Belleville Twins March to Finals Together
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
March 2, 2016
BELLEVILLE – Caleb Brown continues to be haunted by what he considers a grim disappointment in his Belleville wrestling career.
Last season, Brown lost during what those in the wrestling fraternity call the “blood round.” This is the consolation round, a match for fourth place, at the Individual Wrestling Regionals. Brown lost by one point in the 152-pound weight class to an opponent he had defeated earlier in the season and, thus, missed qualifying for the MHSAA Finals.
He was devastated but not consumed by it. For one, that was his junior season. Brown rededicated himself during the offseason. He continued to run cross country to keep his weight down and also increase his endurance.
This season Brown broke through barriers, claiming the Wayne County and Division 1 Regional championships at 152.
As proud as he is of reaching this point, it’s made even more special by the fact that he’ll enter The Palace of Auburn Hills on Thursday with his twin brother Chris. Chris Brown competes at 130. Last season he qualified for the MHSAA Finals at 119 and won a first-round match before losing his next.
“It’s really cool,” Caleb said. “I missed out last year. Being a senior, it’s cool.
“(Winning the regional) didn’t hit me right away. I was just talking about it with my teammates, and that’s when it hit me. I was really focused on winning the match.”
Caleb is 44-4 this season and will face Kyle Minor of Roseville in Thursday’s first round.
Chris is 47-2 and will go against Lee Grabowski of Brighton.
The Browns say having a twin who competes in the same sports is an advantage, if for no other reason than it enhances one’s competitive nature.
They both started wrestling in middle school by chance.
“We played football in the beginning,” Chris said. “The coach told us to wrestle to keep in shape. I was terrible in the beginning. But we’ve never been known as quitters. I like the individualism. You can’t use the excuse your team lost it for you.”
Once they entered high school, the Browns gravitated even more toward the sport. But it wasn’t until their sophomore season that they became proficient at it.
For Chris, there was one match that showed he could compete against the best.
“My sophomore year was my first on varsity,” he said. “I went against a ranked opponent, and I won by a point. That was huge for my confidence.”
Coinciding with the Browns’ rise was the return of Derek Phillips as coach. Phillips started coaching in 1994 and stayed 11 seasons before taking time off to help raise two children. He remained within the school district as a teacher, but the time commitment of teaching and coaching together was not conducive to spending quality time with his sons.
In 2013, Phillips returned. He has been a mentor for the Browns and a third senior MHSAA Finals qualifier, David Tooley (215).
Phillips was the one who encouraged the Browns to compete in cross country.
“It goes hand in hand,” Phillips said of the two sports. “I love it. They come into the wrestling season in shape. All three have over 100 wins and all three are good students. They’re a coach’s dream.”
Tooley is a little different. It’s not because he plays football instead of competing in cross country. And it’s not because he’s a three-sport athlete (also plays baseball). It’s his warm-up routine that causes many to take a second look, scratch their heads or both.
It’s more than a routine. It’s a dance. Sort of. He got the idea from watching a wrestler from Southgate Anderson who competed against his brother, Mark Tooley, when the elder Tooley wrestled for Belleville in 2011.
“It’s like no other,” David Tooley said. “It’s an active movement. It’s like a dance, and it’s a little embarrassing.”
Whatever works.
The Browns’ warmup routines are a little less flamboyant, but they do get a kick out of watching their teammate go through his routine. Chris likes to listen to music just before his matches. Caleb prefers listening to his coach, receiving last-minute instructions.
Away from the mat, the Browns are constantly challenging each other. Take running, for example.
“We try to one-up each other,” Chris said. “We’ve always been competitive. I’m faster than he is, when we run cross country. We’re not too far apart though.”
Caleb judges a person’s speed all together differently.
“He might beat me in cross country,” he said. “But if it’s a true test of speed, I’m faster.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Chris Brown works to gain control during one of his Division 1 Regional matches Feb. 20. (Middle) Caleb Brown, Chris Brown, David Tooley.(Below) Caleb Brown works an opponent toward a potential pin during one of his Regional matches. (Top and below photos by Douglas Chapman.)
