Richmond Takes Latest Dramatic D3 Final
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 25, 2017
MOUNT PLEASANT – It took 14 matches and eight steps through the dual meet tiebreaker criteria Saturday to decide the latest edition of the wrestling rivalry between Richmond and Dundee.
But when Criteria H showed a 17-8 advantage for Richmond in total first points scored, it was Blue Devils coach Brandon Day who turned to his team with a triumphant fist in the air, sending the Richmond wrestlers and crowd into hysterics.
“I walked to the table and (Dundee coach Tim Roberts) told me, ‘You already won,’” Day said. “I told him, ‘We’ve got to quit doing this.’”
Richmond prevailed in the back-and-forth Division 3 title match, which ended tied at 28 following a 4-3 win from Richmond 130-pound sophomore Hayden Bastian. The title is Richmond’s eighth, and first since 2015 when it defeated Dundee in somehow less dramatic fashion with a pair of pins in the final two matches.
“It’s crazy, you don’t know what’s going to happen – it’s like the lottery,” said Richmond senior 112-pounder Roy Costello, who had one of those pins in 2015, and won a 3-2 decision on Saturday night. “It’s really suspenseful, your heart’s beating 100 mph, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The two teams were deadlocked through the first seven criteria, which includes three varieties of penalty points assessed, total matches won, pinfalls, technical falls and major decisions. It was fitting for a rivalry that has dominated Division 3 since 2006, with the teams now having combined to win 10 of the last 12 titles -- Richmond with six and Dundee with four. Of those 10, seven were won against the other.
“Our programs are intertwined now because we’ve wrestled each other so many times in this situation,” Roberts said. “Today they were that much better than us. It’s pretty close, but they did that much better than us today, so they get to be champs this year. It’s close, but they won.”
The dual was tied three times over the final five matches -- 22-22, 25-25 and 28-28. The final tie was forced by Bastian, who recorded a takedown with less than 30 seconds remaining to send the match to the scorebooks.
“I was stressed -- I was so nervous that I wasn’t going to get a takedown,” said Bastian, who didn’t know if his win would give his team the title. “I’m fairly new to the sport. I started wrestling in seventh grade. I don’t really know much. My first match I didn’t really know what I was doing. I don’t know almost anything, I just go out there and wrestle my best.”
Bastian’s coach had plenty of confidence in him before sending him out onto the mat.
“Hayden Bastian is the best kid in the state nobody knows about,” Day said. “He made 130 for the first time here this weekend, and that was the difference.”
Added Costello: “Hayden performed awesome this whole weekend. Even though he’s not a state qualifier, he performed awesome.”
Dundee jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the match, getting pins from Sean Sterling at 160 pounds and Brandon Whitman at 189, a major decision at 145 from Tylor Orrison and decisions from Zachary Bellaire at 140 and Kyle Motylinski at 171.
Even with the lead, however, Roberts didn’t feel safe.
“We knew we needed more,” Roberts said. “We needed another win down there that we didn’t get. We knew we were kind of in trouble at 22-9. At 119 and 125, our guys did a nice job and came away with wins there, but we knew we were one win short when it was 22-9.”
Richmond stormed back to tie the dual with a major decision from Colton McKiernan at 215, a decision from Tyler Marino at 285 and a pin from Austin Kilburn at 103.
Kilburn’s pin ended a wild match against Dundee’s Caleb Fairchild, which saw both wrestlers taken to their backs in the opening period. Kilburn, a freshman, regained his composure and scored seven more points before getting the pin with 41 seconds left in the match.
Costello’s win put the Blue Devils up 25-22, but Daniel Jaworski (119) and Christian Killion (125) each won decisions for the Vikings to give them the 28-25 lead heading into the final match.
Richmond opened the dual with a pin from senior Owen Vannatter at 135 pounds, and after Dundee took a 7-6 lead with its wins from Bellaire and Orrison, Richmond sophomore Eric Barr pulled off an upset at 152 with a 3-2 win against Dundee’s Alex Motylinski.
“Eric Barr!” Day shouted. “Eric Barr knocked off No. 3 in the state. (Barr) didn’t make it out of our Regional. That was huge.”
The MHSAA Wrestling Finals are presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dundee (left) and Richmond faced off Saturday for the eighth time over the last decade of Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Dundee’s Sean Sterling works toward a pin during his match at 160. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Haslem Seeks to Take Next Step, Elevate St. Clair Wrestling Again
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 26, 2025
For the first time in his career, Cristian Haslem is heading to the Division 2 Individual Wrestling Finals with teammates.
