Gaylord Marching Again Into Contention
January 6, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
GAYLORD – Gaylord had reason to celebrate over the holidays.
The Blue Devils, ranked No. 6 in Division 2 by Michigan Grappler and the Michigan Wrestling Association in their pre-holiday wrestling poll, ushered in 2016 with strong showings in the Tournament of Champions at Goodrich and the Grand Ledge Invitational.
Gaylord placed second to No. 2 St. Johns, and finished five points ahead of No. 5 Goodrich, in last Wednesday's loaded 16-team field at Goodrich.
Over the weekend at Grand Ledge, Gaylord edged No. 3 Eaton Rapids 37-36 despite missing three starters.
The results left head coach Jerry LaJoie feeling quite pleased with how his team is progressing.
"If we can keep everyone together, and healthy, we could make a nice push by the end of the year," he said.
The Blue Devils advanced to the Division 2 Semifinals a year ago in the MHSAA team competition. After beating Flint Kearsley in the Quarterfinals, Gaylord fell to eventual champion Lowell. Lowell then downed Eaton Rapids for the title.
LaJoie returned several starters off that Final Four squad, including his son Dominic, a two-time individual MHSAA champion.
Dominic LaJoie, currently 20-0, is ranked No. 1 in the state at 119 pounds. Jerry LaJoie said his son's mental makeup on the mat has helped propel him to the top.
"He analyzes everything," Jerry LaJoie said. "He's a thinker. If something doesn't go right, like a technique, he works (to correct it). He's meticulous. And he's one of the hardest workers in the room. It’s like World War III watching him and (training partner) Jon Martin in practice."
Then again, practice makes perfect, right? That's been the case, so far, for LaJoie under his father's tutelage.
"I’m always striving for state championships," Dominic LaJoie said. “That’s my goal."
LaJoie is not the only standout on the squad – a fact not lost on the junior.
"This is the best team I've been on," he said.
LaJoie is one of six Blue Devils ranked in Division 2. He’s joined by Martin, No. 1 at 130 pounds; Derek Giallombardo No. 2 at 103; Trevor Giallombardo No. 3 at 112; Shane Foster No. 5 at 215; and Tim Roney No. 9 at 285. Foster and Roney missed the tournament at Grand Ledge with “nagging” injuries.
"I don't want the injuries to become an issue when we get towards the end of the year," Jerry LaJoie said. "We need to let them heal up."
Foster, an Individual Finals qualifier a year ago, was injured in leading the Blue Devils to a football playoff berth. He's been in and out of the lineup, finishing second in the Marquette Challenge and Tournament of Champions.
An unsung hero on the team is captain Tristan Blanzy at 152 pounds.
"He's keeping everyone together, leading by example," Jerry LaJoie said. "He's not one of the stars. He's just a kid who has come up through the ranks and worked hard for everything (he's achieved). He's done it the old school way."
So what's the strength of this team? LaJoie doesn't hesitate in answering that question.
"We're really good on our feet," he said. "We score a lot of takedowns. We're aggressive."
LaJoie is in his 22nd season as Blue Devils coach. He arrived at a time when rival Ray Arthur had the Petoskey program rolling.
"We had some good teams, and Ray kept knocking us off," LaJoie said. "Ray is the guy who got me up every morning to figure out how to beat him."
Arthur, who stepped down in 2010 after 31 seasons, led the Northmen to 685 dual meets wins, sixth all-time in MHSAA history. His 1996 team won the Division 2 championship.
He set the bar high for LaJoie and the Blue Devils, who have now taken over as the perennial powerhouse in the Big North Conference.
"If it wasn't for him (Arthur), I don't think we would be as good as we are," LaJoie admitted.
Christian Wilson, Gaylord athletic director, said LaJoie spends countless hours developing his program – from the varsity and junior varsity teams at the high school to the youth programs.
"There's no secret to our success," Wilson said. "It's the time and dedication that he's (LaJoie) put into it, along with all of our wrestling assistants. They're often here from the time school gets out until 9 or 10 at night working with kids.
"Wrestling is one of those sports where you can't hide. The cream rises to the top. It's something they've put a lot of effort into."
Wilson said LaJoie is a strong motivator, too.
"He relates well to all the kids," he said. "The kids want to wrestle for him. They want to do well for him. His practices are not easy, but they know in order to compete they have to put the time in (training). He has high expectations, and those kids reach for it."
How high can they reach? That question will be answered in the weeks ahead, but LaJoie believes anything is possible.
"I think we can make a run if we can stay healthy and get a few breaks along the way," he said. "(Top-ranked) Lowell and St. Johns are tough teams, but a lot can happen between now and then."
Especially for a team trending up.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Gaylord’s wrestling team takes part in the pre-match march before last season’s Division 2 Quarterfinals at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Jon Martin (top) wraps up Dakotah Leland of Flint Kearsley during their match at 130 pounds. (Below) Coach Jerry LaJoie is in his 22nd season leading the program. (Click for more photos from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
'Best' Algonac Unbeatable So Far as Highly-Anticipated Drive for Finals Begins
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 10, 2022
Jake Kasner knows the hard work is still ahead for him and his Algonac wrestling teammates.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate what the Muskrats already have accomplished.
