Mendon's Crespo Now 2 for 2 in Finals Trips
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 3, 2018
DETROIT – Skyler Crespo bounced around Saturday night during his post-match interview.
The Mendon sophomore had just won his second Division 4 wrestling championship in as many tries, but looked like he could get right back on the mat.
“I’m psyched man,” he said. “I could go run a marathon.”
On a night when two four-time MHSAA champions were crowned at Ford Field, Crespo (55-1) remained on track to accomplish the feat himself, winning a 4-2 decision against Onaway sophomore Matthew Grant (45-5) at 135 pounds.
Watching Lake Fenton’s Jarrett Trombley win his fourth title in Division 3 and Hudson junior Jordan Hamdan win his third in Division 4 immediately before he took the mat wasn’t lost on Crespo. But he was more focused on being as dominant as they were in their victories.
“Yeah, that’s a dream of mine since I was 2, but I’ll just settle for two right now and go for three next year,” said Crespo, who is 111-2 in his career. “I’m not really satisfied with that one, I guess. I’m looking to open kids up more. I see these other kids, like Jordan Hamdan – he’s kind of one of my rivals, also one of my friends – he’s winning by 10 and I’m winning by two. It’s just competition. I want to be there, too.”
103
Champion: Ben Modert, Bronson, Soph. (53-3)
Decision, 5-1, over AJ Baxter, Clinton, Fr. (54-3)
Modert had just one word to describe his thoughts as he came off the mat after winning his first Finals championship: Crazy.
“It was amazing, especially at the end,” he said. “Seeing how many people were here, it’s such an amazing experience.”
Modert, who finished fifth at 103 a year ago, led late and was able to get a takedown to seal it.
“My mind was a lot clearer after getting the takedown,” he said. “Just made the match even easier in the end.”
112
Champion: Reese Fry, Manchester, Sr. (56-1)
Fall, 1:30, over Jesse Brumm, Vermontville Maple Valley, Fr. (48-2)
Fry didn’t waste much time claiming his second title. The Manchester senior finished his career with a pin in the first period.
“I just saw an opportunity,” he said. “I had to hammer it and get it done. This shows that my hard work paid off, and I trained really hard. Thank you to my family and friends and teammates that have always supported me to help me get here.”
Fry, who won at 103 in 2017, will wrestle at Brown University next year and bulk up to 125.
“It feels good knowing that I don’t really have to cut weight anymore,” he said. “Now I’ll have to start weight training and bulking up.”
119
Champion: Brenden Spencer, Roscommon, Sr. (39-2)
Decision, 8-6, over Khalil Moten, Flint Beecher, Jr. (40-3)
Spencer trailed throughout his 119-pound championship match but was able to come up big at just the right moment, getting back points on the edge of the mat in the final 10 seconds to secure the victory.
“My leg was just in tight,” he said. “I felt him going over, so I put my Turk in, got the two back points real quick, and I’m a state champion.”
It was an emotional moment for Spencer, who had lost in the semifinals the previous two seasons.
“This year, I just wouldn’t have it,” he said. “I wouldn’t take anything but gold.”
125
Champion: Scott Torres, Hudson, Sr. (49-4)
Decision, 6-4, over Noah Comar, Clinton, Jr. (57-3)
Torres doesn’t like to hold on in a match, but when an MHSAA Finals title is on the line, he’ll do whatever it takes to win.
The Hudson senior held off a late takedown attempt by returning champion Comar to claim his first title.
“He got pretty close,” Torres said. “I just learned that move, as long as you grab their arm and they have your leg, you just hold on at the last second if you have to do it. You don’t usually want to do it, but if you have to do it at the last second for a state title, you have to do it.”
Torres finished fifth in 2017, and while he was a Regional champion two weeks ago, he was seen by most as the underdog heading into Saturday’s match.
“I just felt like no one thought that I could win,” he said. “My coaches and I knew that I had a chance to win, and I just had to go out there and wrestle tough because I wasn’t going to be able to out-technique him. I just had to win every position I could and wrestle tough.”
130
Champion: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson, Jr. (52-0)
Major decision, 10-0, over Robert Rogers, Burton Bentley, Sr. (40-3)
In a battle of two-time MHSAA champions, Hamdan showed once again that he is on an elite level. The Hudson junior took control early and cruised to a major decision victory to win his third title in as many tries.
“In practice I’m always trying to give my best so I can just keep improving and improving,” Hamdan said. “Then I can be able to dominate more in matches.”
It’s the second straight year Hamdan has defeated a returning champion in a Final. All three of his championships have come with a win against a former or future MHSAA champion.
“I kind of like that pressure,” he said. “It gives me more drive to work harder because I know they’re gunning for me, too.”
140
Champion: Austin Wolford, New Lothrop, Jr. (52-2)
Decision, 5-1, over Andy Park, Leroy Pine River, Sr. (53-2)
Wolford said he was upset after watching his good friend Rogers of Burton Bentley lose his Finals match at 130 pounds, so he did all he could to make sure he didn’t suffer the same fate.
“He’s going to do great at college, and I maybe hope to go to the same college as him, because he’s a great role model for me,” Wolford said. “It made me a little angry, it made me push harder because he’s one of my good friends.”
Wolford led throughout his match, and is now a three-time all-state finisher (fourth in 2017, fifth in 2016).
“The third period, I had to push it; I was dead,” he said. “But I had to push it, because six minutes is all you’ve got and you’re a state champ.”
