North Central Builds On High-Flying Fame with Repeat Title
By
Adam Niemi
Special for Second Half
November 20, 2021
MARQUETTE — In the end, the encore wasn't that much different than the first title run for the latest Powers North Central powerhouse team.
The Jets got off to a fast start en route to a 63-0 win against Colon to repeat as MHSAA 8-player Division 2 champions Saturday. Last season, many of the same standouts led North Central to a 70-48 championship game win over Portland St. Patrick.
"Oh gosh, it just feels great," Powers North Central head coach Leo Gorzinski said. "Like I've been telling these guys all week, we come this far, we work this hard and let's finish it. And that's been the rallying point all week. We talked about all the time people didn't work. They were in a weight room since February, two-a-days in August. So they weren't going to let this one slip away. But it's a great feeling."
Saturday's title adds to the Jets' 8-player football championship pedigree with go-to athletes. This championship also was the their fourth in seven years.
The Jets (13-0) won these two with Luke Gorzinski at quarterback. The Jets also won back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016, led by quarterback Jason Whitens, now a redshirt senior basketball player at Michigan State, with then-head coach Kevin Bellefeuil.
"I want to thank all the guys that come before us," Gorzinski said. "Once they showed it can be done, everybody started believing that it was possible. And then once they believed it, now they want to be the ones to let it go. We've got a pretty good thing going right now."
The 2021 season will go down as one of the most dominant in Michigan 8-player history. Through 13 games, the Jets outscored opponents 745-43, an average game score of 57 to 3.
The details of Saturday's win hinted at the athleticism and depth that spurred the Jets on. They had 520 yards of offense. Colon had 126.
Colon received the kickoff to start the game, and the Jets' defense set the tone with three straight tackles for loss and forced a three-and-out from Colon's 4-yard line.
The Jets' potent defense went on to hold the Magi rushing game to minus-14 yards on 20 carries.
Saturday also spelled the end to Colon's Cinderella run. The Magi had beaten undefeated teams in every round of the playoffs except Saturday.
Junior quarterback Simon Vinson went down with an injury with 1:01 remaining in the first quarter. Magi head coach Robbie Hattan said Vinson's injury changed the mood on the sidelines.
"Losing Simon, when Simon went down, some kids put their heads down and they couldn't bounce back from that," Hattan said. "I'll give my kids credit. The second half they battled, we played much better in the second half defensively. A lot of the kids struggled getting used to the heat here. Right away they're cramping, and somehow our Gatorade was left on the bus and the kids couldn't refuel. It just was a weird day for us."
Powers North Central senior running back Wyatt Raab scored both touchdowns to open the game, from 15 and 30 yards out, respectively. He finished the day with 101 yards on five carries (20.2 yards per carry).
Luke Gorzinski led with a game-high 125 yards on 15 carries (8.3 yards per carry) and a touchdown.
Colon (11-2) started drives deep in its own territory early on, and were forced to punt. Their average field position to start a drive was their own 27-yard line.
Holding the Magi deep in their territory meant the Jets had a short field for most of the day, leading to a quick succession of scores. North Central had 369 yards of total offense in the first half alone.
Powers North Central rushed for 236 yards on 20 carries with four TDs in the first half and led 49-0.
North Central executed as efficiently as it had all season. The Jets moved the chains all game while their defense prevented Colon's offense from doing the same.
Gorzinski had two sacks and 10 tackles. Drew Webber had six tackles. Caden Tietz, Drew Allgeyer and Lane Nehring each had a sack. Owen Eichmeier had an interception.
Tucker Lafler had 11 tackles to lead Colon's defense. Owen Wilson had eight and Kaleb Johnson had six.
"They're so competitive with one another — it's our depth" Leo Gorzinski said of the defense. "We've got so many kids that are the same caliber, same type of athlete. So day in and day out they're fighting for every single position. They want to show Coach 'l caught it over so-and-so, tackle over so-and-so.’"
Saturday was the Magi's second Finals appearance in three seasons after winning the 2019 Division 1 championship against Suttons Bay. The Magi lost in the Regional Finals in 2020 to Portland St. Patrick, which then lost to the Jets in the Final.
