D1 Preview: Davison Seeks Return to Top
February 20, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Davison is arguably the most storied wrestling program in MHSAA history. And for seven seasons, the Cardinals have looked to add another championship chapter.
This weekend at Kellogg Arena, they are favored to win their first Division 1 title since finishing a string of five consecutive championships in 2006.
Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 1, listed by seed. Their Quarterfinal matches begin at 3:15 p.m. Friday, with Semifinals at 9:30 Saturday morning and the championship match at 4 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. Rankings below are from MichiganGrappler.com.
#1 DAVISON
Record/rank: 23-4, No. 1
League finish: First in Saginaw Valley Association
Coach: Roy Hall, 17th season (426-72-1)
Championship history: Eight MHSAA championships (most recent 2006), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Devon Perez (31-11) soph., 112 Max Johnson (35-7) soph., 125 Lincoln Olson (38-1) jr., 130 Derek Humphrey (36-4) sr., 135 Matt Miller (30-7) sr., 140 Justin Oliver (40-1) sr., 145 Dominic Russ (33-8) sr., 152 Thomas Garty (33-3) sr., 152 Brenden McRill (22-11) fr.,171 Jordan Cooks (36-2) sr., 215 Jake Ellis (25-16) jr.
Outlook: Davison just missed the title last season, falling to Detroit Catholic Central 29-26 in the Final. But 11 starters from that match are back this weekend. The starting lineup features five 30-match winners, with five more 20-match winners able to sub in. Cooks was a repeat individual champion last season, while both Olson and Oliver have won multiple titles during their careers and Miller was a runner-up in 2013. Total, six of this weekend’s probable starters placed at last winter’s Individual Finals.
#2 HARTLAND
Record/rank: 38-2, No. 3
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association
Coach: Todd Cheney, 22nd season (601-91-2)
Championship history: Four MHSAA runner-up finishes (most recent 2007).
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Sage Castillo (49-7) soph., 130 Nate Hughes (48-7) sr., 135 Austin Eicher (33-1) sr., 145 Jacob Gorial (52-1) jr., 160 Logan Vish (39-15) soph., 285 Josh Charneski (46-8) sr.,
Outlook: Hartland again is contending for its first MHSAA team title, moving up from a third seed a year ago as it makes its 13th straight Quarterfinal appearance. Eicher defeated teammate Gorial in one of last season’s most talked about Individual Finals, at 130, and Gorial is the team wins leader this season. Once again, the path to Battle Creek was a tough one, with No. 4 Brighton and No. 5 Holt among those Hartland downed along the way.
#3 DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 15-4, No. 2
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic High School League
Coach: Mitch Hancock, seventh season (146-32)
Championship history: Ten MHSAA championships (most recent 2013), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Parker O’Brien (26-17) sr., 119 Trevor Zdebski (20-2) jr., 130 Evan Toth (27-13) sr., 135 Greg Johnson (32-10) sr., 140 Myles Amine (35-6) jr., 145 Malik Amine (27-3) sr., 152 Nick Bennett (36-0) sr., 171 Drew Garcia (34-1) sr., 189 Nick Giese (19-8) jr., 215 James Russell (36-7) sr.
Outlook: Detroit Catholic Central has won three Division 1 team championships in four seasons, including at the end of the last two, and should be in the hunt again despite the third seed. The Shamrocks’ only losses were to No. 1 Davison, Division 2 No. 1 Lowell and No. 2 St. Johns and Illinois power Oak Park River Forest. Malik Amine and Garcia are reigning individual champions, and Zdebski, Myles Amine and Giese also placed last season.
#4 GRANDVILLE
Record/rank: 17-1, No. 7
League finish: First in O-K Red
Coach: Bubba Gritter, fourth season (66-26)
Championship history: Two MHSAA championships (most recent 1993), three runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Josh Brower (33-9) soph., 135 Collin Tomkins (32-4) sr., 140 Kameron Bush (39-3) fr., 152 Jake Brower (31-8) sr., 160 Sam Greco (30-11) fr., 215 Eppe Saarenheimo (28-13) jr.
