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Welcome Back to 'The Woods'

January 17, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Buchanan, here we come. 

The MHSAA and its Student Advisory Council will kick off "Battle of the Fans III" tonight with a return trip to Buchanan, last season's BOTF champion. 

Buchanan, tucked into the southwest corner of the Lower Peninsula, is a Class B school of 465 students hailing from a community of roughly 4,400. The Bucks earned voters' hearts in 2013 as most of that student body and community filled the home gym – fittingly referred to as "The Woods" – for the MHSAA's BOTF visit. 

The MHSAA will visit finalists Beaverton, Bridgman, Frankfort and Traverse City West later this month and during the first two weeks of February before crowning a champion on Feb. 21 and inviting representatives from the winning section to a banner presentation during the Boys Basketball Semifinals on March 21 at Michigan State's Breslin Center. 

Remember, follow the Battle of the Fans on the MHSAA's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social media sites by clicking hashtag #BOTF. The MHSAA-produced story and video from tonight's trip will be published Tuesday on Second Half. 

Here's Buchanan's application video for this winter's contest. 

PHOTO is courtesy of Buchanan High School. Battle of the Fans III is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan.

SAC Sound-off: Meet Kevin Beazley

April 4, 2012

Detroit Catholic Central senior Kevin Beazley is one of Michigan's top wrestlers and finished his high school career in the best way possible -- with a win. After finishing runner-up at 171 pounds at last season's MHSAA Division 1 Finals, Beazley won the 189-pound title last month at The Palace of Auburn Hills. He also helped the Shamrocks to the Division 1 team championship the weekend before.

Kevin Beazley, Detroit Catholic Central senior

  • Sport: Wrestling
  • Non-sports activities: Brothers Club, Monogram Club, Student Council
  • Favorite class: English
  • Must-see TV: "The Big Bang Theory"
  • One shining moment: Beating (Lowell's) Gabe Dean, the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the country. (NOTE: This was submitted before Beazley's championship run.)
  • What’s next: I'm going to Old Dominion University next year to wrestle, and I will be studying biology, hopefully on the path to becoming a med student at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.
  • My favorite part of game day is: ... the mental preparation I go through. Getting in the zone in a corner of the gym, listening to my iPod. Focusing and visualizing are so much fun for me.

    • PHOTO: Detroit Catholic Central senior Kevin Beazley (right) wrestles in the Division 1 189-pound Final against Temperance Bedford's Brandon Sunday last month. (Photo courtesy of High School Sports Scene).