Bark River-Harris Honing In on Historic Opportunity
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2021
HARRIS — The Bark River-Harris wrestlers are gearing up for what they hope will be a historic postseason run.
BR-H will try to take the first step toward its goal when it travels to Manistique for the Division 4 Team District on Thursday.
Reigning District champ BR-H (21-2) faces the host Emeralds, and Iron Mountain meets Newberry at 6 p.m. The winners advance to the championship match at 7:30.
"This is definitely the best season we've had as a varsity program," said fourth-year coach Joe Racicot. "At the beginning of the season with the number of kids we had coming back, we thought we could be up near the top. Although, I wasn't sure we'd be 21-2. Many of the teams are shorthanded, although we're winning more matches than we're losing. We're heading in the right direction."
If the Broncos win the District, they would host the Team Regional for the first time March 24.
"It's going to be a challenge," said Racicot. "I have the utmost respect for the other coaches in our District. I've learned a lot from them. All of them are good friends and mentors to me. I'm one of the few coaches who didn't wrestle in high school because we didn't have a program here at that time. Although, it didn't take me long to fall in love with the sport."
Last year, the Broncos were crowned District champs for the first time in their 10-year history before falling to Onaway in a Regional opener.
Powers North Central sophomore Drew Allgeyer, who wrestles at BR-H through a co-op venture, is 23-0.
"We've been working hard," said Allgeyer, who will be wrestling at 160 pounds in the District and finished seventh at last season’s Finals at 145. "We have good practice partners and push each other every day. We're all helping each other to be the best we can be, which definitely pays off in competition.
"I have the strength for 171. I've been wrestling at 171 most of the year which helps me a lot,” he added. “All I want to do is have good matches. I always say I don't lose, I learn. There's always somebody better than you. That's big motivation right there."
Both of BR-H's losses this winter were to Division 2 Escanaba.
"We lost to them by six and 12 points," said Allgeyer. "They're the best team in the U.P., and they're well-coached. It's good for us to put up as much of a fight as we did, although none of this will mean anything once we get into the postseason when it really counts. Iron Mountain has a solid team. They and all the other teams will put their best lineup out there."
North Central junior Wyatt Raab (215) is 18-0 going into the postseason.
"This is the first time Bark River-Harris has had a chance to go to the state tournament as a team," he said. "We could also have the most individual qualifiers in school history. We're looking to make a lot of special trips this year.”
BR-H freshman Noah Gagne is pleasantly surprised by the Broncos' record.
"We have a lot of young guys this year," he added. "I thought we'd be pretty good, but not this good. Esky was definitely our toughest competition, and I think Iron Mountain is closer to us. “This has definitely been a learning experience for me. The older guys have been teaching me a lot of things. I've learned to be more confident. They told me to 'know what you're doing and try to listen to your coaches and teammates during a match.'"
Junior Avry Corrigan joined Allgeyer at last season’s Individual Finals. The Broncos this winter also have four girls, including junior captain Katie Viau and Melody Racicot who will be wrestling in Sunday's Michigan Wrestling Association girls state tournament at Highland.
"It's nice to see that growing," said coach Racicot. "We hope to eventually get a girls tournament in the U.P."
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO: Drew Allgeyer’s arm is raised in victory after one of his wins last season during the Individual Finals at Ford Field. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
LakeVille's Hammond Not Seeking Spotlight, but Thriving Amid Pressure as Reigning Champ
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 4, 2026
Fred Hammond remembers what a thrill it was to have Otisville-LakeVille Memorial varsity wrestlers at his club practices when he was younger.
So now that Hammond – the reigning Division 4 Individual Finals champion at 165 pounds and school record holder for wins – is doing the same, there’s no doubt the current LakeVille youth team is experiencing that same thrill.
At the same time, Hammond is finding it just as exciting to be on the other side.
“One of my coaches is our club coach and talks about how his son, when he goes home, he’ll talk about me being there,” Hammond said. “But I just like seeing their smiles. I like being in the room, playing dodgeball with them and teaching them moves. That was a real cool experience for me (as a kid), and I imagine that’s how those guys look at me now.”
Hammond is giving back to the program that has given him so much, all while still helping to elevate the Falcons to new heights.
This past weekend, he picked up his 200th career victory, which tied LakeVille great Stan Marshall for most in school history. Hammond then surpassed that mark to take the record for himself.
He’s now 41-0 on the season with 23 wins by pin fall and seven by technical fall. In his LakeVille career, Hammond is 202-10 and has placed three times at the Individual Finals, taking sixth at 150 pounds as a freshman and third at 165 as a sophomore, both in Division 3. As a junior, he became LakeVille’s first champ since 1999 when he pinned his first three opponents and won by tech in the championship match to claim the 165-pound crown in Division 4.
“Stan Marshall was a three-time state champ, four-time placer, and Stan held every record we had,” LakeVille coach Dan Huggler said. “Ever since Freddy was a middle schooler, he wanted to break all those records. He’s trained hard, and he’s pretty much broke them all. He has the career takedown, pins and wins records. He’s only allowed five takedowns in the past three seasons. He wrestles a lot of tough matches – we’ll wrestle Dundee, (Detroit Catholic Central), as much as we can. His sophomore year, he gave up three takedowns. Last year, he gave up two. This year, he hasn’t given up any. It’s pretty amazing.”
While Huggler had plenty to say about his star wrestler’s exploits on the mat, his voice raised in excitement when talking about the type of person that sits on top of his program’s record books.
“He’s a National Honor Society student, student council member, has over a 3.8 GPA,” Huggler said. “He’s the kindest kid you could imagine – just friendly, smiles at everyone, part of everybody’s group and gets along with everybody. He relates to the people in the Chess Club. He can relate with everyone. He never makes it about himself.”
To that point, Hammond’s milestone victory was achieved while his team won the Tamonta Hill Team Tournament and helped Huggler reach a milestone of his own: his 300th career dual coaching victory.
“I’ve been through LakeVille’s program for a long time, and having these guys coaching me and around all the way through my career, it’s been great,” Hammond said. “It’s pretty cool that on the same day I hit 200, he hit 300. It was cool to do that in front of our home crowd.”
LakeVille is back in Division 3 this season and No. 8 in Michigan Grappler’s latest team rankings. The Falcons won the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference for the third straight season, and three other wrestlers – Adam Hoch, Jake Hascall and George Gavan – have collected career victory No. 100 this season.
As Hammond has been looking at new goals following his individual title a year ago, all of that team success has him thinking big.
“Honestly, I’ve been thinking about college a lot and what I could do there, and obviously helping my teammates,” he said. “Now I’m thinking about team state titles and all of that. That would be real cool to win a team state championship.”
He’s also chasing another individual title, and along the way has accomplished quite a bit outside of the career milestone, having won the Detroit Catholic Central Invitational and Genesee County titles.
As a returning Finals champion, Hammond is well aware that he’ll have a target on his back, but he’s not only prepared for that – he welcomes it.
“I feel like even over the summer, I kind of took a little break just to relax and I hadn’t taken a break from wrestling in a while. But every day since I got back, I always try to get a little better, and I feel like I’m wrestling well going into the postseason,” Hammond said. “I like that feeling of being tracked down. I like being the guy to beat.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Otisville-LakeVille Memorial’s Fred Hammond (in yellow) works toward a win during last season’s MHSAA Individual Finals. (Middle) Hammond celebrates his championship at Ford Field. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)