Outlook: Grandville returned to the Quarterfinals last season for the first time since Gritter’s senior year of 2003, and returns four seeds higher this weekend. Half of last season’s lineup is back including returning Individual Finals placer Tomkins. He’s one of five seniors; the probable starters for this weekend also include seven underclassmen looking to make this trip a tradition.
#5 OXFORD
Record/rank: 24-4, No. 8
League finish: First in Oakland Activities Association Red
Coach: Paul McDevitt, 17th season (345-140)
Championship history: MHSAA Division 1 champion 2011, two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Alex Hrisopoulos (42-7) soph., 160 Noah Kinne (33-18) jr., 171 Wesley Maskill (46-5) sr., 189 Wyatt Harden (16-4) soph., 189 Grant Krause (31-9) sr., 215 Ben Line (39-7) sr., 215 Jamal Pettiford (18-9) sr., 285 Zach Wood (30-5) sr.
Outlook: Oxford missed the Quarterfinals last season for the first time in six, but returns this weekend after beating No. 10 Clarkston along the way. Hrisopoulos, Maskill and senior Eddie Schlickenmeyer all have won at least 40 matches this season and were Individual Finals placers in 2013. Maskill, Schlickenmeyer, Krause and senior Zab Throne all were in the lineup the last time Oxford wrestled in a championship match, in 2012 against Detroit Catholic Central.
#6 PLYMOUTH
Record/rank: 36-4, unranked
League finish: Second in Kensington Lakes Activities Association
Coach: Quinn Guernsey, sixth season (112-75)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Brandon Harris (47-4) jr., 119 Mohamad Youssef (50-3) sr., 140 Jon Conn (44-7) sr., 145 Sofus Nielson (34-10) sr., 160 Joey Shaver (43-9) sr., 171 Hussein Youssef (45-8) jr.
Outlook: Guernsey, who wrestled at Brooklyn Columbia Central and then Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University, has led Plymouth to its first Quarterfinal this winter and an increased win total each of the last three seasons. Plymouth defeated No. 6 Temperance Bedford during this run. Mohamad Youssef was an Individual Finals placer last season.
#7 MACOMB DAKOTA
Record/rank: 25-5, No. 9
League finish: First in Macomb Area Conference Red
Coach: Ed Skowneski, second season (62-10)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 119 Zack Prater (39-11) soph., 135 Kyle Cendrowski (29-19) sr., 152 Alex Bozinovski (42-7) sr., 160 Jake Johnson (48-1) sr., 171 Joshua Burnham (39-8) sr., 189 Greg Brohl (32-17) sr., 215 Antonio Balabani (38-7) jr.
Outlook: After making the Quarterfinals last season for the first time, Dakota is back with a lineup of half seniors. Half of the lineup also has at least 30 wins, including returning Finals placers Bozinovski and Johnson. Skowneski was a 2003 individual champion for Clinton Township Chippewa Valley before wrestling at MSU.
#8 LIVONIA FRANKLIN
Record/rank: 16-7, unranked
League finish: Fifth in Kensington Lakes Activities Association
Coach: David Chiola, 14th season (231-97)
Championship history: Has never finished among the top two teams in Finals competition.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Jeremy Nelson (33-23) soph., 119 Nick Robertson (40-14) jr., 125 Nathan Atienza (50-6) fr., 152 Kenneth Steele (32-19) sr., 152 Nick Frazier (42-7) sr., 160 Jordan Atienza (58-0) sr.
Outlook: Franklin is in the Quarterfinals for the first time after winning its ninth straight District title. Jordan Atienza is 166-1 over the last two seasons and was an Individual Finals runner-up at 152 last winter. Chiola has won 292 matches total as a coach, with six more seasons at Garden City.