“It’s great,” the Algonac senior 152-pounder said. “We had a couple tournaments cut short, and we had some teammates out – really the only dual we had our whole team was against Richmond. Everyone has been stepping up when we need them, and we continue to win duals whenever possible. I’m very proud of our team in that way.”
Algonac is 21-0 and ranked No. 4 in Division 3 and won Wednesday’s Team District with a championship victory over Clawson. The team collected hardware throughout the year and finished a program-best second in the Macomb County Invitational.
While that incredible season did not include a Blue Water Area Conference championship, the Muskrats were 5-0 in the league, including a win against perennial state power Richmond, something no BWAC team had achieved since 2004.
“We’ve been trying to harp on consistency,” Algonac coach Brian Ranger said. “In past years, we had some tough teams where one week they looked amazing, and the next week not so much. We’ve been working to have that same, consistent effort every week and being the best version of ourselves. We don’t have kids worry so much about the other teams. We’re good enough now where if we wrestle to the best of our abilities, we can wrestle with anyone. We’re making sure we bring the same championship-level effort every time.”
Ranger took over at Algonac before the 2011-12 season, inheriting a program with no youth feeder system and 11 high school wrestlers.
Over his first 10 seasons, Ranger turned the program around, winning five District championships and – along with the help of his friend and assistant coach Ken Thomas – built the youth program to more than 70 wrestlers.
Algonac spent plenty of time over those 10 years among the top teams in the BWAC and ranked among the top 10 in Division 3.
The team also ended each of those previous 10 seasons with a District or Regional loss against Richmond.
“For whatever reason, we never wrestled as well as we should have at the end of the season against Richmond, and it pained me,” Ranger said. “I was always kind of searching every offseason for why we weren’t performing better against some of these better teams. This year, we focused on being the best us. If we’re the best us, we’re pretty hard to beat.”
Algonac’s best could be enough to end the streak this year, but it’s tough to fault the Muskrats for previous defeats. Richmond – the alma mater of both Ranger and Thomas – has won eight Division 3 Finals titles since 2000 and has been a Division 3 finalist eight of the past 10 seasons.
The Blue Devils won the BWAC title this year, taking first at the league tournament and edging Algonac in dual points thanks to the Muskrats having to cancel an early-season league date against Imlay City and Croswell-Lexington.
Richmond may be waiting for the Muskrats in the Regional Final, but first must wrestle No. 10-ranked Yale, the tournament host next Wednesday. On the other side of the bracket, Algonac will face Imlay City, which Ranger considers a top-10 caliber team.
While Algonac may have put a target on its back with the earlier win against Richmond, the bigger takeaway could be the confidence gained by the Muskrats heading into the postseason.
“It was a little bit more of a mental victory, if anything,” Ranger said. “For so long, we haven’t performed when it came to a match like that. We’re still proving to ourselves that we are good enough for those moments.”
The Muskrats are a young team, with 10 underclassmen in the starting lineup, including seven freshmen. The final five matches against Richmond were wrestled by Algonac underclassmen, as they pulled out a 31-29 victory. Six freshmen – Chris Campbell (second, 103), Sky Langewicz (fourth, 103), Lucky Gartin (third, 112), Steve Shannon (third, 119), Alex Bright (third, 125) and Reid Hiltunen (second, 160) – placed at the BWAC tournament.
“I saw it coming,” said Kasner, who won a BWAC title at 152. “We’ve had all the younger kids coming up through the youth program. There was a big gap the last few years in the lower weights, and we knew we were going to get a lot of that filled, so if you ask me, this isn’t really a surprise. (The younger wrestlers) come to practice every day, and we expect the same thing from them as we expect from everyone else. They give it their all every day, including the Richmond match.”
Those younger contributors not only came up through the Algonac youth program, they thrived while taking part.
“My young kids, this is kind of all they know,” Ranger said. “They’re not super surprised; they’re kind of used to it. I think it’s surprising to some people around our community and other communities. I think (this season) took that belief to another level, but they kind of already had that inside of them, that we’re this good and we need to be like this every year.”
As the talent base was building, Ranger also was working on himself as a coach. The former Elmhurst University wrestler has been tweaking his approach over the past decade – not so much in what he physically teaches, but the mental aspect.
“I’ve always known how to show wrestling moves, but it was kind of some of that mental preparation – how to get them ready mentally and physically, how to peak at the right time,” Ranger said. “Most of my philosophy I use here has been stolen from about 27 different people, plus (former Richmond coach George Hamblin), and my college coach was a Division I national champion. I still haven’t learned it all. I’m also trying to stay positive in the corner as much as I can. I’m an emotional guy, and if something goes wrong, I used to wear that in my body language too often.”
That emotion is sure to come out, though, if the Muskrats can accomplish what is now in front of them – advancing to the Team Wrestling Finals for the first time in program history.
“We all love (the coaches), everyone on our team,” Kasner said. “They work so hard for our team. Coach Thomas drives 45 minutes just to get to practice every day. To (beat their alma mater) for them after all the years and all the stuff they did for us, we were happy for them, too.
“We’ve prepared all season and took it one day at a time. We’re going to be ready. We’ve been ready. I think we have a good shot to be the first team to make it to team state from Algonac. But there’s no for sures.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Algonac coach Brian Ranger gives Alex Bright a pep talk this season. (Middle) The Muskrats’ Lucky Gartin works for a pin. (Photos courtesy of the Algonac wrestling program.)