D4 Preview: Hornets Seek to Stay On Top
February 25, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Eight Division 4 title hopefuls will be the first to take the mat at the first MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals weekend hosted by Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena.
Included among those eight is two-time reigning champion New Lothrop, two-time reigning runner-up Hudson, and three more teams returning to the Quarterfinals, which begin this season at noon.
Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 4, listed by seed. Quarterfinal matches begin at 12 p.m. Friday, with Semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday and the championship match at 3:30 p.m. All matches this weekend will be streamed live on a subscription basis on MHSAA.TV. For results throughout, check the MHSAA Wrestling page.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
#1 New Lothrop
Record/rank: 21-5, No. 1
League finish: Third in Genesee Area Conference Blue.
Coach: Jeff Campbell, 15th season (389-70)
Championship history: 14 MHSAA championships (most recent 2015), four runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Logan Zell (27-22) fr., 112 Tommy Malloy (39-12), soph.; 130 Austin Wolford, 30-15, fr., 140 Zack Riley (19-15) fr., 145 Cole Hersch (44-1) sr.; 152 Steven Garza II (50-1) sr.; 160 John Robinson (36-3) sr.; 171 Erik Birchmeier (28-2) jr.; 171 Brandon Henige (31-20) sr.; 215 Caleb Symons (48-1) sr.
Outlook: New Lothrop is favored to win a third straight Division 4 with a number of standouts who have been part of those previous title-winning teams. The Hornets are led in part by Garza, an individual champion at 145 last season, and Symons, who like last season enters Team Finals weekend with only one loss and was the runner-up at 189 in 2015. Hersch, another veteran standout, Malloy and junior Connor Krupp (16-4, 125) also are returning Finals placers.
#2 Decatur
Record/rank: 27-3, No. 3
League finish: First in Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Coach: Jack Richardson, first season (27-3)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Coy Helmuth (45-5) jr.; 130 Lucian Parish (43-5) sr.; Ethan May (47-3) jr.; Zac Checkley (43-13) jr.; 285 Logan Kennedy (45-5) jr.
Outlook: Richardson, a former standout at Grandville, brings back a team that missed its first championship appearance by only six points last season. Nine juniors and two seniors gained valuable experience during the run and under former longtime coach Brian Southworth. Senior Elijah Luth (37-8, 152) didn’t make the Individual Finals this time, but was a placer in 2015, and Kennedy placed in 2014. Decatur eliminated No. 8 Schoolcraft at the Regional.
#3 Hudson
Record/rank: 17-14, No. 2
League finish: Second in Lenawee County Athletic Association.
Coach: Scott Marry, 28th season (732-165)
Championship history: Five MHSAA championships (most recent 2013), runner-up 2014 and 2015.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Dylan Leathers (31-9) sr.; 103 Tucker Sholl (41-3) fr.; 112 Jordan Hamdan (44-6) fr.; 119 Carson Price (35-16) fr.; 145 Mason Lopinski (45-5) sr.; 160 Kyle Johnson (42-8) sr.; 189 Tylor Grames (45-6) jr.
Outlook: Hudson has made the championship match against New Lothrop the last two seasons, and the regular-season team record this winter can be overlooked given the difficulty of Hudson’s schedule. Another deep run would only put more fear into opponents for the next three seasons; seven Hudson starters are freshmen, and an eighth is a sophomore. Lopinski was an individual runner-up at 145 last season, while Johnson was the champion at 152 in 2014.
#4 Hesperia
Record/rank: 36-7, No. 4
League finish: First in Central State Activities Association Silver.
Coach: Doug Baird, 13th season (437-38)
Championship history: Division 4 champion 2008, five runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Davian Gowens (39-3) sr.; 140 Logan Eaves (28-9) sr.; 140 Trentyn Gleason (40-13) soph.; 145 Gerrit Yates (49-4) soph.; 171 Mark Workman (30-0) sr.; 285 Josh Ehrke (43-2) sr.
