Did you see that? (9/3-9/9)

September 10, 2012

School is back in session, and MHSAA teams should be hitting their best strides as league competition gets underway in most sports.

Here's a look at some of the highlights from the first full week of September, with links to additional coverage.

Volleyball

Spikes under the sun: Muskegon Mona Shores finished 3-0 in its home invitational Wednesday against a strong field of Grand Haven, Fruitport and Spring Lake. That's reason to celebrate on its own. But the best part of this story is where the Sailors did their damage -- on two portable courts stretched across the school's football field. (Muskegon Chronicle)

St. Philip takes Cereal City: Despite being one of the smallest schools in the state, it's rare that Battle Creek St. Philip doesn't leave a tournament as champion -- especially in its home town. But the Tigers hadn't won the Cereal City Invitational since 2007, until it did so with a two-set win over Class A honorable mention Temperance-Bedford this weekend. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

FHE is No. 1: Ada Forest Hills Eastern more than justified its ranking as best in the state in Class B by besting many of the best from the Grand Rapids area at the East Kentwood Invitational. Among others in the field were Class A No. 8 East Grand Rapids and reigning MHSAA Class A champion Rockford. (Grand Rapids Press)

Put them in the book: Johannesburg-Lewiston swept Gaylord St. Mary on Tuesday, thanks in part to 10 aces by junior Brittany Cherwinski, a total which will qualify for the MHSAA record book once documentation is submitted. In the team's previous match, junior Julia Nieman qualified for most assists in a match. (Gaylord Herald Times)

Cross Country

Harbor Springs rules the mud: Both the Harbor Springs boys and girls teams won their Charlevoix Classic Mud Runs on Saturday on a course that featured standing water and hay bales among other obstacles. It was the 21st year of the race. (Charlevoix Courier)

Running to records: Sault Ste. Marie has a freshman to watch in Parker Scott, who won his school's Bill Lynn Trails race Saturday in a time of 16:36 -- at least 26 seconds faster than any of the three first-place times from last season's MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals. The time was a school record. (Soo Evening News)

Swimming and Diving

West Ottawa wins West Michigan: Facing many of the biggest and best from that side of the state, Holland West Ottawa won the West Michigan Relays after finishing third in the event each of the last three seasons. Among those also in the field was reigning MHSAA Division 2 champion Holland. (Holland Sentinel)

Tennis

Dow rises again: The Division 2 top-ranked Midland Dow tennis team remained perfect this season by winning its third tournament of the fall, at Grosse Pointe North. Among others in the field were No. 2-ranked Portage Central and No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (Midland Daily News)

Delta County's Best Prep for Ford Field

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

February 25, 2019

 

GLADSTONE – Two weeks have passed since the team season ended for Upper Peninsula wrestling teams.

 

Although, that doesn't mean it's over for all U.P. wrestlers.

Seven grapplers will represent Delta County at the MHSAA Individual Finals this Friday and Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit after placing among the top four in their respective weight classes in Regional meets.

All of them got together for practice last week at Gladstone Middle School.

"This is going to help me a lot," said Bark River-Harris freshman Avery Corrigan, who placed fourth at 103 pounds in a Division 4 Regional at Charlevoix. "I have people here my size who I've wrestled before. It feels great to be going to the state tournament. I felt confident going into the Regional and saw kids I hadn't seen before. It's going to be challenging, but I just have to stay confident. You just give it your all and treat it like any other tournament."

It was teammate vs. teammate for a Division 3 Regional championship at Kalkaska as Gladstone freshman Michael Brazeau pinned junior Lane Matzke 4 minutes, 49 seconds into the 103-pound final.

"We practice together," said Brazeau. "It was hard to make a move. It was a lot less intense than other matches because we knew what was coming. I didn't really care who won.

“It's looking very tough for 103 right now, but everybody's beatable. It feels like it's going to be pretty nerve-wracking, yet it's going to be exciting to go down there."

Matzke had similar thoughts about the Regional title bout.

"I didn't really care who won either,” he added. “The semifinal was the one that really mattered. We started laughing when we found out we were both in the finals.

“I went to the state tournament in my freshman year. It gets the butterflies out knowing I've been there before. I can't wait to get back there."

Junior teammate Cole Hansen (152) also captured a Regional title.

“It's quite an atmosphere down there,” Hansen said of the Finals. “I was pretty nervous when I went down there last year, but I'm more excited about going this year. My goal is to go down there and take first. I have to stay focused, get the right food in my body and drink a lot of water. I have to try to stay in good position. Last year I got out of position. This has been a good year so far."

This will be the first visit to the Finals for Gladstone senior Nick Dawson (130), who took fourth in the Regional at his weight.

"It feels real good to be going," he said. "This will be a great experience. It's going to be hard. It will also be exciting. I went down there to watch last year and there were a lot of mats, which motivated me to go down there this year."

Escanaba junior Hunter Larson (135) goes to the Motor City with the most MHSAA tournament experience among those in this group. He earned a third place in a Division 2 Regional at Gaylord last weekend and took sixth at 135 pounds at last year’s Finals.

"I started slowly in the Regional, then I got energized and my wrestling improved," said Larson, who won the Regional the past two years. "I'm a little disappointed I didn't get my third Regional. It will be a little longer road this time, but now I'll just have to trust in my ability.

“It definitely makes me less nervous after being (in Detroit) before. Everybody is pretty good once you get this far. I'm pretty excited about going back there."

Escanaba sophomore Collin Arnt (112) plans to take an offensive stance in Detroit.

"I have to wrestle aggressive," he said. "Hopefully, this will be a good experience. This was definitely one of my goals for this year. This is a real tough division. There will be some tough wrestlers. My goal is to place in the top eight."

PHOTO: Escanaba’s Hunter Larson wrestles this season at Marquette. (Photo courtesy of the Larson family.)