Lowell Sets Record With 6th Straight Title
By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 23, 2019
KALAMAZOO – Jeff Leach was in a familiar place as he stepped onto the mat with a chance to clinch the MHSAA Division 2 wrestling team title for Lowell.
In 2017, Leach clinched the Red Arrows’ fourth straight title with a decision against Warren Woods-Tower. And Saturday, he did it again, defeating Goodrich’s Carson Turnbow 9-2 to give Lowell a 29-23 victory and a state-record sixth straight MHSAA Finals team championship.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Leach said. “Coaches were talking to me before because I was pacing back and forth with my nerves, but they reminded me, ‘Surrender the outcome. No matter what happens, put it all right where you got it, right here on the big stage.’ It’s my last time wrestling here, my last time wrestling a high school state, so I thought I might as well do it for them so they can keep the tradition going after I’m gone.”
Prior to Saturday, Lowell was one of four Lower Peninsula teams to have won five straight titles, joined by Hudson (2009-13), Davison (2002-06) and New Lothrop (1984-88). Escanaba won six straight Upper Peninsula titles from 1976-81. (The tournament was unified in 1988.)
Now the Arrows stand alone as the only program to accomplish the feat with the entire state competing together.
“Wrestling is a difficult sport,” Lowell coach R.J. Boudro said. “We have to take care of these kids’ weights, their grades, making sure they’re not injured, just making sure they’re mentally there – their girlfriend breaks up with them – so many things that could go wrong. To think of all those things that could go wrong, and we won six in a row, it’s just an amazing feat. I’m proud of the community, proud of the kids – it’s so cool.”
Four of the previous five titles for Lowell were decided by 10 points or more, and wrapped up prior to the final match – in some cases, well before. Only the 2014 title was decided by fewer points than this year, as the Red Arrows started their streak with a 35-34 win against the previous Division 2 power, St. Johns.
“Goodrich is a heck of a team,” Boudro said. “They brought everything they had. I feel like through the year, they were kind of working their lineup down to beat us. It kind of gave us motivation. Our guys showed up, and we had plenty of opportunities to win the dual in a lot of different ways, but I think we wanted to give the fans something to get a little nervous. They’re spoiled fans.”
Each team won seven matches in the dual, but Lowell was able to get a technical fall from Avry Mutschler at 140, a pin from Nicholas Kohorn at 112 and a forfeit to Austin Boone at 160. Goodrich, meanwhile, was only able to get bonus points at two weight classes, major decisions from Honour Kline at 215 and Cameron Macklem at 119.
“I think the worst part about it is that we wrestled so well and tough and we came up short,” Goodrich coach Kenneth Sirignano said. “That’s the worst part. To come that close and come up short – we did that in 2016, we did it again today, and that’s the worst part of it. They should have been rewarded for what they did, but that’s life and that’s a life lesson. They’ve really learned a lot this year, and I’m really proud of them. I just wish they could have had it.”
Lowell went up 17-0 in the dual, getting decisions from James Fotis at 145 and Doak Dean at 152, along with Mutschler and Boone’s wins. Goodrich stormed back, however, winning the next four matches, as Kline’s major decision was surrounded by decisions from Juwan Vines at 171, James Penfold at 189 and Blake Coffell at 285. Vines won on a last-second throw, while Coffell won in double overtime.
“We pulled a lot of upsets, and we just tried to give ourselves the best shot to win,” Sirignano said. “The guys came through, and they won a lot of big matches. I would say they won five big matches.”
Lowell’s Ramsy Mutschler won by decision at 103, and that, combined with Kohorn’s pin, gave the Arrows a 26-13 lead with four matches to go.
The Martians won the next three, as Macklem’s major decision was followed by decisions from Carson Richards at 125 and Caleb Teague at 130. That set up the dramatic final match.
“We draw a weight class (to start the dual) an hour before, they drew 140 and I was like (yes),” Boudro said. “Two years ago, we beat Tower and it came down to him and he pulled it out. He’s got a lot to talk about for the rest of his life, being able to say he won two state titles in the last match of the dual. It’s pretty cool.”
