Constantine Proving Its Power as Postseason Approaches
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2021
Excuses are not permitted inside the Constantine High School wrestling room.
Despite being 15-1 with wins over several top-10 teams in the state, the Falcons are not among the programs ranked in Division 3 as of March 2. Constantine has defeated three of the best teams (Bronson, Union City and Lawton) in Division 4 so far this year and boasts four returning Individual Finals qualifiers.
But because Constantine has been tripped up at Team Regionals since 2013, seventh-year head coach Dale Davidhizar believes his squad has more to prove before it gets the recognition it might deserve.
A shortened season due to COVID-19, which eliminated big weekend tournaments that best prepare athletes for the grueling postseason, won’t be used as a defense for individuals or the team coming up short this month.
“With our senior leadership that we have, I think the kids will be ready to go and rolling without a problem,” Davidhizar said. “We’ve filled our team schedule with some pretty good teams throughout the year.”
Two of those seniors, both captains, have endured plenty of adversity. Neither one of them has let it derail them. Due to various injuries over the years and waiting their turns behind talented upperclassmen, Gage Ensign (152 pounds) and Isaac Hall (189) finally reached 100 career victories in February as they eye returns to the Finals.
Ensign placed seventh in Division 3 in 2019 at 130 pounds and opted not to duck anyone the following year as a junior. In 2020, a stacked Division 3 Regional at 140 pounds resulted in four wrestlers eventually snagging the first, second, third and fifth podium positions at Ford Field at the championship. Ensign was not one of them.
“He wanted to stay in the toughest weight class in the state in any region,” Davidhizar said of Ensign’s competitiveness. “He took on the challenge and fell a little short. Those were some seriously tough kids he went after.”
At 12-1 this year, Ensign, who’s battling a nagging injury, hopes to finish out his career with a strong run at 152.
“This year I’m an underdog,” Ensign said. “I sort of embrace it, and I feel more relaxed in practice and in meets. I have nothing to lose now. I was pretty dang happy (to reach 100 wins) because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to wrestle this year. I’m just happy to be able to be on the mat.”
Hall stepped up as a freshman at 171 and finished around .500. He missed time as a sophomore due to an injury — about a third of the season — but accumulated more than 40 victories in 2020 at 189 en route to a fourth-place Finals finish. Hall dropped his opening match by fall in the first period but went on to win four consecutive bouts in the consolation rounds. He’s currently 16-0.
“I’m very happy that he got to that milestone (100 wins),” Davidhizar said. “For him to reach that milestone is a huge deal for him and his whole family. It really shows the work he has put in. Without putting too much pressure on him, I feel he should be in the Finals. He’s the only returning state placer at 189 in Division 3. He’s put in even more work this year. Troy Demas has really been able to push him past some barriers, and it’s going to show at the end of the year.”
Hall broke through with his 100th win against Vicksburg, bumping up to 215 to avoid a victory by forfeit.
“I was just excited to get back to wrestling and prove what I could do this year,” Hall said. “I wanted my 100th win to be a real match, not a void. It was pretty awesome. I wish I would have hit it sooner, but I’m glad I made it there.
“I’m confident we will make it to team state this year. I don’t know what it’s like to make it to state (as a team), and I’d like to experience that. Individually, I’d like to make it to the Finals and get that state championship.”
Boe Eckman has been dinged up this year, but he’s another Falcons senior leader with a wealth of Finals experience. At 215, Eckman was edged by two points in the Division 3 title match last year by Richmond’s Luke Davis. Eckman racked up three pins on his way to the championship bout.
While trying to get healthy this year, the Falcons have gotten a boost from freshman Bennett VandenBerg, who has bounced between 215 and 189 and has racked up double-digit wins already.
Senior Dylan Reiff made it to Ford Field last year at 130 and finished eighth. He’s 14-2 this season at the same weight class. Sophomore Troy Demas (171) and junior Eric Demas are both 14-2, and senior Chuck Taylor has a 15-1 record.
“Our practices, they go hard,” Davidhizar said. “It shows the level of skill those kids bring in and getting some of those freshmen and sophomores to the level of state qualifiers and state placers. Dylan Reiff hadn’t wrestled in three years and he came in last year for the first time and was a state placer. I attribute that to wrestling with Gage and Eric Demas. I attribute that to practice partners and how the guys practice in our room.
“Boe Eckman and Isaac Hall have been practice partners since seventh grade. Isaac works his tail off to get where he is now, but Boe has helped him along tremendously. Boe had the higher skill when Isaac was just starting out, and now Isaac has gotten to that point. That’s teammates working hard together. Kids are pushing everyone in the room.”
With a seasoned group in the upper weights and some pieces falling into place in the lighter slots, Constantine continues to gain momentum as the season winds down.