After being the lone member of the St. Clair wrestling team to qualify in each of the past two seasons, the 120-pound junior will be joined this Friday and Saturday at Ford Field by Zachary Drugach (113), Nathan Postma (157), Caleb Kuretich (175) and David Alley (190).
“I’m really excited,” Haslem said. “I just let them know to treat it like any other match, really. Just don’t make it bigger than it is.”
It’s the biggest contingent of Finals qualifiers for the Saints in program history, so it’s only fitting that Haslem is part of it. While the current version of the program is still less than 20 years old, Haslem already has cemented himself as one of its all-time greats.
His two runner-up finishes – at 106 as a freshman and 113 as a sophomore – are the highest any Saints wrestler has ever stood on the Finals podium, and his two all-state finishes tie him with Colton Pfaendtner for the most in school history. They’re also the only two St. Clair wrestlers to earn all-state honors.
Haslem set the freshman (46-2) and sophomore (49-1) records for wins, and at 132-3 over his career, he’s already moved to second all-time behind Pfaendtner (180).
So, as he looks to take the next step this weekend and become the first Finals champion in school history, he’s hoping to follow his own advice.
“I feel a lot more confident about this year,” Haslem said. “The last two years, I wasn’t used to the big stage. I feel like I just have to treat it like any other match.”
Haslem enters the weekend at 37-0 and seeded second at 120 pounds behind sophomore Devan Garcia of Battle Creek Harper Creek.
The two know each other well, as Garcia defeated Haslem in the 113-pound Final a year ago.
Haslem admits that a rematch Saturday night has long been on his mind, but he’s well aware there’s work to do in order to get there.
He opens the tournament Friday with Jack Hayes of Bay City John Glenn, and his potential opponents on the way to the Final include unbeaten Joshua Ledford of Zeeland East.
“I’ve definitely just been trying to think about the next match, and not thinking about that rematch,” Haslem said. “Otherwise, I know it will mess with my matches before it. But of course, I’m excited for that match.”
St. Clair coach Jake Scillian has watched Haslem remain focused all season, and while he knows being this close to the finish line will make that more difficult, he has faith in his star to remain in the moment.
“We just kind of take it one match at a time, one opponent at a time,” Scillian said. “I think this year is going to be the hardest, because I know he’s foaming at the mouth to get that title. But he knows that he’s really going to have to focus for each match.”
Getting so close two years in a row has driven Haslem to another level this season. He’s unbeaten on the mat, with wins over top-tier wrestlers such as Traverse City West’s Matthew Quigley – a runner-up at 113 in Division 1 a year ago – and Yale’s Landon Sopha, a three-time placer in Division 3.
Scillian said Haslem has put everything into his training, attending Team Donahoe sessions in Flint at least once per week to train with former Davison star and NCAA national champion Paul Donahoe. That’s on top of his St. Clair practices and attending every open mat session Scillian has held.
“After two heartbreaks, he definitely put it into overdrive this year,” Scillian said. “He wrestles 365 days a year. His parents hired a strength trainer; he’s been lifting like crazy.”
Haslem’s work is geared not only toward winning a title this weekend, but also securing a place on a collegiate roster. Of course, a win Saturday could go a long way in helping that.
“I think it would make a big difference for college coaches,” Haslem said. “I feel like it’d be helpful to show them I can compete on big stages and do what it takes to win.”
He’s already proven quite a bit. As a freshman, he surprised himself with his run, only to have to wrestle the Final with a broken finger suffered in the semis. Getting to the Final as a sophomore was more of an expectation, but he went down early against Garcia and couldn’t claw back.
He’s also helped elevate St. Clair wrestling. In trying to find better competition for Haslem to wrestle, Scillian has challenged his entire team to raise its level – and the Saints have responded.
“It’s kind of cool to see the trajectory of both of them,” Scillian said. “Cristian came in and he’s this super-talented kid, so the issue was, ‘What do we do with a kid that’s at a higher level?’ We’ve always tried to raise the ceiling, and have everyone else raise theirs, too. We kind of used Cristian as a catalyst for that. … I have a ton of respect for the Haslems for keeping Cristian here. He could have gone to any school. It kind of shows that our program is on the right trajectory, and it can happen to anyone who puts the work in. You don’t have to be from a certain school to win.”
Haslem is happy to be that catalyst and have his teammates joining him in the Grand March. Now he’s ready to take the next step and elevate himself, and the program, again.
“It would be awesome,” Haslem said. “I think it would just help bring a lot of kids out, and just put our school on the map for wrestling.”
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) St. Clair’s Cristian Haslem, right, has his hand raised in victory after a match this season. (Middle) Haslem, left, wraps up and lifts an opponent off the mat. (Photos courtesy of the St. Clair wrestling program.)