New Lothrop Runs D4 Title Streak to 3
February 27, 2016
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
MOUNT PLEASANT – To say the wrestling teams from New Lothrop and Hudson high schools have had a monopoly on the championship in Division 4 lately may be a bit of an understatement.
After all, those two teams have won the past seven titles in D4; New Lothrop claimed the past two, and Hudson the previous five dating back to 2009. And Hudson has appeared in all seven title matches, losing to New Lothrop the past two years.
So it was no surprise when New Lothrop and Hudson, the top and third-seeded teams, respectively, at this year's MHSAA Team Finals, made their way through their Quarterfinal and Semifinal opponents to another championship matchup at Central Michigan University's McGuirk Arena on Saturday.
And for the third straight year, New Lothrop took home the champion’s trophy, beating Hudson 35-27.
"For the last decade, they have been the standard," Campbell said of Hudson. "We have been chasing them, and we kind of caught them the last few years. And their lineup is loaded with freshmen, so that tells me that they are going to be back."
But this day was New Lothrop's, as the Hornets took a 28-6 lead by winning six of the first eight weight classes wrestled.
The match started at 135 pounds, and New Lothrop (24-5) got pins at 152 pounds by Steven Garza, Brandon Henige at 171 and Erik Birchmeier at 189 to help build their big lead.
"We knew where we started, we were going to have to build a big lead," Campbell said. "The strength of their lineup is down low, they have some real good wrestlers down low."
That's exactly what happened, as Hudson (18-15) got bonus-point wins in three of the final five weight classes wrestled.
"Jeff's team did exactly as planned," Hudson coach Scott Marry said. "A lot of matches could have gone either way, and I'm not disappointed. Our kids wrestled hard; they just came out on top."
New Lothrop beat a stingy Springport team 38-30 in its Semifinal to open the day. The Hornets won seven of the first nine matches wrestled in the Semifinal, and then held on for the win.
New Lothrop needed a win from Cole Hersch at 145 pounds, the final weight, to secure the win. Hersch beat Taylor Whitmore by major decision, 11-1, for the victory.
Hudson had a much easier time in its Semifinal, beating surprise Leroy Pine River 55-18. The Tigers won 11 of the 14 matches for the victory. Pine River, a seven seed, had impressed Friday by advancing with a Quarterfinal win over second-seeded Decatur.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) New Lothrop and Hudson have combined to win the last seven Division 4 championships. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Redwings Seniors Finish with 4
February 23, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – St. Johns’ seniors heard most of it and read the rest over the last year.
Those last three MHSAA team wrestling championships simply were the product of an incredible senior class that had combined for six individual championships. Throw in a new coach this winter, and the Redwings would fall off their roost as the dominant program in Division 2.
But these seniors – including five who will wrestle in the Big Ten next season – knew better.
“Of course we did. This is the same group of guys who just keep working hard, keep going after it,” St. Johns senior Josh Pennell said. “Just because one grade moves out, that doesn't mean we (don’t) have kids from underneath moving in and replacing those kids."
With 2012 graduates Taylor Massa and Jordan Wohlfert looking on – as fans, this time – the teammates they left behind finished a run achieved by only three schools before.
Top-seeded St. Johns defeated Lowell in the Division 2 Final at Kellogg Arena on Saturday, 42-20, to become the fourth school to win four straight MHSAA team wrestling titles since the beginning of the Team Finals format in 1988.
“We proved that it just wasn't a fluke, one grade that just could do everything,” Pennell said. “The truth is we've got what it takes to win state championships, if we work as a team to win.”
The two teams also met in last season’s Final, with St. Johns winning 41-18.
Pennell and senior Jacob Schmitt started in all four championship match wins during this run, and senior Brant Schafer no doubt would've done the same had an injury not ended his season earlier this winter.
Total, this senior class finished with a 115-8 dual meet record.
By numbers alone, this season’s 22-4 finish was the least impressive of their run. But those losses this winter came to eventual Division 1 championship Detroit Catholic Central – which St. Johns also then beat – plus ranked Division 1 Brighton and Division 2 Fowlerville, and Ohio powerhouse Lakewood St. Edward.
The only other teams to win at least four straight titles during the Team Finals era were Davison from 2002-06, Hudson – which joined Davison as the only two with five straight by winning Division 4 on Saturday – and Dundee from 1995-98.
“These guys, they have moxie. They've got attitude. They want to be here and all that stuff,” said St. Johns coach Derek Phillips, who took over the program this winter after seven seasons as an assistant.
“I had a bond with these kids. I’d been with them for all four (titles), and winning breeds winning. They wanted it, and they were going to do everything they could to get those Ws.”
Schmitt and sophomore Logan Massa needed a combined 51 seconds to build St. Johns a 12-0 lead to start the championship match. Senior Ben Whitford, sophomore Drew Wixson, senior Payne Hayden and junior Zac Hall also won by fall for the Redwings. Junior Derek Krajewski and freshman Zeth Dean won major decisions late for the Red Arrows to tighten the final margin, although Lowell did win six matches total.
The Red Arrows, which entered the weekend as the second seed, finished 19-7. But there’s no reason to think they won’t be back at Kellogg Arena again in 2014 – although they started three seniors in the championship match, they also started five freshmen.
“They fought today. I’m proud of my team” Lowell coach Dave Dean said. “This is a very young team, so we’re building on a really good foundation."
Lowell will have nine qualifiers at next weekend’s Individual Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills, and St. Johns will send 11. The Redwings' senior class certainly will be remembered among the most impressive in Michigan in some time, regardless of what happens next weekend. Whitford and Hayden have signed with the University of Michigan, Pennell with Michigan State, Schmitt with Northwestern and Schafer with Indiana.