PHOTO: Davison wrestlers participate in the "Grand March" before last season's championship matches at Kellogg Arena. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Strong Start Sends Tower Rising Again
January 17, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Wrestling Team Districts are in three weeks. Two weeks later, Michigan’s best teams will converge for the Finals at Kalamazoo’s Wings Stadium.
Teams at the elite level like Warren Woods-Tower point to those championship opportunities all season. And the Titans – Division 2 semifinalists last year, runners-up in 2017 – are aiming to shine that final weekend again, and after a start both promising and historic.
Tower – the MHSAA/Applebee’s Team of the Month for December – won the 45th Macomb County Invitational on Dec. 22, the Titans’ first victory at the prestigious event since 1985.
They bested a field that included current Division 1 No. 10 Macomb Dakota and Division 3 No. 5 Algonac, which followed in second and third, respectively. Tower is ranked No. 4 in Division 2 this week.
“It wasn’t that we won it; it was the fashion that we won it in,” Tower coach Greg Mayer said while looking back this week. “We had some guys who had great performances. We had some guys who were unseeded who placed. We had a couple kids upset some kids – pretty much everybody outwrestled where they were seeded.
“It took everybody. The margin of victory was so slim. … It’s nice to see that some of those other guys, their efforts paid off and they contributed. It gives some kids confidence in their training efforts. They can believe in that because they’ve got results to stand behind them.”
Tower edged Dakota by 2.5 points at the County tournament after finishing second to Dakota in both 2017 and 2016.
Along the way this time, senior Chaise Mayer – Greg’s nephew – became the fourth four-time County champion, winning the 130-pound weight class. Freshman Omari Embree won the 160-pound class, while sophomore Joey Haynes (119) and senior David Stepanian (135) were runners-up.
The County tournament success followed a notable run earlier in December at Tower’s Titan Duals, where the team fell to Oxford and Goodrich but defeated Eaton Rapids and Richmond. Oxford is No. 7 in Division 1 this week and Goodrich is No. 3 in Division 2, while Eaton Rapids is No. 2 in Division 2 and Richmond is No. 2 in Division 3.
The Titans headed into this week 6-3 in duals and coming off a runner-up finish at their Saturday Clash of Champions, where they finished second to Division 1 No. 9 Holt.
A number of Titans are shining through the first half of the season, with records especially impressive considering the teams Tower has faced over the last seven weeks. Chaise Mayer, a two-time Finals runner-up and third-place finisher a year ago, is 21-3, as is Haynes and senior Joel Radvansky (285 pounds this winter and last season’s Finals runner-up at 215). Freshman Josh Howey (23-6, 112 pounds), sophomore Gavin Shoobridge (22-6, 119) and senior CJ Shier (20-5, 215) are all over 20 wins, with Embree (18-3) approaching.
The tests will continue, and immediately. Hudson’s Super 16 tournament is Saturday, and next Thursday’s dual against Macomb Dakota likely will end up determining the champion of the Macomb Area Conference Red this winter.
Then comes the MHSAA Tournament, and all of Division 2’s quest to unseat five-time reigning champion Lowell. Tower, seeking its first Finals championship in wrestling, is doing its work now to be ready for an opportunity to show this season’s first month was a precursor for the last.
“We’re still a work in progress. We still have a lot of room for improvement. We’re still chasing,” Greg Mayer said. “We’re not the frontrunners. That still belongs to Lowell, and I think everybody else is chasing them.
“I think we can compete with anybody in the state. As long as we continue to improve, I think we’ll be OK.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2018-19
November: Rochester Adams girls swimming & diving – Read
October: Leland boys soccer – Read
September: Pickford football – Read
August: Northville girls golf – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Warren Woods-Tower's David Stepanian, left, prepares to lock up with an opponent during the Macomb County Invitational. (Middle) The Titans raise the County championship trophy, their first since 1985. (Photos courtesy of C&G Newspapers.)