Edwards Celebrates Victory, then Reunion
March 5, 2015
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
AUBURN HILLS – Day One of the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals always is exciting for the wrestlers who qualified.
It was twice as exciting for Iron Mountain senior 130-pounder Alex Edwards.
Well, maybe three times exciting.
Not only was he competing in his third Finals, but he also picked up win 150 in his career with a 24-7 technical fall win over Vandercook Lake's Chaun Fluker in their first-round match in Division 4 on Thursday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
But most exciting for Edwards was that his older brother, Charles Edwards, flew in from Florida, three weeks shy of deploying to Afghanistan, to watch Edwards get to work.
Charles Edwards is a senior airman in the Air Force.
"I didn't have a clue he was coming, he told me he was going to watch it online," Alex Edwards said. "I figured I'd call him after my match. I'm very excited."
So was older brother, who has been busy training for his deployment and hasn't been able to watch his younger brother all year.
"I flew here just to watch him," said Charles, who was a two-time Finals qualifier when he wrestled for Iron Mountain. "It was exciting to see him."
Edwards, who took eighth place at 130 last year, will try and send his brother overseas really excited if he can win an MHSAA title. Wrestling continues through Saturday at The Palace.
PHOTOS: (Top) Iron Mountain wrestler Alex Edwards embraces his older brother Charles during Thursday's MHSAA Individual Finals. (Middle) Alex Edwards has his hand raised in victory after the 150th of his career. (Photos courtesy of HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Corrigan Siblings Carry Success Into Regionals, Celebrate Madalyn's Milestone Win
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 13, 2025
HARRIS — Like sister, like brother.
The wrestling season is winding down for Madalyn and Mitch Corrigan, who are already well into their individual championship pursuits.
Madalyn, a senior, wrestles for Powers North Central, and Mitch is a sophomore grappler at Bark River-Harris.
Despite the rivalry, the two siblings cheer for and support each other.
“We try to motivate each other,” Madalyn said. “I tell him, ‘You can do the same and more.’ If he’s in a good mood, he does the same for me.”
Madalyn earned her 100th career victory by pinning her Norway opponent 86 seconds into the 113-pound match during last week’s Division 4 Team District Final at Bark River-Harris.
Her victory also helped the Jets earn their first District title with a 36-30 triumph over the Knights.
“This is pretty exciting,” she said. “This wasn’t a goal I had in mind, but it means a lot. We’re only in our second year. None of us thought this would be possible so soon. I was depending on my teammates to make weight and win the first match so I could get my 100th. I had 14 victories after my freshman year. It never entered my mind that I would reach 100.”
The Jets also topped BR-H 36-30 in last Thursday’s opener, and Norway edged Iron Mountain 36-35 to advance.
“I knew Maddy really wanted it,” Mitch Corrigan said. “She looked real happy, and I was pretty happy for her. There’s lot of competitiveness at home. Although, I wanted to see her do well even when they wrestled against us.”
Mitch won his match as well, taking a 13-9 decision at 215 pounds.
“One of our kids had to stop wrestling due to family issues,” he said. “I got bumped up a weight class and made sure to keep my hips back. This has been a big learning experience.”
Maddy Corrigan needed just 44 seconds to win by pin in a 120-pound match during the District Semifinal.
“I had a lot of motivation coming into this meet,” she said. “When I put my first foot on the mat, I told myself, ‘All you got.’ I left everything on the mat.”
Mitch Corrigan said he had high hopes going into Saturday’s Individual District at Manistique, where he reached the championship match and dropped a 15-12 decision to Charlevoix sophomore Ryan Glass at 190 but still advanced to this Saturday’s Individual Regional at Charlevoix.
“Maddy and I will be following each other the rest of the way,” Mitch said.
Maddy Corrigan also took runner-up honors in her Individual District at Gaylord, dropping a 4-3 decision to Frankfort junior Isabella Compton in the 115-pound title bout.
North Central’s team run ended Wednesday in Team Regional competition. But she will compete in the Individual Regional on Sunday at Cadillac.
The Individual Finals are set for Feb. 28-March 1 at Ford Field in Detroit.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Powers North Central’s Maddy Corrigan anticipates the official’s signal for pin during her 100th career victory last week at Bark River-Harris. (Middle) Mitch Corrigan, left, wrestles North Central’s Myles Nehring. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)