing a talented Canton team (again), Grand Ledge won the team title again – for the sixth-straight time, the longest streak in MHSAA gymnastics history. On March 8 at Canton High School, the Comets scored 149.350 points – fifth-most in MHSAA Finals history. What are the chances for seven in a row? They’ll have a strong start: junior Presley Allison won the Division 2 all-around title the next day, and freshman Rachel Hogan won the Division 1 floor competition. Click to read more.
Hudson Completes Drive for 5
The Tigers won three of the final four matches to edge Hesperia 32-24 in the Division 4 Team Wrestling Final on Feb. 23 at Kellogg Arena and earn their fifth-straight MHSAA title – tying the 2002-06 Davison teams for the longest such streak since the Team Finals began in 1988. Hudson was loaded with 11 Individual Finals qualifiers, including three who went on to win their weights the following weekend. Click to read more.
This Time, It’s Romulus’ Turn
Romulus advanced to Boys Basketball Finals weekend at Breslin Center for the fourth time in six seasons, and on March 23 left with its first MHSAA championship since 1986. The Eagles had just fallen short a number of times during the recent run, but controlled from the tip in downing Detroit Southeastern 61-49 to claim the Class A title. Romulus finished this season 27-1. Click to read more.
Grand Haven Wins Repeat Class A Final
Only a few things about Grand Haven were the same this season as in 2011-12, including one significant advantage – 6-foot-5 center Abby Cole. After putting up 23 points, 19 rebounds and 12 blocks in a Semifinal win over Westland John Glenn, she tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and eight blocks in a 60-54 overtime win over Grosse Pointe South on March 16 at the Breslin Center to give the Buccaneers two straight Class A title wins – both over the Blue Devils. Click to read more.
Puck Stops Here as Brighton Marches On
The Bulldogs claimed their second-straight Division 1 hockey championship March 9 at Compuware Arena with what has become a characteristic defensive stand, this time in a 2-1 win over 10-time champ Detroit Catholic Central. Brighton goalie James Milletics stopped 37 of 38 shots against him, and his team finished a 12-game winning streak during which it gave up only 12 goals total. Click to read more.
No Stopping Carlson’s Cheer Dynasty
All four MHSAA cheer champions March 2-3 at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex were repeat winners from 2012, but Carlson faced an intriguing set of circumstances. Although coach Danielle Jokela basically had served as a co-coach with Christine Wilson through four titles over the previous five seasons, this was her first time leading the team solo with Wilson now coaching Brighton. And the Marauders pulled out a third-straight title despite losing all-stater Annie Hajec to an injury during the Regional the weekend before. Click to read more.
Trojans Skiers Second No Longer
Traverse City Central’s girls skiing team had finished MHSAA runner-up five straight seasons before hoisting its first championship trophy since 2005 on Feb. 25 at Boyne Mountain. The Trojans finished with 81 points, 11 better than runner-up Walled Lake Central. Shannon Weaver was the individual runner-up in both the slalom and giant slalom to lead the effort. Click to read more.
Vandercook Lake Wins Battle of Bowling Powers
After facing each other and splitting the last two Division 4 titles, it seemed fate that Vandercook Lake and Sandusky should meet again in the 10th year of the MHSAA tournament on March 1 at Sunnybrook Golf and Bowl. The teams were separated by only six pins with three frames to roll before Vandercook Lake pulled away for a 1,322-1,166 win. The Jayhawks' Malloree Ambs won the individual title the next day. Click to read more.
West Iron Makes Every Point Count Winning Finals Title by Slimmest of Margins
By
Jerry DeRoche
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2024
KINGSFORD – After a two-year absence, the West Iron County Wykons returned to the top of Division 2 boys tennis in the Upper Peninsula on Wednesday with their razor-thin victory over host Iron Mountain and 2023 champion Ishpeming at Kingsford High School.
With two flight championships and four runner-up finishes, West Iron County recorded 14 points compared to 13 for Iron Mountain and 12 for Ishpeming.
