Preview: D1 Features Historic Opportunity, Daunting Obstacle
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 30, 2021
Detroit Catholic Central will encounter a historic opportunity Tuesday at the MHSAA Division 1 Team Wrestling Finals.
But standing in the Shamrocks’ way might be its toughest opponent during this recent four-championship run.
DCC will wrestle for its fifth-straight team title. Davison is the only other Division 1 program to accomplish that feat – and carries the top seed this time after finishing runner-up to the Shamrocks both last season and in 2017.
The Quarterfinal pairings Tuesday at Wings Event Center are as follows:
Division 1 - 10 am - The Valley
#1 Davison - BYE - Mat 1
#4 Holt vs. #5 Rockford - Mat 2
#3 Hartland vs. #6 Clarkston - Mat 3
#2 Detroit Catholic Central vs. #7 Wyandotte Roosevelt - Mat 4
(Macomb Dakota opted out.)
Spectator limits remain in effect, but all matches will be broadcast live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv. Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 1, listed by seed.
#1 DAVISON
Record/rank: 17-0, No. 1
League finish: No league title awarded this season.
Coach: Zac Hall, first season (17-0)
Championship history: Eight MHSAA championships (most recent 2006), six runner-up finishes. Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Justin Gates (17-0) fr., 112 Aden Williams (19-2) jr., 119 Caden Horwath (21-0) soph., 125 Cameron Freeman (20-3) jr., 125 Brendan Maybee (17-6) jr., 135 Evan Herriman (18-1) soph., 140 Owen Payne (22-1) jr., 145 Kyle White (17-5) jr., 152 James Johnston (21-1) sr., 160 Josh Barr (20-0) soph., 171 Alex Facundo (20-0) sr., 189 Landon Kish (16-5) sr., 215 Jimmy Colley (14-0) jr., 285 Tyler Jelinek (19-1) sr.
Outlook: This will be Davison’s 10th-straight Quarterfinal, and the Cardinals come in favorites this time in part thanks to a 36-9 win over Detroit Catholic Central earlier this month. Facundo won 171 last season and this weekend will attempt to become the 29th four-time Individual Finals champion in MHSAA history. Horwath and Barr started possible four-time quests with their first titles as freshmen last season at 103 and 152, respectively. Other returning individual placers from last season including Herriman (fourth at 135), Johnston (third at 145), Colley (third at 215) and Jelinek (sixth at 285).
#2 DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 19-1, No. 2
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League Central
Coach: Mitch Hancock, 14th season (312-49)
Championship history: Fifteen MHSAA championships (most recent 2020), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Drew Heethuis (23-0) soph., 119 Anthony Walker (18-2) jr., 119 Clayton Jones (20-3) soph., 125 Cory Thomas (18-5) fr., 125 Mason Stewart (15-6) fr., 135 Steven Shellenberger (14-3) soph., 135 Dylan Gilcher (19-1) soph., 140 Philip Burney (18-3) sr., 140 Tatum Bunn, (17-3) soph., 145 Darius Marines (11-1) fr., 145 Camden Trupp (17-2) sr., 160 Cameron Adams (19-4) soph., 171 John Browning (7-2) sr., 189 Manuel Rojas (22-2) jr.
Outlook: A fifth-straight Division 1 championship Tuesday would make DCC just the fourth program to win five in a row since 1988 when for the first time team championships were awarded based on dual competition. The only loss, as noted above, was to top-ranked Davison. A number of standouts have graduated the last four seasons, and the projected lineup features only four seniors. But there’s still plenty of championship-pressure experience – Gilcher (112) and Rojas (189) won individual championships last season, while Heethuis was third at 103, Bunn was fifth at 125, Trupp was runner-up at 135 and Burney was sixth at that weight.
#3 HARTLAND
Record/rank: 22-0, No. 3
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Todd Cheney, 29th season (809-112-2)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2016, five runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Jake Gillespie (24-3) fr., 112 Patrick Wlodyga (18-3) jr., 125 Ethan Kinch (24-2) jr., 135 Luke Thornton (28-0) sr., 135 Vinnie Abbey (25-3) fr., 140 Nick Dimitroff (18-2) soph., 145 Owen Edgar (13-6) sr., 160 Brayden Bobo (22-2) soph., 171 Avery Dickerson (26-0) jr., 189 Chase Kern (26-1) soph., 215 Paul Corder (20-2) sr.
