DCC Wins Power-Packed Rematch in D1
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 23, 2019
KALAMAZOO – Tony Greathouse has built one of the state’s elite wrestling programs at Brighton over the past six years.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the state’s most elite program currently resides in their division.
Detroit Catholic Central defeated Brighton 34-19 on Saturday at Wings Event Center to claim its third straight Division 1 team wrestling title.
“Especially this year, we took a big step up where we’re not just barely beating teams, we beat really good teams this year by 40 or 50,” Greathouse said. “Even this dual, even though we lost, the fact that we’re within 15 points of them – they might be the best team that’s ever come out of the state of Michigan. They’re pretty darn good.”
Catholic Central (26-1) finished the decade with seven titles and one runner-up finish. It’s a feat no Division 1 team has ever accomplished.
“You have to take your hats off to our guys; they work so hard,” said Shamrocks coach Mitch Hancock, who has led the program to each of those seven titles. “It’s not about me, it really isn’t. It’s about them and how hard they work. We have a standard at Catholic Central, and that standard is high. When you come to Catholic Central, you better be ready to work, you better be ready to perform in the classroom, pray to God and perform on the athletic field, and those guys live up to that standard every single day.”
The Shamrocks rolled through the postseason, not giving up a team point through the District or Regional, and rolling to 63-6 (Clarkston) and 56-9 (Westland John Glenn) wins in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.
“We kind of look at it as, we don’t really have anything to prove,” Catholic Central senior Cameron Amine said. “We just have to keep getting better every day in the practice room and pushing each other in the practice room. And that nothing is ever given to us at all. You have to go out there and work for it and get it.”
The dual started in the heart of Catholic Central’s lineup at 140 pounds, and the Shamrocks jumped out to a 29-3 lead despite it being a strong stretch of the Bulldogs’ lineup as well.
Logan Sanom and returning Individual Finals champion Derek Gilcher each won major decisions at 140 and 145, respectively. Three-time individual champion Kevon Davenport won by decision for the Shamrocks at 152, followed by two-time champion Amine winning by major decision at 160.
Brighton got on the board at 171, as River Shettler won by decision, but the Shamrocks rattled off four straight, starting with a decision from returning champion Easton Turner at 189. Brendin Yatooma (215) and Steven Kolcheff (285) also won by major decision, while Anthony Walker (103) won a decision.
Brighton rattled off four straight wins from 112 through 130, getting a major decision from Mason Shrader, a pin from Sam Freeman and decisions from Ben Manly and Eddie Homrock.
The Shamrocks closed the dual with another returning champion, Josh Edmond, winning by technical fall at 135.
“We start at 140, good luck with that, right?” Hancock said. “You got Gilcher, Amine, Davenport, then you go up top to our big guys – we just put a lot of faith in our big guys up top. They’re just a really, really good team, and we were just a couple points better at every weight. To me, that’s just a level of toughness, a level of focus and just some conditioning.
“Hats off to Tony, he’s built a power over there at Brighton.”
The matchups were ones Greathouse knew posed problems for his team coming in.
“We knew coming in that we were going to have to win some matches that we probably weren’t supposed to win,” he said. “We were facing some pretty formidable opposition there. Overall, I thought we competed pretty hard, but they’re better than we are. We had to be better than them today, and we weren’t. We lost by 58 points to them last year in the state finals, today we lost by 15, so we made a 43-point improvement over the last 12 months, so I think that’s something to hang your hat on. We beat the Division 2 state champ (Lowell), we beat the Division 3 state champ (Dundee), so we had a pretty great season. I’m proud of them.”
Hancock wasn’t just impressed with his stars, however, as his younger wrestlers came through for the team as well.
“Anthony Walker I think was the key of the match, his big win down low,” Hancock said. “Logan Sanom, I’m not sure if people expected him to wrestle in that dual but he came out firing. Those two guys really stood out to me, and then up top Brendin Yatooma who beat (Luke) Stanton. Stanton is pretty dangerous on top, so for Yatooma to take him out the way he did was pretty cool.”
Brighton defeated Davison 31-24 in the Semifinals, while Catholic Central defeated Westland John Glenn 56-9.