Leach got out to a 5-0 lead in the match and had to hold off a pair of throws from Turnbow, rolling through one headlock that nearly put him to his back.
“It was more of a reaction,” Leach said. “My (practice) partners, some of them throw really good headlocks, so over the years, I’ve been pretty much practicing how to defend a headlock over and over.”
Lowell advanced to the Final with a 34-24 win against Gaylord in the Semifinals, while Goodrich defeated DeWitt 37-22.
Both Mutschlers and Fotis won three matches on the weekend for Lowell, while Vines, Penfold, Kline, Coffell, Macklem and Teague each won three matches for Goodrich.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ramsy Mutschler earned a key championship match win for Lowell at 103 pounds. (Middle) Wrestlers lock up during the Division 2 Final. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Bragging Rights for Both as Multi-Sport Sage Twins Shine at Ford Field
By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 10, 2023
SOUTHGATE – The question of “Which child is your favorite?” is impossible for any parent to answer, but Shawn Sage has an additional question that’s impossible to answer regarding his son Jackson and daughter Brooklyn.
That question is, “Who would win a wrestling match between the two?”
“They are both raising their hands right now smiling about it,” Shawn Sage said with a laugh during a phone conversation.
It’s a good-natured question anybody can pose to Shawn Sage, given his son and daughter are not only twins by birth, but in wrestling achievements as sophomores at Southgate Anderson.
Last weekend at Ford Field, Jackson Sage competed in his second Individual Finals, where he finished fourth in Division 2 in the 157-pound weight class.
It was an improvement from last year’s event, when he qualified as a freshman but didn’t place.
“I was more used to it,” Jackson Sage said. “Last year was a different experience being at Ford Field the first time.”
Brooklyn Sage qualified for the Individual Finals this season as well, where she finished sixth in the Girls Division 155-pound weight class.
The winter was busy for both, but especially for Brooklyn. In addition to competing in wrestling, she was also a member of the school’s competitive cheer team.
“I knew that it would be a commitment,” she said. “But I was up for it. I was at the school for about 14 hours a day, but it was worth it at the end.”
Jackson and Brooklyn are each three-sport athletes. Jackson is the quarterback on the football team in the fall and a member of the track team (he competes in 300 hurdles and two relays) in the spring, while Brooklyn plays softball.
But it’s wrestling where the two share their greatest bond athletically.
Jackson started getting involved in the sport when was around elementary school age, and Brooklyn would tag along to practices.
Along the way, she became intrigued enough to try wrestling herself.
“I liked being able to know that I could defend myself and take care of myself in different ways,” she said. “To be able to stand up for myself.”
Brooklyn said she stopped wrestling competitively around sixth grade because there weren’t opportunities for girls to compete only against each other, but that changed when a girls-only division was added to the MHSAA Tournament with the 2021-22 season.
With both able to compete in high school, at-home workouts intensified. The two regularly train against each other on a mat in their basement, where technique is honed and toughness is sharpened.
“She pushes me a lot,” Jackson said.
Both also learn from each other’s experiences.
“I feel like watching him made me more motivated to do it,” Brooklyn said. “He’s taught me a lot of technique that I wouldn’t have known from his past experiences and coach.”
Added Jackson: “I’ve learned from her matches.”
This week has actually presented a rarity for both in that they’ve had time off.
With wrestling ending and spring sports not officially opening practice until Monday, the two haven’t had practices and competitions.
That’ll change next week when they go their separate ways with Jackson to track practice and Brooklyn joining the softball squad, and they’ll focus on those sports for the rest of the school year.
But with two more years of eligibility left and all-state finishes in wrestling already, the sky is the limit for the next two years in that sport for both.
With that in mind, the questions to Dad about who would win a match are likely only getting started.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTO Southgate Anderson twins Brooklyn, left, and Jackson Sage both placed at this season’s Wrestling Individual Finals. (Photo courtesy of the Sage family.)