145
Champion: Jayce Kuehnlein, St. Louis, Sr. (45-3)
Decision, 2-1, over Payton Hunt, Climax-Scotts/Martin, Sr. (53-8)
Kuehnlein went ahead early with a takedown, and while the two points were all he scored, they wound up being enough.
“Coming into the match, I wanted to get that first takedown; that controls the match,” he said. “I did it last night in the semis. My footwork and my top work are probably my best positions, and as soon as I get that Turk leg in, you’re not getting out.”
Hunt tried to go big late and split Kuehnlein, but it wasn’t something the St. Louis senior was about to let happen in his final high school match.
“I like going to those positions, because it’s very hard to get them if the guy knows they’re coming,” Kuehnlein said. “I feel comfortable in those positions.”
152
Champion: Noah Teague, Springport, Sr. (44-4)
Decision, 8-3, over Jake Davis, St. Louis, Sr. (43-4)
Teague didn’t wrestle in the championship match of his Regional tournament, finishing third. But he made up for that when it counted most, knocking off the top two finishers, including St. Louis’ Davis, at the Finals to claim his first title.
“I had to wrestle some great competition this year,” he said. “Gerrit Yates (returning champion from Hesperia, who he defeated in the semifinals) and Jake Davis, top two in the state. I’m sorry to knock them out, but wrestling is a sport where you have to beat the best to be the best.”
Teague took Davis to his back, nearly pinning him early in the match, and continued to attack.
“I just battled through the next two rounds just to get it over with,” he said.
160
Champion: Zach Menck, Lawton, Sr. (55-2)
Decision, 6-5, over Zach Young, Hesperia, Sr. (50-1)
Menck followed in his brother Cole’s footsteps by winning the 160-pound title, almost literally. Not only did Zach Menck defeat a Hesperia opponent in his championship match, like his brother, he did it wearing the same shoes Cole did in 2015.
“It means a lot because the brother and the people I grew up with doing MYWAY meets with, they won (MHSAA titles),” Menck said. “It just means everything to be part of that.”
Menck was a runner-up a year ago, but took control of the match this year.
“I felt very comfortable going into the match, knowing that all I needed to do was continue to push the pace and I would win,” Menck said. “I knew I could go out there and shoot and shoot, and if I persistently shoot, I’m going to take down anybody I go out there against, and that was what I did tonight.”
171
Champion: Wyatt Cool, Mendon, Sr. (53-2)
Decision, 7-5, over Justin Carnahan, New Lothrop, Soph., (40-6)
Cool admitted to being a little winded late in his victory against Carnahan. But he had enough in the tank to pull out the win.
“You lose sight of the stage that you’re on,” Cool said. “Before the match, you’re super stressed out, you’re thinking about everything, but when you get out there it’s just another match. Those nerves make your body weak, so you just have to take a minute to collect yourself.”
Cool held on to a two-point lead for more than a minute in the third period, holding off several takedown attempts from Carnahan.
“I knew I had to keep pushing him; I couldn’t keep backing up,” Cool said. “He wanted to hit that slide-by, and I couldn’t let him get into position to do that.”
189
Champion: Kyle Cassiday, Beaverton, Jr. (56-1)
Decision, 8-1, over TJ Rizor, Leroy Pine River, Soph. (37-7)
215
Champion: Eric Cassiday, Beaverton, Sr. (48-1)
Decision, 4-0, over Chase Gibson, Bronson, Sr. (53-2)
Kyle Cassiday didn’t have a ton of time to celebrate his championship before the nerves came back all over again. Not long after he defeated Rizor at 189 pounds, the Beaverton junior was trying to wrap up interviews and watch his older brother, Eric, wrestle for a title of his own at 215.
“It’s crazy – it’s really hard,” he said. “I’m having trouble focusing right now.”
The Cassidays have two MHSAA championships to celebrate, as Eric also won his match against Bronson’s Gibson. The brothers are the first Finals champions in Beaverton wrestling history.
“My mom’s mind is running a million miles per hour,” Eric Cassiday said when asked how his parents would react. “My dad (Beaverton coach Bryan Cassiday) is happy beyond belief, because he’s coached us since we could walk. He dropped everything he was doing to pick up the youth program, to pick up the high school program, and in my opinion he’s one of the best coaches in the state.”
The brothers also give each other some of the best workout partners in the state, as they’re close in weight. While that can increase the nerves for Kyle in competition, it has been a help for Eric.
“For me, I always come after my brother, because he’s 189 and I’m 215, so to get my mind off the pressure, I get excited for him,” Eric Cassiday said. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t for (teammates and fellow Finals qualifiers) Jack (Owens), Seth (Demoines), my buddies out there, I wouldn’t be here.”
285
Champion: Jackson Schenk, Mayville, Sr. (48-2)
Decision, 7-1, over Luke Overweg, Springport, Sr. (44-4)
Before Schenk, no Mayville wrestler had finished better than fourth at the MHSAA tournament. He bested that a year ago when he placed third at 285 pounds, and he re-upped it this year when he claimed the school’s first title.
“Trying to bring respect to us,” he said. “We’re the smallest school in the state with a wrestling program. I’m just trying to prove we’re not to laugh at.”
There was nothing to laugh at Saturday, as Schenk controlled his match against Overweg and closed out an impressive senior campaign.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “Thirteen years of work.”
PHOTO: Mendon’s Skyler Crespo (left) locks in to Onaway’s Matthew Grant during their championship match at 135 pounds Saturday. (Click for 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.)