Gaylord Rules North, Seeks to Take State
December 6, 2018
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
GAYLORD — The town of Gaylord is surrounded on all sides by more than an hour of northern Michigan roads and landscape.
But when it comes to high school wrestling, Gaylord is like an island.
Few wrestling programs in the northern Lower Peninsula are on par with the Blue Devils, who have made team success an annual occurrence and churned out elite individual performers year after year.
“Everyone who wrestles us, they know they’re going to get a battle,” said Gaylord head coach Jerry Lajoie, who is entering his 24th season leading the Blue Devils. “We’ve been to the state tournament several times — three or four times in the semis, a couple more times in the quarters and one time in the finals. Last year we put out two state champs and three other medalists. Not bad out of 14 weight classes for us.”
As good of a run as Gaylord has had in wrestling — the Blue Devils are working on a string of consecutive Big North Conference and District championships that goes back more than a decade and have won Regional titles in three of the last four years — last year was the program’s best. As a team, the Blue Devils advanced to the Division 2 championship match for the first time and had Chayse Lajoie and Derek Giallombardo reach the pinnacle of the Individual Finals at Ford Field, winning championships at 112 and 125 pounds, respectively. Gaylord had five others qualify for the Individual Finals, with Joe Markham third at the 285-pound class, Jacob McKnight fourth at 140 and Cade Foster sixth at 171.
“It was a great environment to be in,” said John Sosa, who was among Gaylord’s seven individual state qualifiers in 2018 and a Finals placer as a freshman in 2017. “Everybody wanted to be there. Everyone put in 110 percent, and it showed at the end of the year when we were in the state finals match. Everyone was willing to work. I could pick anyone in the room and everyone would give 110 percent, which I very much appreciate.”
The Blue Devils are motivated by last season’s 43-17 loss to five-time reigning Division 2 champion Lowell in the Final and are hoping to replicate their trip this winter, with perhaps a different result in the last match.
“We’ve got a team that I think we can get back to team states with,” said Jerry Lajoie. “We’re going to be focusing on winning conference, then Districts and Regionals. Once you get (to the Finals), you never know what can happen.”
The challenge will be replacing seniors like Giallombardo, Markham and 160-pound individual qualifier Nick Brewster. This year, more than half of the 33 grapplers on the roster are freshmen. That prevalence of youth doesn’t faze a veteran coach like LaJoie.
“We just had this discussion when we had a meeting on Wednesday — we’re starting a lot of young kids,” he said. “I said, ‘I don’t care if you’re a freshman or not. Expectations are the same. We’ve had freshman state champions. Why not you?’”
The Blue Devils are fortunate to be able to lean on veteran leadership while they get their younger group ready to compete at a high level. Foster is back as a senior to handle the 171 or 189-pound division, and the junior class led by Chayse Lajoie, who can wrestle anywhere from 119 to 130, Sosa (125 or 130) and McKnight (152 or 160) is strong and figures to rack up a lot of wins over the next few months.
“I’m just hoping our team can push through and make it to states again, and hopefully contest for the state championship again,” said Chayse Lajoie, the most accomplished member of the squad as a two-time MHSAA individual champion as well as a Junior Greco-Roman national champ at 120 pounds. “We’re just trying to get everyone together right now. Towards the end of the season we’ll start focusing on that. We kind of take things step by step.”
Hard work is the most common response the Blue Devils give when asked what it takes to become an exceptional wrestler, and that helps explain Gaylord’s success – there’s no shortage of work ethic in Gaylord’s wrestling room. Lajoie demands that and dedication, though he also makes sure wrestling is fun for his team, too. With all of those factors in the equation, he doesn’t have much trouble getting his squad to meet the expectations of the program.
“Kids are probably the best judge of character out of anybody. More so than adults,” said Lajoie. “They figure out if you care about them or not. And if you do, they’ll buy in.”
It doesn’t take Gaylord’s wrestlers long to realize their coach is willing to put in just as much time as they do, creating a mutual respect that strengthens the bond between coach and athletes.
“He’s a great guy,” Sosa said of Lajoie. “Very appreciative that we can give him our time. He says, ‘If you give me your time, I’ll give you mine.’ Very knowledgeable on and off the mat. You can call on him any time of the day, and he’ll help you out.”
The end result is what has become a wrestling dynasty in northern Michigan, built from the youth level up with a group of kids who take pride in being from Gaylord and everything for which the wrestling program stands.
“We only have so many kids to choose from, and no one in our area,” said Jerry Lajoie. “You can’t move five minutes and go to a different school. That’s where our badge of honor is. We’re up here, we’re all local boys — let’s go battle.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. 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 Cade Foster works toward a pin during last season’s Division 2 Semifinal win over Warren Woods Tower at Wings Stadium. (Middle) The Blue Devils, including coach Jerry Lajoie (left), cheer on a teammate. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Finals Family: McKiernan Kids Closing Richmond Run with Combined 10 Finals Titles
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2026
As Jake McKiernan watched his brother Jordan help Richmond win the Division 3 Team Wrestling Finals title in 2006, he knew he wanted to one day do the same.
“To be a part of that crowd, to see all the parents going crazy and feel the energy of that, I think that’s one of the things that helped spark me,” Jake said. “Ever since that day, I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to win a state title for Richmond.”
And he did, claiming a pair of Team Finals titles (2011 and 2012) and an Individual Finals title (2014) during his time coming for the Blue Devils.
But what Jake couldn’t have known back then is that Jordan was starting a two-decade run of McKiernan excellence at the school.
Not only did Jake follow in his brother’s footsteps with a Finals title, but so did their sister Raechel, and their brothers, Colton, Danny and Kevin. And, finally, their youngest sister, Anna, who just wrapped her senior year at Richmond.
