Hruska Earning Fame as Iron Mountain Continues Climb with District Title
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 10, 2023
IRON MOUNTAIN — Shayna Hruska accomplished what no other Upper Peninsula female wrestler had before, becoming the first girl to capture a title at the Upper Peninsula Wrestling Championships and being selected the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler in Marquette on Jan. 21.
The Iron Mountain junior has gone on to earn her second straight Mid-Peninsula Conference championship at Ishpeming on Feb. 4, gaining top honors at 106 pounds after winning at 103 a year ago.
The Mountaineers have since captured a Division 4 Team District title Wednesday night in a 49-27 defeat of Bark River-Harris. They host the Team Regional on Feb. 15.
They’re also entered in Saturday’s Individual District at Manistique. Hruska, however, elected to pass on the Individual District in favor of competing in the Girls Regional on Feb. 19 at Grayling or Cadillac.
Female wrestlers are allowed to wrestle the individual postseason beginning either with the District including boys competitors, or in the Girls Regional bracket that feeds into the Girls Individual Finals; both finish at Ford Field.
“Girls wrestling is growing, which makes for stronger competition,” she said. “I’m really grateful for my teammates and coaches because they push me to get better.
“Wrestling on a Sunday will be a little different, but I don’t think it will be too much of an adjustment. I just need to get plenty of rest and eat healthy.”
Hruska secured the U.P. title by taking an 8-2 decision from St. Ignace freshman Dalton Champion in the 106-pound final.
“I was really excited, but right now I’m working toward Regional and state tournaments” she said. “Wrestling against the boys prepares me a lot. They have a different technique. Every wrestler is different. Wrestling the boys is harder, but prepares you better.”
Iron Mountain is loaded with experienced standouts this season. Senior Shawn McGuire won last season’s Division 4 Finals championship at 119 pounds, and junior Tyler Winch was the runner-up at that weight. Senior Evan Haferkorn and juniors Fulton Stroud and Alex Wilson all placed at last season’s Finals as well.
Coach Cory McLaren said Hruska does plenty to bolster the lineup as well.
“We need her in our lineup,” he added. “People are recognizing her. We’re hoping she encourages other girls to try out. She has the fire and desire. She’s also growing and starting to get longer.”
Hruska became interested in wrestling when she was in third grade.
“I wanted to join wrestling and brought home a permission slip,” she said. “My parents tried to discourage me because they didn’t think I’d like it, then I brought home another permission slip and they signed it. They’ve learned to enjoy it and really loved wrestling since I went out. I’ve improved a lot. I used to be real nervous and would sometimes get sick, but I’ve learned to overcome that.”
A week before the M-PC meet, Hruska was runner-up by one point in a tournament at Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
“I was on top trying to score and ran out of time,” she said. “I’ve learned to take it one match at a time and never underestimate anybody.”
Iron Mountain placed fourth among 21 teams at Sturgeon Bay prior to retaining the league title a few days later.
“That was a tough tournament,” said McLaren. “There was very strong competition down there. We had some kids out with the flu, but it was still a real good experience for us.”
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.
PHOTO Iron Mountain’s winners at the U.P. Championships at Marquette hold up their charts, from left: Evan Haferkorn, Fulton Stroud, Shawn McGuire, Alex Wilson and Shayna Hruska. (Photo courtesy of the Iron Mountain wrestling program.)
Selfless Seniors Lead Shamrocks to Fourth-Straight Division 1 Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2026
KALAMAZOO – Moments after Alex Buskirk stepped off the mat following his 157-pound Individual Regional Final victory, he received his next assignment: cut down to 150 for the Division 1 Team Finals.
“I just thought that if they thought it was what was best for the team, it was an obvious yes,” the Detroit Catholic Central senior said. “If that’s best for the team, I’m doing what’s best for the team.”
Buskirk was one of multiple Shamrock wrestlers to make a personal sacrifice for the betterment of the team, and as it tends to do at Catholic Central, it paid off. The Shamrocks defeated Hartland 43-16 on Saturday in the Division 1 Final at Wings Events Center, claiming their fourth-straight championship.
