Richmond: 'Nothing Compares to This'
February 28, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – With the MHSAA Division 3 wrestling championship at stake, Richmond senior Connor Behem had his Dundee opponent on his back Saturday afternoon at Kellogg Arena.
It was the first minute of their match, and the Dundee wrestler frantically was trying to raise his hand, as if he were reaching for a championship but in reality simply trying to avoid a pin. Behem, meanwhile, was using his wrestling repertoire as he tried to pin his opponent’s shoulders to the mat.
“Time was going by really slowly,” Behem said. “It felt like an hour when he was on his back, but I knew it was only a few seconds.”
Finally, 67 seconds into the match, Behem got the pin, not only ending an incredible comeback that netted Richmond the MHSAA championship but writing a script that Hollywood would have a tough time turning down.
Richmond edged Dundee 27-25 for its seventh Finals championship and fourth in the past six years.
Richmond faced Dundee in the Final for the third year in a row, and Dundee, the two-time defending champion, had a comfortable 25-12 lead with three matches left.
“I thought it was slipping away,” Richmond coach Brandon Day said. “For them to come out and do what they did, I’m so proud of them.”
After a decision by Adam Boyd and a pin by Roy Costello, Richmond pulled within 25-21 going into the final match at 112 pounds. Richmond needed a pin by Behem to win the championship, and when he pinned Wallace, the Richmond bench and crowd erupted with joy.
“I kind of broke down emotionally,” Behem said. “It felt so good, words can’t even describe it.”
Behem’s knee locked up in the morning practice, and Roberts did not use him in the 32-19 victory over Remus Chippewa Hills in the Semifinal match.
“His ACL and meniscus are completely torn,” Day said. “He has practiced one day in the last three weeks. We were lucky enough to be able to sit him in the semis. ... Sacrifice won this for us, no doubt.”
Behem played off the injury, as his euphoria likely dampened any pain he might have been feeling.
“My knee is a little bummed, but it’s all right,” he said.
Boyd began the big comeback with a 3-0 victory over Gabe Heiserman at 285. Although a pin would have been huge, Richmond needed at least a decision to stay alive in the match.
“Everyone was telling me I had to get six, and it kind of got in my head a little bit,” Boyd said. “I kind of got away and started talking to our coach and Devin Skatzka, and they calmed me back down and said just get the win, and I got the win.”
Next up was Costello at 103, and he wasted little time in deciding his match with a pin in 31 seconds.
“It was like do or die. I knew I had to do it,” Costello said. “I was so happy as soon as I locked that up. Then I just told Connor good luck.
“I knew Connor was going to get that pin, but once the referee hit that mat, I was up. I was so happy I cried for joy.”
Behem took the mat with the weight of the entire wrestling program on his back and his weakened right knee. He felt it.
“I was nervous, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I saw my teammates get it done before me, so that helped me. I saw Roy pick up the pin and Adam pick up a big win, so once I got on the mat, all my nerves went away. It felt good.
“I could not have went out my senior year any better than this. Individuals (Finals) are pretty crazy, but nothing compares to team state finals. Nothing.”
Richmond, which finished 32-5, won just six of the 14 matches in the Final but picked up nine bonus points with three pins. Skatzka, a three-time individual MHSAA champion, had the other pin in 56 seconds over Kyle Reinhart at 160 pounds.
Skatzka said the entire team was computing what it would take for the Blue Devils to erase the late 13-point deficit.
“We all were counting it up in our head,” Skatzka said. “We knew we had our matches at 103 and 112, and we were kind of counting on pins from them, and it happened just how we counted on them.
“I can’t even describe what it felt like. It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever been through. I’ve won three state titles in my life and the team state title my freshman year. Nothing has been more exciting than this. Nothing compares to this.”
Richmond’s other victories came on decisions by Aaron Kilburn at 125 and Austin Pawlak at 152.
Dundee, which has been in the MHSAA Finals in eight of the past nine years, ended its season at 25-6. Of their eight wins in the Final, only one registered more than the three points. Sophomore Sean Sterling scored a 22-9 major decision at 145 pounds.
The seven other victories picked up by Dundee were by Drew Scholl (119), Drew Mandell (130), Kenny Reinhart (135), Zach Blevins (140), Donny Mandell (171), Brandon Whitman (189) and Tye Thompson (215).
“It was a good dual,” Dundee coach Tim Roberts said. “We end up having great duals every year. They have a great team and do a great job over there, and they have a great coach, obviously.
“They did a super job, I have to give them credit.”
Six Dundee wrestlers finished 3-0 over the weekend: Donny Mandell, Reinhart, Blevins, Sterling, Whitman and Thompson. Skatzka and Costello were the only Richmond wrestlers to go 3-0 for the weekend.