“I thought, as a whole, we were probably going to be one of the best teams that I’ve coached in the seven years since I’ve taken over the high school (program),” Davidhizar said. “We’re pretty solid. With our senior leadership that we have with our five core seniors, I thought we were going to be pretty tough to handle for anybody in the state.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Constantine’s Gage Ensign faces off with an opponent this season. (Middle) Isaac Hall’s arm is raised in victory, one of more than 100 during his career. (Photos by Terena Reif.)
Latest Championship Chapter of DCC/Davison Goes Shamrocks' Way
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 22, 2025
KALAMAZOO – Connor Bercume’s Detroit Catholic Central wrestling career came full circle Saturday.
Three years ago, Bercume lost the opening match of the Division 1 Final against Davison in a dual meet the Shamrocks lost by eight.
In his final match at Wings Events Center, however, the senior closed his team wrestling career by winning the clinching match in Catholic Central’s 50-18 victory against Davison.
“That’s a pretty cool feeling,” Bercume said. “I kind of started my career here at the team state championships, it was the first match my freshman year. I lost and we ended up losing that dual. So, that was definitely tough on me. This year, it’s pretty awesome to clinch it up. It still hasn’t really sunk in that this was actually my last time representing CC as a team. But, yeah, it feels good.”
Bercume and the Shamrocks have now won three straight Division 1 Finals titles, seven of the past nine and 11 since 2010, all under coach Mitch Hancock. In three of the five years the Shamrocks didn’t win the title, they were a finalist.
“It doesn’t,” Hancock said when asked if the feeling of winning ever changes. “You’d think it would. You’re so in the process throughout the year of prepping and prepping and prepping, but when it finally comes to fruition, you look at their faces and get the chance to embrace the coaches who have spent so much time and energy with these guys – it doesn’t (change). It’s a special moment. We do the team state tournament right here in Michigan, it means something. Other states, not so much; it’s the individual tournament. But look around. So many communities that are invested in wrestling – it’s special.”
Saturday was the seventh time Davison and CC had met in the Final since 2013, and the first time the Shamrocks had come out on top in that scenario since 2020.
The rivalry added another layer this season, as Hancock’s former Central Michigan University teammate Jason Mester took over the Davison program.
“Jason’s one of my closest friends. I talk to him every day,” Hancock said. “It’s an honor (to compete against him in the Final). It’s his first year at the helm, you can see the progress they made throughout the year. There’s no bigger competitor than Jason Mester, so I know we’re going to see his butt next year. … The Davison/CC rivalry is the best one in the state of Michigan, and you felt that tonight. Kudos to that coaching staff, Coach Mester, they’re going to be around for a long time with him at the helm. I can’t say enough about that team. But our guys stepped up tonight, and that starts with our freshman Braxton Roche at (157). What a remarkable display of talent.”
Roche’s match was one of several between ranked wrestlers in the dual, as he defeated Davison’s Julius Pacheco, who is ranked No. 5 at 150 and bumped up to face the sixth-ranked Roche. The back-and-forth affair ended with an 8-4 decision in favor of Roche, giving the Shamrocks a 26-12 lead with the heart of their lineup still to go.
While Kyle Jelinek would get a pin for Davison in the following match at 165, Catholic Central closed out the dual with five straight wins.
“I thought our guys competed,” Mester said. “The score really doesn’t tell the tale of how well our guys competed today or yesterday or all year, really. Our guys went out there and fought hard. We got beat in a number of positions where the swing matches could have gone either way, and it went their way today. My hat’s off to them – they wrestled a great dual and wrestled a great season.”
Davison (19-4) did get some big pins, as Jelinek was joined by Steve Vaughn (113) and Calvin Martz (138). But those were their only victories on the night.
“We had two seniors who got pinned tonight, and that typically doesn’t happen in our lineup,” Hancock said. “But I looked at both those young men and I said, ‘This team will pick you up.’ And those guys did, so I’m really proud of the other guys who stepped up and found a way to pick those two seniors up.”
Ryan Totten (120), Wyatt Lees (126), Benny Eziuka (285) and Richard Mogle (106) all won by fall for Catholic Central (27-5), while Bercume won by technical fall at 215.
Mack Moskovic (132), Alexander Buskirk (150) and Caden Krueger (175) won major decisions, while Grayson Fuchs (144) and Lee Krueger (190) joined Roche with wins by decision.
“We took some tough Ls (earlier in the season) to Lowell, St. Ed’s (Ohio), all the nationally-ranked teams that we wrestled,” Eziuka said. “That just prepared us for this moment to come out and put on a performance like this.”
Click for this weekend’s Division 1 meet summaries.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central's Connor Bercume (blue) wrestles Davison's Brandon Glisson at 215 pounds during Saturday's Division 1 Final. (Middle) The Shamrocks' Benny Eziuka has his hand raised in victory after his match at 285. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)