Special Teams Set Powers Catholic Apart as Chargers Finish Repeat Title Run
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2026
PLYMOUTH — Before claiming its first MHSAA Finals title in 2023, in Division 3, Flint Powers Catholic was arguably the state’s most snakebitten ice hockey program.
Up to that point, Powers had lost all seven of its previous trips to the state championship game and hadn’t won a title despite 35 Regional championships.
Now, Finals championships are becoming a rite of March for the Chargers.
They captured their second straight and third over the last four years Saturday, repeating as Division 2 champions with a 4-1 win over Livonia Stevenson at USA Hockey Arena.
It was the second-straight Finals meeting between the teams, with Powers prevailing 3-2 in overtime in 2025.
“I think our program has changed dramatically the last five years,” Powers head coach Travis Perry said. “When I say that, it’s not about the wins and the losses. It’s about the mentality. Our mentality coming down here used to be, ‘We just hope to compete with Cranbrook, Calumet or whoever we are playing.’ Now, we know we can compete. We have players and a great coaching staff.”
The difference for Powers this time was special teams.
Perry said his power-play unit entered the title game scoring at a 37-percent clip and had been “carrying us most of the year,” so it was fitting that unit played a major role again.
Powers scored the first two goals of the game on the power play, which provided a cushion it ultimately didn’t relinquish.
On the other side, the Chargers killed off all six Stevenson power-play chances.
“Our PK was really the backbone of the team today,” Perry said. “You’re trying to stay out of the box, but sometimes it happens.”
Stevenson first-year head coach Jay Thompson said his team’s special teams had also been good throughout the year, but championship games can be a different challenge.
“In these games, things tighten up,” he said. “We just fell short a little bit.”
Powers (27-5) opened the scoring with 14.1 seconds remaining in the first period by scoring on a two-man advantage.
Sophomore Owen Perry skated from behind the goal, pounced on a loose puck and placed a shot underneath the crossbar to give Powers a 1-0 lead.
The Chargers scored on another power play in the second period, going up 2-0 with 11:12 left when senior Gavin Vorwerk pounced on a loose puck in front of the Stevenson goal and chipped a shot into the net.
Stevenson (20-10-1) got on the board with 13:45 remaining in the game on an ordinary-looking play that turned into a goal.
Senior defenseman Dawson Wells fired a shot from the point that somehow got through a horde of bodies and went into the goal to make it 2-1 Powers.
Stevenson continued to pressure and created two golden opportunities on breakaways, but Powers senior goalie Hunter Clark stopped them both to preserve the lead. Clark ended up giving up just one goal throughout the entire MHSAA Tournament.
Trying to get the equalizer, Stevenson pulled goalie Drew Allen with just over two minutes remaining and off a face-off dumped the puck into the Powers zone.
That’s where Chargers junior defenseman Ethan Haley took a gamble that paid off, firing a shot from behind his own net that cleared the zone and went all the way down perfectly into the empty net to give Powers a 3-1 lead.
Powers then made it 4-1 with 1:02 remaining in the game on a wraparound goal by senior forward Ayden Cook after Stevenson put Allen back in net.
“They played very well today and structured hockey,” Thompson said. “I thought our guys did everything they could and gave our team an opportunity to win that hockey game. It just didn’t go our way.”
Powers is filled with players who have competed and won at the travel level, but to a man they say winning championships in high school is much better.
“Seeing everyone at school, you’re always saying, ‘Hey what’s up? What do you have for your next class? What do you want to do after school?’” Powers senior forward Parker Bendall said. “You’re just with them 24/7, five days a week at minimum. It’s just great being around every guy.”
PHOTOS (Top) Flint Powers Catholic players celebrate during their Division 2 championship win Saturday at USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) Stevenson’s Tyler Breitbach (4) gets a stick on the puck in front of the Powers net and goalie Hunter Clark. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
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MHSAA Winter Sports Start with Extended Basketball Schedules, New Wrestling Weights
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 13, 2022
The addition of two games to basketball regular-season schedules and a new series of wrestling weight classes are likely the most noticeable Winter 2022-23 changes as an estimated 65,000 athletes statewide take part in 13 sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Girls gymnastics and boys ice hockey teams were able to begin practice Oct. 31, with the rest of those sports beginning in November – including also girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls and boys skiing, Upper Peninsula girls and boys and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving, and girls and boys wrestling.
A variety of changes are in effect for winter sports this season, including a several that will be noteworthy and noticeable to teams and spectators alike.
Basketball remains the most-participated winter sport for MHSAA member schools with 33,000 athletes taking part last season, and for the first time, basketball teams may play up to 22 regular-season games. This increase from the previous 20-game schedule allows more games for teams at every high school level – varsity, junior varsity and freshman.
Another significant change has been made in wrestling, as the majority of boys wrestling weight classes have been adjusted for this season in anticipation of a national change coming in 2023-24. The updated boys weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 and 285 pounds. Only 215 and 285 remain from the previous lineup. There is also one change to girls weight classes, with the 255 class replaced by 235 to also align with national high school standards.
A series of notable changes will affect how competition takes place at the MHSAA Tournament levels. In hockey, in addition to a new classification process that spread cooperative and single-school programs evenly throughout the three playoff divisions, the MHSAA Tournament will employ two changes. The Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) will be used to seed the entire Regional round, not just the top two teams, and prior to the start of Semifinals, a seeding committee will reseed the remaining four teams in each division with the top seed in each then facing the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed facing No. 3.
Bowling also will see an MHSAA Tournament change, as the Team Regional format will mirror the long-standing Team Final with teams playing eight Baker games and two regular games at both levels. And as also applied during the fall girls season, there is a new qualification process for divers seeking to advance to Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals. In each of the three divisions, each Regional will be guaranteed 10 qualifiers for the Finals, with six more “floating” qualifier entries to be distributed to the Regionals that have one of the previous year’s top six returning Finals divers in their fields. If a team changes division from the previous season, any floating top-six spots are added to the six already allowed in the school’s new division.
A gymnastics rules change provides an opportunity for additional scoring during the floor exercise. A dance passage requirement was added in place of the former dance series requirement to encourage creativity and a more artistic use of dance. The dance passage requires gymnasts to include two Group 1 elements – one a leap with legs in cross or side split position, the other a superior element.
In competitive cheer, the penalty for going over the time limit in each round was adjusted to one penalty point for every second over the time limit, not to exceed 15 points. The new time limit rule is more lenient than the past penalty, which subtracted points based on ranges of time over the limit.
The 2022-23 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18 and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – March 6, 8, 10
Regionals – March 13, 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25
Girls Basketball
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1, 3
Regionals – March 7, 9
Quarterfinals – March 14
Semifinals – March 16-17
Finals – March 18
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 24-25
Finals – March 3-4
Competitive Cheer
District – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals – March 2-3
Gymnastics
Regionals – March 4
Finals – March 10-11
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 20-March 1
Quarterfinals – March 4
Semifinals – March 9-10
Finals – March 11
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 18
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 10-11
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 8-9
Regionals – Feb. 15
Finals – Feb. 24-25
Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 11
Regionals – Feb. 18
Finals – March 3-4
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.