Sandusky's Ryan Repeats, Aims for 4
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2020
Logan Ryan had to learn how to handle losing.
After a youth career that saw her win multiple national wrestling honors, including the NUWAY Nationals in 2017, Ryan’s freshman year competing at 140 and 145 pounds proved to be difficult.
“I got destroyed that year,” the Sandusky sophomore said.
Now the losses are much less frequent, but she has figured out how to turn them into positives.
“When I get beat, I just feel like that’s an opportunity for me to fix what I do wrong in a match,” she said. “I think it does really good for me to fix my mistakes and see what happens. Honestly, I feel like wrestling the boys in high school makes me tougher. The boys are stronger than me, it roughs me up and it makes me more aggressive and prepared for everything else.”
Ryan is 25-5 on the year, and while the MHSAA postseason is about to begin, she’s already claimed a state championship this season. Ryan won the 145-pound title at the Michigan Wrestling Association High School Girls State Championship on Feb. 2 in Adrian. It was her second straight title at the event, which was in its second year.
“It was pretty awesome,” she said. “I was super happy to win it again and wrestle really good. I still feel like there’s more room to improve.”
Ryan defeated Shelbi Daniels of Chesaning 8-2 in the championship match. She was the second seed entering the tournament and won by pin and technical fall in her first two matches before winning a 3-0 decision in the semifinals.
She could have made weight at 138 pounds, but her dad, Jeff, who is the assistant coach at Sandusky, said they decided to enter at 145 because of the depth of that weight class.
“We wrestle the best; that’s our whole idea of it,” Jeff Ryan said. “She went after the best and beat all the ones she wanted to.”
A year ago, Ryan won the title at 160 pounds. She was one of three freshmen to win a title last year, and this year, only she and Eliana Bommarito of Hartland (235 and 270) were able to repeat.
That leaves them both with an opportunity to become the state’s first four-time girls state champions.
“I don’t know who my opponents are going to be, which freshmen are coming in, but I definitely thought about that after I won the second one,” Ryan said. “I definitely think about becoming a four-time state champion. That would be awesome.”
There were four other repeat champions, including Ryan’s cousin, Kendra Ryan of Fenton, who won at 107 pounds. Sparta’s Rayan Sahagun (102), Southgate Anderson’s JoJo Palshan (117) and Lowell’s Reese Gonzales (132) also won their second title in as many years.
Sandusky coach Adam Filkins was excited with how much the meet grew from its first year to its second and noted that it follows a trend around the state with girls in wrestling.
“Last year, we started our first girls division at our tournament, and we more than doubled that this year,” he said. “They’ve doubled the amount of girls at the state finals. There has been a crazy amount of growth, way more than I would have expected. There’s a great push behind it, and there seems to be no resistance.”
Opportunities are also growing at the next level, as there are about 60 colleges which now have a women’s wrestling program.
“I think it’s amazing – I think it’s awesome,” said Ryan, who added her ultimate goal is to make the United States Olympic team. “I think more girls that have never experienced anything like wrestling should definitely try.”
As the postseason gets underway with Team District tournaments Wednesday and Thursday, and the Individual Districts on Saturday, Logan Ryan said her goal is to qualify for the Regional. She said she plans to move down to 135 pounds for the individual tournament.
“I lost in the blood round last year,” she said. “We have a tough region and district.”
As she looks further into the future, however, the goal is to be wrestling at Ford Field – along with the rest of the girls who have been competing at Adrian.
“Girls wrestling is coming,” Ryan said. “It’s big, and it’s growing.”
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) Sandusky’s Logan Ryan, top, maintains control over her opponent. (Middle) Ryan’s arm is raised in victory. (Photos courtesy of the Sandusky wrestling program.)
MWA Girls State Championship finals results
97 pounds
Champion: Emme Hicks, Saline, Fr.
Fall, 4:56, over MaKenzie German, Jr., Clinton
102
Champion: Rayana Sahagun, Sparta, Sr.
Fall, 3:20, over Makayla Wiltse, Mio, Sr.
107
Champion: Kendra Ryan, Fenton, Jr.
Fall, 0:51, over Hannah Becker, Forest Hills Central, Sr.
112
Champion: Hannah Arledge-Teran, Fowlerville, Soph.
Decision, 6-4, over Casey Boni, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, Soph.
117
Champion: Jojo Palshan, Southgate Anderson, Sr.
Decision, 6-0, over Alana Nuorala, Ishpeming Westwood, Jr.
122
Champion: Autumn Teague, Holly, Sr.
Decision, 6-1, over Lydia Roope, Bay City Western, Fr.
127
Champion: Sylvia Pierce, Temperance Bedford, Jr.
Fall, 2:41, over Taylor Randolph, Clinton, Soph.
132
Champion: Reese Gonzales, Lowell, Jr.
Fall, 2:20, over Ellyana Kuzma, Gibraltar Carlson, Sr.
138
Champion: Alicia Pieper, Waterford Kettering, Jr.