Hattan said there were naysayers even within Colon as the team made its playoff run. That, and falling a game short of a championship, is a motivator for next year, he said.
"Nobody expected us to be here. Even some people in our community were 'It's a rebuilding year,'” he said. "We lost, we only had two returning starters on offense, two returning starters on defense. Nobody expected us to be here. We return a lot of players (next season). We graduate like six seniors, three of them that were starters. We have some holes to replace, but we return a lot of kids. Now, this is motivation for some of our guys to get bigger, faster, stronger.
"They understand where they’ve got to work now to bring us back here and get to the next step, which is winning the state championship."
PHOTOS (Top) Powers North Central’s Wyatt Raab (17) celebrates a touchdown during Saturday’s Division 2 Final at Superior Dome. (Middle) Colon’s Kodey Dovey (5) works to elude the Jets’ Carter Tietz (32). (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click for more.)
Youngest Brother Bryan Closing Convertini Family's Memorable 13-Year Run at MCC
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
May 8, 2025
Bryan Convertini is nearing the end of an amazing four-year athletic career for Muskegon Catholic Central, but this swan song is not just about him.
Bryan is the last of the four “Convertini boys” at MCC, who collectively have provided Crusaders fans with plenty of big plays and thrilling wins – doing it all with their humble, no-nonsense leadership style – over the past 13 years.
“The Convertinis have really become the first family of Muskegon Catholic Central,” said MCC baseball coach Steve Schuitema, noting their father, Kolin, is an assistant varsity football coach and their mother, Jene, has served as the team mom for baseball and football for years.
“It will be different and a little sad to not have a Convertini out there for MCC anymore. All of them were leaders and a coach’s dream and really an extension of the coach on the field.”
Mason, 26, graduated in 2017 and set the sports tone for his three brothers, playing football, hockey as part of MCC’s cooperative team with Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, and baseball.
Nolan, 23, graduated in 2020 and, at 6-foot-2, is the tallest of the brothers. He played the same three sports as Mason, and was the most versatile of the boys, playing almost every position in football, including starting two games at quarterback.
Sam, 21, graduated in 2022, and also played football, hockey and baseball, but he opted to play basketball his senior year so he could play with his younger brother, Bryan.
Bryan, 18, will graduate June 1 after a standout, three-sport career, including the past three years as the starting varsity quarterback, before beginning college this fall at Grand Valley State.
“My memories at MCC go way back to when I was like 6 or 7 and the waterboy in football and the batboy in baseball,” said Bryan with a smile.
“The first word that comes to mind when I think about it is family. The whole school is like a big family that pushes and supports each other.”
Grandpa’s boys
The Convertini boys come from good stock, starting with their grandfathers.
On their mother’s side is Grandpa Bryan McLay who, at the age of 87, is still considered “Mr. Hockey” in Muskegon.
McLay, a Kenora, Ontario, native who first came to Muskegon in 1960 (the same year that the downtown hockey arena opened), tallied more than 1,000 points over his 13 seasons with the Muskegon Zephyrs and later, the Mohawks.
McLay moved in with the family after his wife, Peggy, died four years ago, and regularly regales his grandsons with his “old-time hockey” stories.
Jene picked up her father’s passion for sports and has been a natural in the Crusaders’ “team mom” role – organizing meals, carpools, fundraisers and sending out emails for game and schedule changes, among other things.
On their father’s side is Grandpa Fred Convertini, a California native who played in the 1966 Rose Bowl as an offensive lineman at Michigan State – as part of what is considered the top offensive line in MSU history.
Kolin certainly inherited his father’s athletic ability, making first-team all-state in football (running back), wrestling and track & field (pole vault) during his senior year of 1989-1990. He went on to play defensive back at Eastern Michigan University.
He also picked up his father’s humility and toughness, the latter which was put to the test in 2014 when he was diagnosed with cancer.
“Kolin’s cancer really brought us together as a family,” explained Jene. “We didn’t know how long we had, and we decided we weren’t going to do travel sports any more. I didn’t want to be in Chicago and Kolin in Detroit for the weekend and then we say hi on the way out the door to work on Monday morning. We decided to spend more time together.”