Gilcher, Davenport, Amine, Turner, Yatooma, Kolcheff, Walker and Edmond each won three matches on the weekend for the Shamrocks, while Freeman and Homrock each won three matches for Brighton.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kevon Davenport was one of nine bout winners for DCC in the Division 1 Final on Saturday. (Middle) Brighton's Greyson Stevens, left, and DCC's Easton Turner wrestle at 189 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Back Home, Astrauskas Title Dreaming Again
January 16, 2019
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
HOWARD CITY – Tanner Astrauskas is back on track to achieve his goal of becoming an MHSAA Finals champion.
Tragedy almost prevented him from realizing that dream.
Astrauskas is a senior 140-pound wrestler for Tri-County High School. He had a solid start to his career, winning 35 matches as a freshman and then as a sophomore going 44-7 and placing eighth at 125 pounds at the Division 3 Individual Finals.
But just before he stepped onto the mat to wrestle his first match that 2017 weekend at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Astrauskas received disheartening news that changed his world in an instant.
"Just before the finals of my sophomore year I found out my best friend killed himself, and I found that out just before I wrestled at state," Astrauskas said. "That whole tournament I was pretty broke, I didn't even want to wrestle. I got pinned in my first match by the kid who ended up winning it, and then I won my next two matches 4-2 and 5-0 to make it into the medal round. I was pretty happy I placed considering the circumstances."
Best friend Casey Eckert was only 15 when he died. The circumstances lingered for Astrauskas when he returned home to Howard City, and they sent him into a downward spiral.
"Two days after state we had his funeral, and that took me to a dark place," Astrauskas said. "I wasn't doing so well in school, and I ended up running away from home."
Astrauskas ran away to Tennessee to stay with friends, but it was another friend who helped bring him back to Michigan.
"My friend, Hunter Brimmer, was at Olivet (College) and he talked me into coming back and (being) with my parents,” Astrauskas said. “And they ended up picking me up from Olivet and taking me home."
But Astrauskas was still empty and searching for answers.
"After coming home, I still needed to get away to find myself and I ended up moving to Shelby and got my own place and went to school at Shelby High School my junior year," Astrauskas said. "I just wanted to move away and get my head right, and learn what it took to be on my own."
Astrauskas lived on his own in Shelby under the watchful eye of close family friends and didn’t play any sports as a junior, and the experience seemed to help him grow. Then this year, he made another decision in that growth process. In November, after football season at Shelby, Astrauskas decided he was ready to come home and face those difficult memories.
Since he was moving back in with his parents, he was able to wrestle for Tri-County this winter. And with a clearer head, he has mat goals again.
"I just felt like I wanted to move back and finish my senior year with friends I grew up with," Astrauskas said. "And I felt I could achieve my goals and excel better at Tri-County. I want to win a state championship."
Astrauskas is off to a great start. He is 12-1, losing his first match of the year Saturday to Kent City's Evan Jones in overtime in the 140-pound final of the Sparta Invitational.
One of his biggest wins this winter was a 5-3 decision over Madison Heights Lamphere's Matt Tomsett – the Division 2 Finals runner-up at 130 pounds last year.
Astrauskas also is doing great in his school work, currently carrying a 3.45 GPA. And Tri-County coach Corey Renner has seen a different person in his wrestling room.
"I think this whole thing has helped him a lot," Renner said. "He's always been a good wrestler, but he was the kid that if you yelled at him to run faster in sprints, he would go slower and end up in last. But this year he is first, he seems to have more focus and is more confident. He has become a leader, he has been good with the young kids. He has come a long way."
Life can be cruel, and for Astrauskas, a lot of cruelty has happened at a young age. But he is taking everything as a positive now, fueling his focus on getting to Ford Field for March 1-2 and this season’s Individual Finals – where he’ll compete to reach the top of the podium.
"To anyone out there going through depression, it does get better," Astrauskas said. "There are other ways to deal with it. Get therapy, support from your friends. You don't need to turn to drugs or alcohol, or even worse. Things will get better."
PHOTOS: (Top) Tanner Astrauskas wrestles Richmond’s Alec Ziza during a consolation first-round match at the 2017 MHSAA Individual Finals. (Middle) Astrauskas, back home at Tri-County, has become a team leader with title aspirations.