D1 Final: 'We wanted this matchup'
February 25, 2012
BATTLE CREEK – A week after the 2011 wrestling season ended, Detroit Catholic Central coach Mitch Hancock brought his team’s Division 1 runner-up trophy into the Shamrocks’ wrestling room.
He had one of his seniors paint “1 point” underneath it. The message was clear.
After losing by a point to Oxford in last season’s championship match, DCC was going to do everything possible to make that point up this winter. They did that Saturday – and a whole lot more.
The top-seeded Shamrocks’ avenged that Oxford loss by taking down the Wildcats 47-9 in easily the most lop-sided of Final matches at Kellogg Arena.
“Our goal was to dominate the whole weekend, and we came out here and did it,” DCC 189-pound senior Kevin Beazley said. “We were excited (to face Oxford). We wanted this matchup. That’s what we were hoping for. We wanted to take care of business.”
The championship was DCC’s ninth and second in three seasons. And as for that dominance, consider:
- The Shamrocks (25-3) outscored their three Finals weekend opponents by a combined score of 172-21.
- They won 18 matches by pin – for 108 of those points.
- Beazley wrestled for a combined 1 minute, 42 seconds in his three wins.
- Sophomore 130-pounder Ken Bade won two matches by pin and the third by technical fall.
“To win by the score of 47-9, I think makes a statement,” Hancock said. “To win 11 out of 14 matches, I think is pretty impressive.”
It’s tough to argue that. But Oxford’s advancement to the Final was impressive in its own right.
Oxford entered Finals weekend as just the No. 6 seed and with half its line-up new coming off last season’s championship. The coach running the show, Brandon Rank, also was in his first season as the head guy after earning a promotion from assistant.
The Wildcats (20-6) knocked out No. 2 seed Brighton and No. 3 seed Davison at Kellogg, after also beating two top-10 teams to win the Regional. Rank said it best: no one expected Oxford to make it to the championship match except for those wearing the team’s navy blue and gold.
“I’m proud of my kids, the way they battled. The two dual meets to get here showed we belonged here,” Rank said. “It was obvious. We belonged here.”
Click for match-by-match results from the Final, Semifinals and Quarterfinals. See more photos at High School Sports Scene.
MHSAA's Davis Selected to Michigan Chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 15, 2025
MHSAA Director of Officials Sam Davis – a high school champion wrestler and then highly-regarded official for more than four decades – will be inducted into the Michigan chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on May 17 in Ann Arbor.
Davis has been selected for his lifetime service to the sport, and his list of contributions continues to grow.
After serving 32 years as a teacher and administrator and then a decade in law enforcement, Davis joined the MHSAA staff in 2017 as part of the officials department. He now directs that department and its efforts to serve more than 9,000 officials across the state.
Davis was an MHSAA Wrestling Finals individual champion at 165 pounds as a senior at Lansing Eastern High School in 1969 and also a significant contributor when the Quakers won the Class A team championship in 1968. He then joined Michigan State University’s wrestling program but suffered an eye injury as a freshman that forced him to give up competing in the sport. However, he instead took up judo, winning state championships in 1980 and 1981 and competing at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Davis previously had officiated wrestling during the 1971-72 season and returned to the high school mat for good in 1981, continuing what has turned into a 45-season career as an MHSAA registered official in the sport. He also officiated National Junior College Athletic Association Finals in 1981 and 1982, and he received the MHSAA’s Vern L. Norris Award in 2015 for his vast contributions to officiating, mentorship and officials education.
After graduating from MSU with bachelor and master’s degrees in 1974, Davis began his teaching career at Lansing Everett High School that fall. He taught history, psychology and U.S. government and coached wrestling and football and later served as an assistant principal at the school. Davis also served as principal at Dwight Rich Middle School and then district athletic director before finishing 32 years in the Lansing School District in 2007.
He then served nearly 11 years with the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office, retiring as a major in December 2017 and soon after joining the MHSAA staff after having contributed several seasons as a Finals official and Official in Charge managing all officials working championship matches during those events. He also has served as a longtime president of the Lansing Wrestling Officials Association.