One family, seven kids, all of whom left the school with at least one MHSAA Finals title.
“We’ve got a lot to be thankful for,” said their father, Kevin McKiernan. “A lot of great coaches, a lot of great teammates and parents. They have a total of 10 (Finals titles), and every time I think about it I could tear up. I can’t believe my heart didn’t explode in the bleachers.”
After Jordan and Jake, the titles came pretty fast and furious for the McKiernans. Colton won team titles in wrestling in 2015 and 2017, with Raechel’s softball title sandwiched in between in 2016.
Dan won an individual wrestling title in 2021, with Kevin winning his own individual title the following year. Anna won hers with the softball team in 2025.
Dad can run down each one of those championships with incredible detail. He remembers the scores and moves that changed specific matches, and each of the big hits his daughters came up with through their teams’ postseason runs.
But beyond that, he and his family remember the support that was always surrounding them in their community.
“Brandon Day is a special coach, and I was so fortunate to be part of his teams,” Jake said. “I was with him from the time I was in second grade and through high school. He sacrificed so much time to give us an opportunity to succeed. There were a lot of special athletes and a lot of special people that were part of those titles. We were really fortunate to have those types of people around us, supporting us. Even with Raechel and Anna on the softball team, it’s a community. It’s something that made me really proud to be part of a community like that.”
There was also plenty of support within the home, especially for the younger siblings who were able to lean on their older brothers and sister for advice as they made their own runs.
“I talked to them a lot (during the Finals run),” Anna said. “We would always have family parties after each round, and they would always give me as much advice as they could. I would probably say Raechel (gave the best advice), just because she was playing the same sport. She knew exactly what it was like, so she was always able to help me.”
While they were giving out advice, the older siblings weren’t putting any pressure on their younger siblings to keep the streak alive.
“It was something we strived for, and we always had a goal of being successful athletes and wanted to have good results, but I feel like the pressure of being a state champ was never something we put on anyone,” Colton said. “Let’s celebrate each other’s success, and push each other to be better. It was never, ‘You’ve gotta win.’ We were going to celebrate each other regardless of whatever they won. But we were all successful and we all helped each other get to that point, and I think that’s what makes it more special.”
That doesn’t mean the younger McKiernans didn’t feel pressure, though.
Anna said she felt it through her high school career, and while her needing to win a championship was a joke with the softball program, one of the first feelings she experienced after last year’s title was relief.
Her older brother Kevin may have felt it the most, though.
“He put so much pressure on himself,” his dad said. “Danny does not show much emotion; he’s just a bulldozer. But with Kev, it was, ‘I will not be the only young man in this family who doesn’t win one.' You could tell he was really feeling the pressure.”
So, how does a streak like this even happen? Genetics certainly didn’t hurt. Both parents were Division I college athletes who met while competing at Southern Utah University – Kevin as a football player, and their mother, Jodi, as a gymnast.
But that only gets you so far.
“The final accolades were outstanding, but if you were around for the early struggles, tears and frustration, it’s even more impressive,” said Day, who coached all of the boys on the Richmond wrestling team. “I think most people look at the state titles and college scholarships and think these kids have been good at these things their entire lives, but the truth is all of them struggled when they were young. Fortunately, their parents removed excuses from their lives and instilled an attitude of hard work, perseverance and unselfishness. Being at every practice and giving your best effort regardless of how you felt was non-negotiable. In a society full of parents who let their kids give up when things don’t come easily and get challenging, Kevin and Jodi McKiernan gave their kids the gift of accountability at a young age, and as a result, they won when it truly mattered. They never questioned us as coaches, but rather focused on supporting everyone’s kids and letting their own children know they were going to love them regardless of their athletic accomplishments.”
Kevin said that while athletics were a major part of the family’s lives, they were more a means to an end, to help teach his children life lessons. That seems to have worked, too.
Jordan, who was an All-American wrestler at Muskegon Community College, recently moved back to Michigan and owns a home improvement business. Jake’s wrestling career was cut short because of injury while at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, but he has continued to coach at the collegiate level, with a position on a Division I staff soon to be announced.
Colton and Danny also wrestled at SIUE, with Colton winning a Mid-American Conference championship and twice qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. He’s now returned to his alma mater as a member of the coaching staff after coaching for three seasons at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Danny suffered the same career-ending injury as Jake, but recently completed his degree.
Raechel served a year in the National Guard in Poland and is working as a physician assistant at a trauma center in Flint. Kevin is working to become an electrician through Motor City Electric, and Anna will head to Macomb Community College this fall where she will play softball.
“In the back of my mind, I wanted to use sports to keep the kids on the straight and narrow and teach them the rewards of hard work,” Kevin McKiernan said. “As they become adults, that worked. It was a good plan. We really meant to do it to help them be good people and succeed in life.”
While the family has now completed its time in Richmond schools, the mark the McKiernans have left on the record books and trophy case is eclipsed only by the example they set for future Blue Devils.
“I feel like my family is just known to be really hard workers,” Anna said. “Everybody knows about our farm and the horses, and all the extra work we’ve done other than sports. My siblings have gone out of the way to help with anything anyone has needed. We’re all just known as hard workers.”
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) Clockwise from left: Jake and Colton McKiernan hoist sister Raechel onto their shoulders while celebrating her softball team’s 2016 Finals championship. Parents Jodi and Kevin McKiernan pose for a photo with Colton and Raechel after Colton’s team won a wrestling title in 2017. Danny and Kevin pose for a trophy photo in 2019. (Middle) The McKiernans celebrate Anna’s softball team’s championship last spring. (Photos courtesy of the McKiernan family.)