“I am so proud of the effort from everybody from top to bottom,” Day said. “We gave up bonus points one match, and we had three falls.
“That’s how you win state titles.”
PHOTO: Richmond poses with its MHSAA Division 3 championship trophy Saturday at Kellogg Arena. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Lowell Runs Team Title Streak to 12, Moves Closer to All-Sports Record
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 22, 2025
KALAMAZOO – Jackson Blum and his Lowell teammates have bigger goals than winning a Division 2 Team Wrestling Finals title each year.
But as the Red Arrows chase those goals down, they keep winning titles, too.
“We want to accomplish our goal, and in the end our goal is not to win a state championship. It’s to become a better person and a better wrestler,” Blum said. “Team state titles, they can come along with that, but in the end we just want to better ourselves as people and as wrestlers – so if winning a team state title is a product of that, that’s awesome.”
Lowell defeated Fowlerville 52-14 on Saturday at Wings Event Center to capture its 12th-straight Division 2 Finals championship.
That not only extends its MHSAA record for consecutive wrestling titles, but moves one step closer to the record for all sports in Lower Peninsula or statewide competition – 15, set by the East Grand Rapids boys swimming & diving team from 1948-62.
A 13th title next year would tie the Red Arrows with Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice boys lacrosse, which accomplished that feat from 2005-2017.
Fowlerville was the seventh program Lowell has defeated in the Finals during the streak.
“We put God first, we do that across the coaching staff, and it just gives us a purpose,” Lowell coach RJ Boudro said. “We know why we do this. We don’t do this to win a state championship; we do this to be better wrestlers. We do that off the mat, on the mat, in the classroom, and we hold ourselves accountable that way, and everything takes care of itself. It really doesn’t feel like there’s pressure, because we can’t lose. We go out there and try to wrestle hard. If we wrestle our hardest and do everything we were coached to do, how can you lose? Usually, if you do all those things, we end up here.”
Carson Blum opened the dual with a pinfall at 113 pounds, setting a familiar tone for the Red Arrows (30-4), who built a 46-0 lead through the first nine matches.
Brock Foster put the Gladiators (35-5) on the board with a major decision at 175 pounds, but by that time, the Lowell lead was already insurmountable.
“We’re used to wrestling with momentum on our side, and we did not get any momentum,” Fowlerville coach Dan Coon said. “We could not get any traction. They do a nice job. They work them hard over there, they see a tough schedule. They did a nice job.”
The opening run included pins from Carter Cichocki (132) and Jackson Blum (138), followed by a string of four straight technical falls from Logan Dawson (144), Trevor Boone (150), Seth Harvey (157) and Owen Segorski (165).
Jarrett Smith (120) and Cole Cichocki (126) each won by major decision during the run.
“A lot of firepower, and it’s just hard to beat a team with that much firepower,” Boudro said. “It’s hard to really compare, but this was such an enjoyable season. It’s hard to say that I’ve ever enjoyed a season more than this. It’s the leadership – these kids love God, they love our team, they love our program, they love our community, they buy into our core values – it’s just special.”
Casey Engle (190) and John Carter McKay (106) each won by decision for the Arrows, who are far from done, as they will send 11 boys and two girls to the upcoming Individual Finals, Feb. 28 and March 1 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Among those qualifiers are four reigning champions, including Jackson Blum who will be in search of his fourth, and Segorski who will be wrestling for his third.
“I’m super grateful,” Jackson Blum said. “My coaches, my teammates, they’ve always been there for me. We’re a family. Every day I just kind of think about how cool it is to be a part of this program and this community. I look up in the stands and there’s hundreds of people here to support us, it’s just awesome.”
While Lowell walking away from Kalamazoo with a title was expected, Fowlerville making a run to the Final was less so. The Gladiators were the No. 7 seed and upset Freeland in the Quarterfinals on Friday before knocking off New Boston Huron on Saturday in the Semifinals.
“We surprised a couple people this weekend, so we’re good,” Coon said. “I feel real good about it. It’s unfortunate that we had to see Lowell in the Finals, but there’s a lot of other teams that would have done a whole lot worse than we did. I’m good with that.”
Liam and Layne O’Neil did provide some good memories for the Gladiators at the end of the title match, as Liam won by fall at 285 and Layne won a major decision at 215.
Click for the weekend's Division 2 meet summaries.
PHOTOS (Top) Lowell's Owen Segorski, right, locks up his opponent during Saturday's Division 2 Final. (Middle) Fowlerville's Layne O'Neil, left, works toward a win at 215 pounds. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)