Like their grandfathers and father, all four of the Convertini boys were known for their dependability, rarely if ever missing games due to sickness or injury.
In fact, Bryan suffered an injury in the opening football game of his junior season, then played the remaining 10 games on what was later determined to be a broken left ankle – and, by the way, he earned first-team all-state as a defensive back with five interceptions.
“It hurt so bad,” Bryan said, shaking his head. “But I needed to be out there. My team needed me to be out there.”
Home cooking
The Convertini house in Norton Shores has been a gathering place for MCC athletes for years.
It all started when the boys were little, wrestling between the couches and shooting pucks at the walls in the basement.
Later on, that basement became the annual meeting spot for the MCC football team for “Selection Sunday,” when the team would learn its draw for the postseason playoffs.
Mason and Nolan, the two older boys, certainly enjoyed the most team success. Mason was part of three straight Division 8 championship football teams from 2014 to 2016. Nolan, meanwhile, played in three national championship games (with two titles) as a member of the Hope College men’s club hockey team.
The two younger boys had less team success, in large part because MCC really started struggling with numbers, but Sam and Bryan certainly did all they could and were rewarded with individual accolades.
Sam was the first of the brothers to make first-team all-state, earning the honor as a tight end in 2021. Bryan did one better, making all-state twice – after his junior year as a defensive back and his senior year as an “athlete” for his contributions all over the field.
Bryan also made first-team all-state last year in baseball, batting .478 as an outfielder.
In football, he rose above his broken ankle as a junior to rush for more than 800 yards and 11 touchdowns. In a win over Benton Harbor, he had a rushing TD, a passing TD, a receiving TD and returned an interception for yet another TD. This past fall as a senior, he threw for 880 yards and rushed for 621, while making a team-high 81 tackles in his first year at linebacker.
But when asked about the individual highlight of his football career, he doesn’t hesitate.
“That would have to be my freshman year, when I threw a halfback pass to my brother (Sam) for a touchdown,” recalled Bryan, noting a play that occurred in a victory over Muskegon Heights Academy during what ended as the 500th win in MCC football history.
Going out with a bang
Bryan hopes to tack on some additional highlights over the next month of baseball season, effectively writing a happy ending to the Convertini novel.
The Crusaders’ baseball team is off to an 11-4 start after a home sweep of Byron Center Zion Christian on Tuesday, during which MCC pitchers allowed just one run over two games.
Bryan is currently batting .375 while playing the critical position of shortstop, out of need, since he is a natural outfielder.
He would love to have a repeat of his freshman year, when he batted leadoff and helped the Crusaders to District and Regional championships. MCC had won 11 straight Districts before falling short last spring, so he said avenging that District loss is a major priority.
That would also be an appropriate ending after an uncharacteristic football season when the young Crusaders (who started three 14-year-old freshmen on the offensive line) finished 1-7.
Things went much better in basketball, as Bryan teamed with all-stater Bradley Richards to help MCC to an 11-10 record, its first winning season in six years.
Through winning or losing, MCC football coach Steve Czerwon said the strong Catholic faith of the Convertini family is always front and center.
The family will gather to celebrate in early September, when Mason and his fiancée, Sophie, get married at St. Michael’s Church in Muskegon. That is about the same time that Bryan will be off to Grand Valley, and Czerwon and the MCC football program will begin the post-Convertini era.
“Bryan and all of his brothers have an inner strength which sets them apart,” said Czerwon, who took over as MCC’s head coach in 2013, which was Mason’s freshman year. “All of them respect authority and they want to learn and get better, which is all that you can ask.
“It’s been a pleasure working with their family. We are all going to miss them.”
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) Muskegon Catholic Central’s Bryan Convertini takes a look down the third-base line during a baseball at bat. (2) The four Convertini boys take a photo together after one of Bryan’s football games in 2023. From left: Sam, Bryan, Mason and Nolan. (3) Convertini brings the ball upcourt during basketball season. (4) Convertini (22), stands for the national anthem this past fall. (Baseball and basketball photos by Michael Banka. Football photo by Tim Reilly. Family photo courtesy of Jene Convertini.)