‘It’s remarkable,” Catholic Central coach Mitch Hancock said. “I think it speaks a lot to their effort and attitude. We had a slogan this year that was pretty important; it was ‘Culture, Faith and Process.’ Keeping those things in line I think is what helps those guys. I think they get overwhelmed, I think sometimes there’s a lot of pressure on them in this world. So, if they can keep their eyes on Jesus Christ, focus on their study around a great culture, we can be successful.”
The title was the 19th overall for Catholic Central, and 12th under Hancock, all won since 2010. It was also the second time the Shamrocks had won four in a row, having also accomplished the feat from 2017 through 2020.
But for Hancock, it never gets old, as each team and title has its own back story, and in this one it was the selflessness of his seniors.
“Hats off to our seniors who were remarkable today,” Hancock said. “Starting right off with Collin Payne, he’s a 215-pounder ranked fifth in the state. We went to him on Tuesday and said, ‘Collin, we need you at (190).’ No questions asked, he got down to (190). Our heavyweight (Paxton Heitsch), committed to Akron for track & field. Wrestled as a freshman and sophomore, took last year off and came to me this year and said, ‘Coach I want to wrestle, I wanna go win a team title.’ Alex Buskirk, a 157-pounder, ranked No. 2 in the state, cuts down to 150. It gave us some flexibility and options, so I’m just really proud of those guys.”
Payne won his match by technical fall, 19-3, to open the dual, and Heitsch won a 7-3 decision at 285. Buskirk won a 19-7 major decision back at his normal weight, 157.
After his match, with the dual and Finals title already sealed, he blew a kiss to the CC crowd.
“Just so much emotions running through,” Buskirk said. “Just all the love and gratitude to the fans, the coaches, my teammates, everyone, God, just everyone that supports us. It means so much, it’s hard to describe. People are going to look back and notice this team and say we won four times. I just hope it gives inspiration to the underclassmen below us to keep going.”
There were plenty of non-seniors to be inspired, as 10 of the 14 wrestlers who took the mat in the Final will be back next season.
The other senior to wrestle for the Shamrocks on Saturday was Wyatt Lees, a three-time Individual Finals champion, who can become an eight-timer (four team and individual titles) next weekend at Ford Field. He won his match with a 16-5 major decision.
“It’s the standard in our program,” Hancock said. “The standard isn’t winning titles, it’s being selfless, it’s making sure that you work extremely hard and treat each other with respect. You’re not afraid to lose, you challenge yourself. I’ve got guys on my team with 15, 20 losses. We challenge ourselves. Just really proud of our seniors, our coaching staff.”
There were no pins in the Final, but the Shamrocks did rack up five technical falls by Payne, Caden Krueger (215), Jamison Gregory (126), Ryan Totten (132) and Grayson Fuchs (150).
Braxten Roche (175) won by major decision, while Gavin Boller (106) won a 6-3 decision for the Shamrocks (20-5).
As DCC is setting the standard in Division 1, Hartland hopes to be the team to eventually meet it and take them down. The Eagles were 26-2 on the season, with the two losses coming to Catholic Central and Division 2 champion Lowell.
“Our goal always is to be the best in the state of Michigan,” Hartland coach Kyle Summerfield said. “We wrestled Lowell, we wrestled (Division 4 champion) Hudson, we wrestled (Division 3 champion) Dundee, and we wrestled CC – we wrestled everybody.”
Returning Division 1 champions Bodie Abbey (138) and Dallas Korponic (165) each won by technical fall for Hartland, while Jace Sensor (113) and Jonah McPherson (120) each won decisions.
“One of the big things we preach, we don’t look at score anymore, we look at how our kids did in each match,” Summerfield said. “Our kids competed in each dual, they focused on scoring points and they did their best to wrestle their style. So, that’s kind of what we try to preach, and I’m very proud of the way the kids wrestled this weekend.”
PHOTOS (Top) DCC’s Alex Buskirk, front, gets ahold of Ashton Jewel’s leg during their match at 157 pounds Saturday. (Middle) Hartland’s Jonah McPherson, right, wraps up opponent Brent Coak at 120 pounds. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)