Dundee Adds Perfect Season to Tradition
February 27, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
MOUNT PLEASANT — In case the championship banners and trophies weren't enough of a reminder, it wasn't necessary for an aging alumnus or a veteran coach to help Dundee's wrestlers understand the Vikings' tradition.
In their midst is a senior who has lived that tradition more than most who have come through one of Michigan's most successful programs.
Zach Blevins wrestled in an MHSAA team wrestling championship match for the fourth time in his career Saturday, as Dundee completed a perfect dual-meet season by beating Remus Chippewa Hills, 40-16, in the Division 3 Final at Central Michigan University.
Blevins beat Austin Spedowski by a 19-6 major decision at 140 pounds, giving him a 4-0 career record in championship matches at the Team Finals. In his career, he was 11-1 on Finals weekend, the only loss coming Saturday in the Semifinal, a 4-3 decision against Jwann Britton of Whitehall. Britton was third at the MHSAA Finals at 135 pounds last year, while Blevins was second.
Taking the mat before a sold-out crowd of more than 4,300 at McGuirk Arena, it felt like just another match for Blevins. It was his 26th career match at the Team or Individual Finals. He finished eighth at 112 pounds in 2013 and fifth at 125 pounds in 2014 to go with the second place at 135 last year.
"It helps a little bit, being down here all four years," said Blevins, who will wrestle at Eastern Michigan University. "You won't get as nervous, because you know what to expect. I was feeling confident and calm."
Blevins was on three championship teams and a runner-up in his four years with Dundee, which has won nine MHSAA titles. It was the fifth straight year the Vikings reached the final match and the 14th straight year that they earned a trip to Finals weekend. Blevins is the only member of the current championship team who wrestled in the 2013 title match.
"He's really been a go-to guy and a very talented wrestler who has done a great job for us," 17-year Dundee coach Tim Roberts said. "In four years in the lineup, he's always stepped up and did his job well. I remember one year we needed him to get five takedowns in one period so we could get a tech, and he did that."
Blevins and Sean Sterling wrestled in the 2014 title match, as Dundee beat Richmond. Eight wrestlers who took the mat Saturday competed in the 2015 final match against Richmond, which won the last three matches to erase a 25-12 deficit and win, 27-25.
"We just worked really hard all year to make sure it wouldn't happen again, and it paid off," Blevins said.
Although the Vikings won by 24 points, it could've been a different outcome had Dundee wrestlers not come from behind in the final seconds of three matches.
Tyler Orrison, who was sixth at 125 pounds last year, got things started for Dundee by twice scoring in the final seconds of periods in a marquee matchup with Slade Todd, who was sixth at 135 in 2015. Orrison scored three points at the buzzer in the second period to take a 7-6 lead in the 135-pound match. He then won the match, 9-8, with a two-point reversal with 16 seconds left.
At 171, Dundee's Kyle Motylinski scored two points with 12 seconds left in the third period to tie his match with Luke Henderson, 2-2. Motylinski won 4-2 in overtime.
At 103, Dundee's Jonathan White scored two points with 25 seconds left to win 3-2 over Bray Haynes.
"That was a case of they've been here before," Chippewa Hills coach Nate Ethridge said. "Give all the credit in the world to Dundee. They did a heck of a job and knocked us off; they deserve it. We needed those three and we didn't get those three. Then we had to do some things with our lineup that we didn't necessarily want to do, because we had to win out."
Dundee didn't have much lineup flexibility, with only 15 healthy wrestlers. Drew Mandell, who was eighth at 130 pounds last year and a participant in the 2014 team championship match, was on crutches after breaking his leg. District champion Grant Ott had an arm in a sling because of a separated shoulder.
"These guys kept stepping up and gutting it out," Roberts said. "You saw all those last-second wins we were getting there. That's just a testament to guts, and the guys kept wrestling."
Roberts said Dundee typically has about 24 wrestlers, but had a low turnout this season. An Individual Finals qualifier was among those who chose not to come out.
How does that happen to a program with Dundee's tradition?
"You tell me," Roberts said. "The culture can change where it's not cool to wrestle, then we get to win state. It makes it that much more satisfying that these guys pulled together and did it. I'm really proud of this group. Whenever we had injuries, we had guys cut down in weight to make us stronger. Guys stepped in and really sacrificed to make this team better."
Dundee (21-0) reached the title match by beating Delton Kellogg, 63-13, in the Quarterfinal on Friday and Whitehall, 39-18, in the Semifinal on Saturday.
Sterling, White, Zachary Bellaire and Brandon Whitman were 3-0 on the weekend for Dundee. Sterling and Whitman won all three of their matches with pins, with neither of their matches lasting beyond the second period.
"My early memories were when I was in fourth grade," Whitman said while holding the championship trophy. "We were always watching Dundee. My brother was in high school a couple years before I was. It was always fun watching him. The expectations are high. When you come into the room, you've got to work as hard as you can every day."
Brendan Barry, Billy Koepf and Austin Young had 3-0 records on the weekend for Chippewa Hills (31-2), which was making its first appearance in the title match. The Warriors historically were 2-8 on Finals weekend before beating Gladstone, 48-24, in the Quarterfinal and Lake Fenton, 31-27, in the Semifinal.
The Warriors have nine qualifiers for next weekend's MHSAA Individual Finals, with only one senior among that group.
"We've been close a lot of times," Ethridge said. "Obviously, we had a heck of a weekend to get where we're at. Our kids are great. They train really hard. They're pretty awesome."
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTO: A Dundee wrestler, left, and his Chippewa Hills opponent work for position during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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.)