Decision, 5-1, over Bella Wazny, Hemlock, Soph.
155
Champion: Maritza Gallegos, Salem, Jr.
Decision, 9-5, over Brynn Green, Howell, Fr.
168
Champion: Khloe Williams, Clio, Fr.
Major decision, 12-3, over Bo Geibe, Constantine, Soph.
184
Champion: Kailyn Garrett, South Lyon, Soph.
Fall, 1:33, over Grace Middleton, Mayville, Sr.
270
Champion: Eliana Bommarito, Hartland, Soph.
Fall, 0:40, over Teresa Rodriguez, Parchment, Jr.
Latest Championship Chapter of DCC/Davison Goes Shamrocks' Way
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 22, 2025
KALAMAZOO – Connor Bercume’s Detroit Catholic Central wrestling career came full circle Saturday.
Three years ago, Bercume lost the opening match of the Division 1 Final against Davison in a dual meet the Shamrocks lost by eight.
In his final match at Wings Events Center, however, the senior closed his team wrestling career by winning the clinching match in Catholic Central’s 50-18 victory against Davison.
“That’s a pretty cool feeling,” Bercume said. “I kind of started my career here at the team state championships, it was the first match my freshman year. I lost and we ended up losing that dual. So, that was definitely tough on me. This year, it’s pretty awesome to clinch it up. It still hasn’t really sunk in that this was actually my last time representing CC as a team. But, yeah, it feels good.”
Bercume and the Shamrocks have now won three straight Division 1 Finals titles, seven of the past nine and 11 since 2010, all under coach Mitch Hancock. In three of the five years the Shamrocks didn’t win the title, they were a finalist.
“It doesn’t,” Hancock said when asked if the feeling of winning ever changes. “You’d think it would. You’re so in the process throughout the year of prepping and prepping and prepping, but when it finally comes to fruition, you look at their faces and get the chance to embrace the coaches who have spent so much time and energy with these guys – it doesn’t (change). It’s a special moment. We do the team state tournament right here in Michigan, it means something. Other states, not so much; it’s the individual tournament. But look around. So many communities that are invested in wrestling – it’s special.”
Saturday was the seventh time Davison and CC had met in the Final since 2013, and the first time the Shamrocks had come out on top in that scenario since 2020.
The rivalry added another layer this season, as Hancock’s former Central Michigan University teammate Jason Mester took over the Davison program.
“Jason’s one of my closest friends. I talk to him every day,” Hancock said. “It’s an honor (to compete against him in the Final). It’s his first year at the helm, you can see the progress they made throughout the year. There’s no bigger competitor than Jason Mester, so I know we’re going to see his butt next year. … The Davison/CC rivalry is the best one in the state of Michigan, and you felt that tonight. Kudos to that coaching staff, Coach Mester, they’re going to be around for a long time with him at the helm. I can’t say enough about that team. But our guys stepped up tonight, and that starts with our freshman Braxton Roche at (157). What a remarkable display of talent.”
Roche’s match was one of several between ranked wrestlers in the dual, as he defeated Davison’s Julius Pacheco, who is ranked No. 5 at 150 and bumped up to face the sixth-ranked Roche. The back-and-forth affair ended with an 8-4 decision in favor of Roche, giving the Shamrocks a 26-12 lead with the heart of their lineup still to go.
While Kyle Jelinek would get a pin for Davison in the following match at 165, Catholic Central closed out the dual with five straight wins.
“I thought our guys competed,” Mester said. “The score really doesn’t tell the tale of how well our guys competed today or yesterday or all year, really. Our guys went out there and fought hard. We got beat in a number of positions where the swing matches could have gone either way, and it went their way today. My hat’s off to them – they wrestled a great dual and wrestled a great season.”
Davison (19-4) did get some big pins, as Jelinek was joined by Steve Vaughn (113) and Calvin Martz (138). But those were their only victories on the night.
“We had two seniors who got pinned tonight, and that typically doesn’t happen in our lineup,” Hancock said. “But I looked at both those young men and I said, ‘This team will pick you up.’ And those guys did, so I’m really proud of the other guys who stepped up and found a way to pick those two seniors up.”
Ryan Totten (120), Wyatt Lees (126), Benny Eziuka (285) and Richard Mogle (106) all won by fall for Catholic Central (27-5), while Bercume won by technical fall at 215.
Mack Moskovic (132), Alexander Buskirk (150) and Caden Krueger (175) won major decisions, while Grayson Fuchs (144) and Lee Krueger (190) joined Roche with wins by decision.
“We took some tough Ls (earlier in the season) to Lowell, St. Ed’s (Ohio), all the nationally-ranked teams that we wrestled,” Eziuka said. “That just prepared us for this moment to come out and put on a performance like this.”
Click for this weekend’s Division 1 meet summaries.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central's Connor Bercume (blue) wrestles Davison's Brandon Glisson at 215 pounds during Saturday's Division 1 Final. (Middle) The Shamrocks' Benny Eziuka has his hand raised in victory after his match at 285. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)