D3 Preview: 2 More Seek Induction Into 4-Time Champs Club
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 3, 2022
No matches draw in more of the Ford Field wrestling crowd than those featuring potential four-time MHSAA Finals champs. And spectators will have multiple opportunities to watch history this weekend in Division 3.
Clinton’s Logan Badge and Dundee’s Casey Swiderski are seeking to become the next four-time title winners, joining a list that has grown to 30 since Mount Pleasant’s Mike Mills became the first in 1979.
With the starting weight 189 pounds, Badge – whose team wrestled in Division 4 his first three seasons before moving into Division 3 this winter – could have a chance to celebrate in the first match of the final round Saturday afternoon.
The Grand March on Friday begins at 10 a.m., with wrestling through semifinals that evening. Wrestling begins again at 9 a.m. Saturday with championship matches at 3:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at Ford Field. All matches will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv, and we’ll talk to all 14 champions in each division for our Second Half coverage published later that evening and overnight. See the MHSAA Wrestling Finals page for more information and to follow results this weekend.
112 Connor Younts, Clinton sophomore (40-7) – Last year’s 103-pound champ in Division 4 won a Regional championship two weeks ago and could run into the top seed in this bracket in the semifinals.
119 Braeden Davis, Dundee junior (37-2) – He’s looking to add a third Finals championship after winning 112 as a sophomore and 103 as a freshman.
130 Kade Chinavare, Dundee junior (32-3) – Last year’s winner at 119 gives this bracket two 2021 champs set up to potentially decide the title. Chinavare also finished third at 112 as a freshman.
130 Zachary Gibson, Lake Odessa Lakewood senior (35-0) – The top seed at this weight won at 125 last year and is a combined 88-1 over the last two. He’s also earned fifth places at 112 and 103 and has a 179-15 career record.
140 Ryker Johnecheck, Williamston senior (34-2) – He’s looking to follow up last year’s undefeated run to the 130 title with his third championship after also winning 125 as a sophomore.
145 Aiden Davis, Dundee junior (39-0) – The top seed at 145 is wrestling for his second title after winning 135 last year and finishing the 125 runner-up as a freshman.
152 Casey Swiderski, Dundee senior (41-0) – His past championships were at 145 last year, 135 in 2020 and 103 in 2019, and he’s bringing a career record of 154-3 into the weekend.
160 Connor Owens, Flint Powers Catholic junior (14-0) – After losing by decision in last season’s 160 championship match, he’s back as the top seed and with that his only defeat since his freshman season when he finished fourth at 140.
189 Logan Badge, Clinton senior (33-5) – He’s seeking his third title at 189 after winning that weight in Division 4 the last two seasons and 215 in Division 4 as a freshman. He'll also no doubt be eager to get back on the mat coming off a rare defeat, to Alma's Jacob Munger during last weekend's Team Semifinals.
285 Levi Harber, Montrose senior (40-4) – The top seed at this weight is returning after finishing runner-up last season, to go with a third place at 215 as a sophomore.
Other 2021 champions: 112 Kade Kluce, Dundee sophomore (37-6, 103 last year); 135 Coy Perry, Clinton sophomore (44-8, 112 in Division 4 last year).
Other 2021 runners-up: 103 Talan Parsons, Ovid-Elsie sophomore (33-1, 103 last year); 119 Gavyn Merchant, Kingsley sophomore (33-3, 112 last year); 119 Connor Busz, Clinton junior (45-2, 112 in Division 4 last year); 125 Zak Shadley, Clinton junior (39-10, 119 in Division 4 last year); 135 Caeleb Ishmael, Coloma senior (43-3, 125 last year); 160 Kent McCombs, Clinton senior (30-2, 145 in Division 4 last year); 171 Randy Pyrzewski, Gladwin senior (46-2, 171 last year).
Additional No. 1 seeds: 112 Easton Moran, Yale senior (48-2); 125 Cameron Chinavare, Dundee sophomore (35-2); 135 Aidan Bernard, Montrose senior (42-1); 171 Randy Pyrzewski, Gladwin senior (46-2); 215 Hunter Huguelet, Gladwin senior (40-1).
Also undefeated: 145 Cody Ueberroth, Saginaw Swan Valley junior (43-0); 160 Nick Marienfeld, Napoleon senior (51-0).
PHOTO Dundee's Casey Swiderski gains control of his opponent during Saturday's Team Semifinal win over Imlay City. (Click to see more from 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.)