Titans Grow to Tower Over Competition
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
January 19, 2017
WARREN – The year was 1999. Greg Mayer had recently graduated from Central Michigan University and didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life.
After serving as a co-head wrestling coach at Warren Woods Tower in 1998, Pat Threet directed the program alone the following season.
Although they never had met before, Mayer and Threet knew of the other through mutual acquaintances and athletics. They didn’t know it then, but soon they would team together and build a wrestling power in Macomb County from the ground up. Along the way they also would become best friends.
Woods Tower’s wrestling program was struggling when Threet took over. Warren public schools like Lincoln and Fitzgerald were far more competitive and Threet, as a graduate of Woods Tower, made a commitment to himself and the community to get the program to where it could be competitive as well.
Threet wrestled in high school, but he knew his limitations. He also knew he needed to hire someone with a strong wrestling background, one who would demand excellence.
“I didn’t know Greg, but I knew he was a phenomenal wrestler,” Threet said. “His brother (Jeff) was, too. From day one I told him we’re in this together.”
Mayer was hired as Threet’s assistant in 1999, and the wheels began turning. It took a few years but, finally, in 2004 Woods Tower won a District title. Three years later it won its first Regional. The Titans won another Regional in Division 2 in 2014 and again last season.
This season Mayer, now in charge of the program, returned 13 wrestlers, just four of whom are seniors, and the Titans are looking to take that next step past the Quarterfinal round.
“We were terrible,” Mayer said of his first season with Threet. “When I got there Pat and I had some 20 kids. At the end of the season we had nine, but we had nine hammers.
“Then we started to win some Districts. Pat moved on in 2007. He had other obligations, family and stuff. I’m really grateful to him for giving me that chance.”
Mayer was an MHSAA individual champion wrestler at Lincoln, one of the county’s top programs. In 1994, his senior season, the Abes won the Class A team title with Sam Amine as the head coach and Mayer was the individual champion at 130 pounds.
Mayer enjoyed a successful four-year wrestling career at CMU, one that was highlighted by a fifth-place finish nationally when he was a junior and a seventh-place finish his senior season.
Upon graduating Mayer, like many 23-year-olds, didn’t have a plan.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to,” he said. “I was doing a camp in Warren and Pat was in his first year (1998) at Woods Tower, and he said to me if you come over I’ll put a good word in for you to get you a teaching position. So I took it and convinced my brother, who was the head coach at Roseville, to coach the youth program.”
Mayer didn’t stop there. He convinced two other Lincoln graduates, Russell Correll and Mike Milunovich, to join his staff. Like the Mayers, Correll and Milunovich were MHSAA Finals placers at Lincoln. Ian Fredlund, a Woods Tower graduate, also is on staff.
In a division dominated by Lowell and St. Johns (each has won four MHSAA team titles over the last eight seasons), Woods Tower is the new kid on the block attempting to disrupt the status quo, and made the Quarterfinals last season as the sixth seed before falling to third-seeded Gaylord 31-26.
The Titans finished third at the prestigious Detroit Catholic Central Invitational earlier this month. And with all of the experience back, hopes are high.
Among his top wrestlers is sophomore David Stepanian, ranked No. 1 in the 103-pound division by MichiganGrappler.com. At 112 is another sophomore, Chaise Mayer, the coach’s nephew. At 119 is senior Elijuh Weaver, the reigning Division 2 champion at 112 pounds.
Six years ago Woods Tower joined the Macomb Area Conference Red and is the only Division 2 school to compete in the MAC’s top division. Not only did Mayer want his wrestlers facing the best, it’s become a numbers situation within his program.
“We carry almost two full teams,” he said. “Being in the Red guarantees my guys they will wrestle in every (division) meet. We’ve never won the MAC Red and to be honest, that’s not our goal. Our goal is to win a state title. As long as we’re progressing, I’m happy.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Elijuh Weaver, top, works toward flipping his opponent during last season’s Division 2 Quarterfinal match against Gaylord. (Middle) Greg Mayer, left, and Pat Threet from a team photo early in their tenure at Warren Woods Tower. (Below) Mayer directs one of his wrestlers last year at Rose Arena. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Performance: Caro's Tyler Deming
January 5, 2016
Tyler Deming
Caro senior – Wrestling
Only six wrestlers have finished as four-time champions during the 52 years of the Freeland Wrestling Invitational – and on Dec. 30, Deming became the latest. It was a day of opportunities for the Caro senior, and he made good on them all in earning this week’s Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Deming also earned the 150th win of his career at the event in helping the Tigers claim the team championship ahead of Bay City Western after two straight seasons finishing runners-up to the Warriors. He’s 15-0 this season with 13 pins and 150-33 with 101 pins over his four seasons – he wrestled at 171 pounds as a freshman and 189 as a sophomore and junior before moving to 215 this winter. Deming made the MHSAA Individual Finals last season for the first time and finished third in Division 3 at 189. He’s hoping to become Caro’s first individual champion since 2005 and lead the No. 8-ranked Tigers to their first MHSAA team title since 2003.
Deming also played football and throws shot put and discus during the spring, and he missed the MHSAA Finals in track and field last season in discus by only five feet. Deming ranks among the top of his class academically with a 3.8 grade-point average and currently plans to attend Saginaw Valley State University and study business with an eye on possibly becoming an accountant.
Co-coach Bob Suranye said: “Tyler is a very self-motivated young man. Along with (seeking) an individual state championship, he is a great leader, with a goal to help this team to the team state finals and possibly the team state championship.”
Performance Point: “I was really happy I was able to accomplish everything I wanted that day,” Deming said of the Freeland meet. “With so many milestones possible that day, I felt relieved I did (accomplish them). I was really happy with my performance and really happy for the team too.”
Climbing every season: “I’ve cut my losses every year since freshman year, from 18 to 11 to four. I think it’s because of our practice room and how hard we work, and my practice partners pushing me. We keep the pace up all the time; our practices are really intense. It’s impossible not to get better at our practices.”
Finishing move: “Cross-face cradle. It’s just seems like once I start with the move, they can’t stop it. It’s a powerful move, and I can force them into it, and it works. I’ve probably gotten 70 percent of my pins with that move.”
Switching sports with the seasons: “I do wrestling in the summer, when track is over. But football, I just love being able to hit people. It’s fun, and I love being part of it. Track is more for fun, but I’m still really competitive at it. I still work really hard, like with everything else I do.”
Let’s make history: “That is my dream. I dream about it all the time. I want to be the guy to bring a championship back to Caro. I think about it every day at practice. Coach (Steve) Ley always encourages us to dream big. … Most people’s goals are to get the team state championship. My goal is a team state championship and an individual state championship.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, respond as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our Nation's freedom, or protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Tyler Deming, left, is a four-year varsity wrestler for Caro. (Middle) Deming right, locks up for the start of a takedown; he's won 150 matches over his career. (Photos by Mary Filkins Photography.)