Outlook: This will be Hartland’s 20th-straight trip to the Quarterfinals, and the Eagles will be seeking their first Semifinal berth since 2017. Wlodyga was fourth last season at 103, Dickerson was fourth at 171, and sophomore Nick Rochowiak was fifth at 140 and will wrestle 152 this week. Hartland allowed only a combined 15 points over its first four postseason wins.
#4 HOLT
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 6
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference Blue
Coach: Rocky Shaft, 41st season (624-107)
Championship history: Four MHSAA championships (most recent 2008), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Ryan Mosher (25-3) soph., 125 Zach Platte (21-5) sr., 130 Jason Jones (19-6) jr., 140 Ralph Thompson (28-2) jr., 152 Alex Russell (23-4) jr., 160 Adam Russell (23-5) sr., 171 Nathan Bremer (22-3) jr., 285 Joshua Terrill, 21-3) jr.
Outlook: The Rams eliminated Finals regular Brighton 43-29 in the Regional Final to advance to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2013. A Semifinal berth would be Holt’s first since its runner-up run in 2009. Only two seniors start, with seven juniors who could help the Rams continue to rise next winter. Platte, Bremer and Terrill were Finals qualifiers last season.
#5 ROCKFORD
Record/rank: 19-3, No. 9
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red
Coach: Brian Richardson, 12th season (255-114)
Championship history: Two MHSAA championships (most recent 2009), three runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Jak Keller (24-1) soph., 119 Elijah Bunn (24-2) soph., 130 Logan Schwartz (13-7) soph., 140 Brysonn Aulbach (18-8) jr., 152 Trenton Wachter (19-1) sr., 152 Colin Harju (10-4) sr., 160 Ryan Ahern (21-1) fr., 171 Moses Bosscher (22-5) sr., 189 Luke Watkins (21-4) sr.,
Outlook: Rockford is making its third-straight trip to the Quarterfinals and seeking to take the next step into the Semifinals for first time since its runner-up season of 2010. The Rams defeated another regular, Grandville, 37-16 in the Regional Final to advance. Wachter was third at 140 last season.
#6 CLARKSTON
Record/rank: 16-7, No. 10
League finish: Third in Oakland Activities Association Red
Coach: Brian Gibbs, first season (16-7)
Championship history: Class A champion 1991, runner-up 1995.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Ashton Anderson (21-4) sr., 130 Auggie Anderson (10-3) soph., 152 Grady Castle (21-3) sr., 160 John Lord (14-11) sr.
Outlook: Gibbs moved up to take over the program after three seasons as an assistant, and the Wolves continued to roll with their third-straight Regional title. They defeated No. 7 Romeo 36-28 in the Regional Semifinal on the way to Kalamazoo this time. Ashton Anderson finished third at 125 last season.
#7 WYANDOTTE ROOSEVELT
Record/rank: 17-4, unranked
League finish: First in Downriver League
Coach: Brett Greene, 18th season (334-161)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifier: Lu Peterson (22-0) jr.
Outlook: Roosevelt is headed to the Quarterfinals for the first time after edging Westland John Glenn 33-32 in the Regional Final. The Bears also won their third-straight District title and fifth in six seasons. This could be just the start; Roosevelt has only two seniors among its projected starters for Tuesday, but six freshmen.
PHOTO: Davison’s Aden Williams, left, and Detroit Catholic Central’s Drew Heethuis wrestle during last season’s Division 1 Final at Wings Event Center. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Lowell Bests Rival in Familiar Matchup
February 27, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
MOUNT PLEASANT – Lowell needed 13 matches Saturday to clinch another of what has become an annual MHSAA Finals back-and-forth with rival St. Johns.
But senior Lucas Hall, in his final high school team match, needed only 26 seconds to put the finishing pin on his team’s third straight Division 2 championship.
Lowell added a sixth MHSAA title to a body of work already ranking it among the most successful wrestling programs in state history, outlasting the Redwings 37-22 despite the teams being deadlocked with three matches remaining.
