Sharpened by OAA Red Schedule, Troy Becomes League's Latest to Win Finals Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 11, 2026
GRAND LEDGE — Technically, Troy won the Division 1 boys soccer title this past Saturday with a 2-1 win over Livonia Stevenson.
But the Colts probably felt like they also won a state championship when they captured the Oakland Activities Association Red title back in October.
It’s understandable, since it can’t be denied how powerful the OAA Red has been in recent years.
In four of the last five years, and five times since 2019, the Division 1 championship has been won by an OAA Red team – and the league might be on the verge of getting stronger.
With Northville, Novi, Davison and Grand Blanc set to join the OAA next year, the reclassified Red division should see at least one of those teams added to it, adding more muscle to a league that saw Rochester Adams win Division 1 titles in 2022 and 2024 and Troy Athens in 2019 and 2023.
“Seeing (Athens) win it a couple years ago and seeing Adams win it, that really put that fire in us and made us want to win it even more,” said Troy senior Ryan Wind.
The Colts actually did prove themselves different from those championship Adams teams and the Athens 2023 squad in a good way, since Troy became the first OAA Red school to win both a league and MHSAA Finals title in the same year since Athens did so in 2019.
“I knew it had to come,” Troy senior Kevin Garay said. “This is just a special group of guys, a special team and coaching staff. I knew this was the year.”
Make no mistake, playing in and conquering the challenging OAA Red schedule that included No. 7 Clarkston, No. 8 Seaholm, Athens, Oxford and Berkley made top-ranked Troy tough as nails going into the MHSAA Tournament.
Of note, Adams, ranked No. 5 in the state at regular season’s end, was in the OAA White this year, but will likely be back in the Red next fall.
“It’s the best league in the state in my opinion,” Troy head coach Adam Spinks said. “To play such tough competition week in and week out, when you hit the playoffs, it prepares you mentally and physically for those games.”
Troy’s District round of the state tournament was seemingly an OAA Red postseason tournament, with Athens, Berkley and Seaholm also in that bracket.
The Colts rightfully felt that if they could survive that, the path would be less rocky in Regionals and beyond.
Following a 4-2 win over Seaholm in the District Final, Troy was on its way.
“It’s the hardest league in the state, so it prepares you so well for the playoffs,” said Cole Cusmano, an important piece of Troy’s attack who had to miss the second half of the championship game win over Stevenson after suffering a foot injury during the first half.
“We definitely thought once we got past the District – and we were just taking it one game at a time – we knew we had our sights on something big this year.”
Troy certainly did, not only claiming its first Finals championship since 2003 but becoming just the 20th unbeaten champion in MHSAA history.
The big question over the offseason is how the OAA Red will officially be realigned for next year with four new members coming in. Northville – which fell to Livonia Steveson in overtime in District play – is a possibility to join the OAA Red and should add another powerhouse to the league.
It should no doubt make for an even more compelling regular season race next year, and the way things have gone over the last five, lead to an obvious conclusion: Whichever OAA Red team is the last one standing in next year’s playoffs should probably be considered the favorite to win the Division 1 title.
“It was exhausting,” Garay said of the OAA Red slate and tournament run. “It was really hard. But we went for it, and we earned it.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Troy’s Jack Bowen (10) and Niko Zhuli (8) celebrate Zhuli’s goal during Saturday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) The Colts’ Kouta Cawood (11) makes a run at the goal. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Second-Half Surge Nets Western Michigan Christian's 9th Finals Victory
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
November 4, 2023
GRAND LEDGE – Muskegon Western Michigan Christian was seeking its ninth MHSAA Finals boys soccer title Saturday at Grand Ledge High School.
The scoring floodgates opened in the second half, and the Warriors prevailed 3-0 over Madison Heights Bishop Foley to earn a second-straight Division 4 championship and finish this fall 21-2-3.
After a scoreless first half, senior Charlie Buursma took a pass from Cole DeJonge and trickled it into the net at the 35 minute, 43 second mark of the second half for the game’s first score. It was DeJonge’s 23rd assist of the season and the biggest.
Tekalegn Vlasma tacked on his 25th goal of the season to make it 2-0 at the 27:03 mark with an assist from Buursma. Three minutes later, Vlasma scored his second of the championship with an assist from Buursma to make it 3-0.
“We were really prepared; Coach had us ready,’’ Vlasma said. “They came out and dominated. Second half coach got us mentally prepared. Nothing really changed like we did against Leland in the last game. (On the first goal) the keeper was out and I put it in. After Charlie scored, we knew they couldn’t get one. They hadn’t had a chance all half. We knew if we got one that was it. The second one we got the ball out wide and tapped it in. It was really simple.
“The one goal we gave up in the tournament was a scrappy goal. I just shows how dominant we were in the tournament.’’
The Warriors came into the championship with an impressive resume. They had won Division 4 titles in 2022, 2019, 2010, 2007, 2004 and 2003, tied Detroit Country Day in Class C-D in 1998 and claimed the Class D championship in 1995. They also had finished runners-up six times.
Only Detroit Country Day with 15 titles has more than the Warriors.
Bishop Foley (18-4-1) won a Finals title in 1988 and was a runner-up in 1985.
Each had great scoring chances late in the first half but Bishop Foley goalkeeper Greg Altman and Warriors goalie Daniel Minasian were up to the challenge as the first half ended scoreless.
“I just started taking it down the line in the second half,’’ said Buursma. “The first half I was going up the middle and cutting in trying to find my teammates. Taking it down the line seemed to be the right thing to do. The first goal T (Vlasma) scored it; (he) cut in the middle on his second goal. The first goal I was just running across. He had two goals in the state finals. Incredible.
“This feels great. Everything I’ve been working for in four years as a varsity player. I just loved knowing when my last game was going to be. There would be no loss in the Districts or Regional.’’
When Ben Buursma took over, the program was in transition. Four years later there are two more Division 4 titles.
“We were in a rebuild,’’ said the coach. “We were intentional about changing the culture and made sure we had high-quality guys, high-character guys that were there to play the game. It took three years to get into it, and now we’re enjoying the fruits of that.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Muskegon Western Michigan Christian’s Tekalegn Vlasma (15) celebrates one of his two goals during Saturday’s Division 4 Final at Grand Ledge. (Middle) WMC’s Caleb McKay (14) works to gain possession.