Junior No. 2 singles player Zander Birmingham and the No. 3 doubles duo of senior Ethan Isaacson and junior Keenan Dobson-Donati led the Wykons to their first team championship since 2021.
Second-year coach Jim Anderson was effusive in his praise for his squad.
“I’m thrilled beyond words,” Anderson said. “They put in a lot of work this season and had a ton of commitment, and that showed on the court today. They played with a ton of heart and a lot of grit, and they dug deep for the win.”
Birmingham rolled to his second U.P. championship after having won the title at No. 4 singles in 2023, losing just two games in his two matches on Wednesday, both to Munising’s Levi Westcomb in the final.
“To move up from (No. 4) singles to (No.2) singles and still have the same success means a lot to me,” Birmingham said. “I’m very, very excited and just proud of myself in general.”
At No. 3 doubles, Issacson and Dobson-Donati earned a bye into the second round, then won by forfeit in the semifinals before fighting off Iron Mountain’s Ben Truong and Carter Kassin 6-4, 7-5 in the final.
“Two of the hardest-working kids on the court,” Anderson said of his No. 3 doubles pairing. “Ethan’s a senior and one of the leaders on the team this year, and Keenan’s been moving up the ranks. They had a goal in mind today, and they achieved it.”
In the top flights, Munising’s Carson Kienitz recorded his third U.P. title – his first in singles – by defeating West Iron County’s Caleb Strom 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1, while Iron Mountain’s brother tandem of Reece and Oskar Kangas knocked off Hunter Smith and Caden Luoma 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles.
Kienitz, a two-time U.P champion at No. 1 doubles, scuffled a bit early in his match against Strom but rolled to the victory once he got going.
“Pretty much every match that I’ve played I start out really slow and I lose the first couple of games,” the 6-foot-4 junior said. “But I start to learn my opponent and I get in my groove, and I’m able to climb back up and finish it.”
Kienitz did so Wednesday against Strom, who came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and had defeated Kienitz in their previous two matches.
“I knew he hits it really hard, and he’s a good player,” Kienitz said of Strom. “But instead of playing his game and hitting the ball back hard and making mistakes, I was just playing my game and hitting to his backhand and pushing the net.”
In the top doubles flight, the Kangas brothers also started slowly in the final but won 13 of the final 18 games to record their first U.P. title in their only attempt.
Reece said he had to convince his 6-foot-6 brother Oskar, an all-U.P. Dream Team selection in basketball, to take up tennis this season.
“I definitely had to talk him into it,” said Reece, who played singles his previous seasons. “He was thinking of doing some other sports and I told him, ‘If you and me play doubles this year, it will be a year to remember, especially for me in my senior year.”
To close out their “year to remember,” the Kangas brothers needed to gain some revenge on Smith and Luoma, who had won the previous matchup in the Mid-Peninsula Conference championship.
“We knew it would be tough, they are a quick team and they retrieve a lot, so it’s hard to score on them,” Oskar said of the Ishpeming pair. “But we had a sense of urgency today. It was our last (match) no matter what, so we wanted to go out with a big win.”
The Mountaineers posted two other flight championships. Freshman Braden Kassin outlasted West Iron County’s Dominick Brunswick 7-6, 7-6 at No. 3 singles, and freshman Malakai Broersma fought back to upend West Iron’s James White 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
Ishpeming won the other two flights. Hayden Hares and Tramon Gauthier knocked off Iron Mountain’s Geno Schinderle and Dylan Lindgren 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 doubles, while Adam Maki and Ethan Corp topped West Iron’s Jackson Secord and Matthew Swenski 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 doubles.
PHOTOS (Top) Munising's Carson Kienitz returns a serve during the No. 1 singles championship match at the MHSAA U.P. Division 2 Final on Wednesday in Kingsford. (Middle) Iron Mountain senior Reece Kangas lines up a forehand shot during the No. 1 doubles championship decider. (Photos by Sean Chase.)