Outlook: Hesperia is continuing a dominating decade with its eighth appearance at Finals weekend over the last 10 seasons to go with the championship in 2008 and three of its five runner-up finishes all-time, the most recent coming in 2013. Yates was an individual runner-up last season at 135 and is one of eight underclassmen in the lineup. But there is experience; in addition to Yates last winter, Gowens was a champion in 2014 and Eaves and Workman were runners-up that season.
#5 Springport
Record/rank: 28-6, No. 6
League finish: First in Big 8 Conference.
Co-coaches: David Pratt, 11th season (291-78)
Championship history: Class D runner-up 1984.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Tyler Teague (46-6) jr.; 130 Noah Teague (41-11) soph.; 135 Sean O’Hearon (43-1) jr.; 145 Taylor Whitmore (43-5) sr.; 152 Zeth Caudill (38-3) sr.; 189 Nick Cooper (35-1) jr.; 215 Luke Overweg (30-22) soph.
Outlook: Springport is making its second Quarterfinals appearance in three seasons and third under Pratt after claiming its seventh straight league championship and 11th District title under the coach. The Spartans graduated three-time champion Jacob Cooper last spring, but junior Nick Cooper has picked up the mantle and finished runner-up last season at 171; Caudill, Noah Teague and O’Hearon all also were Individual Finals placers in 2015.
#6 Manchester
Record/rank: 23-6, No. 9
League finish: First in Cascades Conference.
Coach: Steve Vlcek, 26th season (524-187)
Championship history: Division 4 runner-up 2008.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Reese Fry (40-6) soph.; 119 Blake Belaire (36-11) soph.; 125 Miquel Grammatico (35-13) sr.; 130 Ethan Woods (44-2) jr.; 171 Trevor Humphrey (43-4) sr.; 189 Jordan Good (15-3) jr.; 285 Stevie Suliman (39-10) sr.
Outlook: Manchester returns to Finals weekend for the second straight season and seventh over the last decade, and with 10 upperclassmen in the lineup despite graduating a strong group last spring. Woods was the individual runner-up at 119 last season and also placed as a freshman, and Humphrey also placed in 2015.
#7 Leroy Pine River
Record/rank: 25-4, No. 10
League finish: First in Wolverine Conference.
Coach: Tim Jones, 17th season (455-80)
Championship history: Class C runner-up 1991.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Dylan Stephens (37-6) soph.; 112 Andrew Park (47-3) soph.; 119 Nate Park (41-4) sr.; 119 Jacob Roberts (40-5) soph.; 130 Tucker Fansler (39-12) jr.; 160 Joe Rigling (42-13) jr.; 171 Raden Holmes (43-9) jr.; 189 Josh Jackson (46-5) sr.; 215 Bryan Mccurry (34-16) fr.
Outlook: Only top seed New Lothrop has more Individual Finals qualifiers among Division 4 teams competing this weekend, and Andrew Park was an individual placer last season. They’ve been part of a team that has won 16 league and District titles over the last 17 seasons and also made the Team Quarterfinals a year ago for the first time since 2008. Pine River beat its three MHSAA Tournament opponents this month by an average of 40 points.
#8 Munising
Record/rank: 19-5, unranked
League finish: Does not wrestle in a league.
Coach: Bob Miles, 10th season (169-107)
Championship history: Upper Peninsula runner-up 1968.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Nick Miles (35-9) soph.; 189 Hunter Sadler (50-2) sr.
Outlook: The wrestling program is continuing a strong run by Munising teams in multiple sports, making Finals weekend for the first time in Miles’ decade as coach and after winning a second straight District championship. Sadler finished sixth at 171 last season and brings experience on the big mat. The Mustangs have accomplished this despite voiding four weights and with only two seniors – which could bode well for the future.
PHOTO: A New Lothrop wrestler has his hand raised by an official in victory during a match this season against Richmond at CMU. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)