Hall’s pin at 125 pounds was sandwiched between a pin by junior Sam Russell at 119 and a decision by freshman Avry Mutschler at 130 that together gave the top-ranked Red Arrows the final 15 points of the day – literally – as the back-and-forth nature of the tussle caused it to finish last of the four Finals and multiple matches after two had concluded.
“It’s really been us multiple years going back and forth at it. It’s tough. It’s not going to be easy; everyone knows that,” Hall said. “We’ve had good times, we’ve had bad times with St. Johns. To be honest, it’s just going after it, trying to go for the win. Rivalry wins are the best wins.”
Lowell finished 22-3 and entered the weekend the top seed to go with its top regular-season ranking. St. Johns (28-5) was ranked third heading into the postseason but seeded second this weekend.
The Redwings opened a 7-0 lead after two matches, and the Red Arrows tied the score with two straight wins. St. Johns then earned a decision, and Lowell tied it again with a decision – but in doing so started a 15-0 run keyed by some deft maneuvering at the heavier weights by coach R.J. Boudro.
Junior Eli Boulton has wrestled at 215 pounds but got in at the 189-pound match and came away with a pin. After a decision win by senior Logan Blough at 215, senior Max Dean moved up two weights to 285 – giving up about 100 pounds but beating 5-4 St. Johns senior Jake Gnegy, a likely contender at next weekend’s Individual Finals.
Dean wrestled heavyweight for the first time this season in Friday’s Quarterfinal win over Sturgis.
“I like challenges. Coach came to me with the idea and I was all about it, and I was just really excited and glad I could get it done for my teammates,” Dean said. “Credit (Gnegy), he was really strong. I knew I had to wrestle the match a certain way and didn’t want to be under him or anything like that. I thought it would be a lot of fun.”
But despite Lowell’s 22-10 lead at that point, it wasn’t the end.
St. Johns battled back with back-to-back pins by sophomore Brendan Zelenka and junior Emilio Sanchez at 103 and 112, respectively, to tie the score again – setting up the closing run by Russell, Hall and Mutschler.
All five of Lowell's seniors won their matches in the Final as the Red Arrows won nine of 14 matches total.
“Everybody just expects us to do this. What no one knows is how hard these kids work and how hard it is to win a state title with the expectations that we have,” Boudro said. “Our seniors, every senior did what they were expected to do. It was just an awesome win. We wrestled above expectations, I felt like.”
The same could’ve been said for the Redwings, perhaps, for a couple of reasons. St. Johns missed Finals weekend completely last season, losing to eventual Division 2 runner-up Eaton Rapids in the Regional Final.
The Redwings had to beat both No. 7 Eaton Rapids and No. 2 DeWitt to reach CMU this weekend – and nearly had enough to finish with a fifth championship in seven seasons.
“One thing that this team has not done all year, is we haven’t given up. Things may not go our way, but it doesn’t discourage us. We keep battling hard, we keep wrestling tough,” St. Johns coach Derek Phillips said. “The way last season ended left a sour taste, so we all wanted to wrestle tough and get back here. But we didn’t talk about it much this year. This year we just focused on getting better and having fun. … We didn’t win, but I thought we had a successful season where the guys got better, had fun, and the team, we grew.”
Lowell cruised to a 52-18 win over Sturgis in its Quarterfinal on Friday, while St. Johns advanced with a 49-23 win over Dearborn Heights Annapolis. The Redwings then beat third-seeded Gaylord in a Semifinal, 55-11, while Lowell outlasted fourth-seeded Goodrich 35-27.
Hall, Max Dean, Mutschler, junior Bryce Dempsey and senior Danny Kruse all won all three of their matches on the weekend for Lowell. Zelenka, junior Bret Fedewa and senior Ian Parker won all three of their matches for the Redwings – Parker winning the most intriguing individual matchup of the Final, 3-0 over Lowell senior Zeth Dean. Both are reigning individual champions and will be in the 140 bracket next weekend.
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTO: Lowell and St. Johns met in the Division 2 Final for the fourth time in five seasons Saturday. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)