Did you see that?
May 14, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It's league championship time for many MHSAA teams, especially with tennis and track and field Regionals coming up later this week. And the week that was May 7-12 provided for a good share the first of many championship-level opportunities to shine.
Tennis
Streak stopper: The Fenton tennis team ended Holly's 29-season league title run by edging the Bronchos by a point in Tuesday’s Metro League championship tournament. The Flint Journal reported that Madison Ballard became the first Fenton No. 1 singles player to win a league championship in 24 seasons. (Tri-County Times)
Softball
On the rise: Division 1 No. 5 Portage Central swept top-ranked Mattawan -- putting Portage Central ahead by two games at the top of the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West standings. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Strike 75: Fennville’s Selena Beltran-Pena had strikeouts for 25 of 30 outs in two five-inning wins over Martin. Beltran-Pena threw a no-hitter in the opener and a one-hitter in the second game. (Holland Sentinel)
Tuned up: Saginaw Swan Valley beat three ranked Division 3 teams – No. 2 Saginaw Valley Lutheran, No. 4 Tawas and No. 7 Unionville-Sebewaing – as part of a round-robin brought on by a delay at the Hemlock Invitational that forced the tournament to break up into smaller groups of games. Swan Valley is ranked No. 3 in Division 2. (Saginaw News)
Track and Field
Down to the wire: Two of the state’s best boys and girls teams compete in the O-K Red, and Friday’s conference championship meet no doubt provided at least a partial preview of next month’s MHSAA Division 1 Finals. The top-ranked Rockford girls edged No. 2-ranked East Kentwood, while the top-ranked East Kentwood boys ran away from the No. 3 Rockford boys and the rest of the field to win that league title. (Grand Rapids Press)
Record Breaker: Jackson High’s Cierra Pryor won the 100 meters and also the long jump at Friday’s Siena Heights Invitational, with her jump of 19 feet, 1.5 inches breaking a 31-year-old school record. (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
Just getting started: Richland Gull Lake freshman Kirsten Taylor also broke her school's long jump record, which had stood since 1978, with a leap of 18-5. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Still undefeated: Norway’s Dani Gagne had won all 24 events in which she’d competed through Friday, including winning the 100, 200, 400 and long jump at the Norway Miners Co-Ed Meet. Her long jump of 17-0.5 broke her school record in that event set a year ago, and her 58.61 in the 400 broke another school record set during the early 1980s. (Iron Mountain Daily News)
Baseball
Best of the Best: Richland Gull Lake, ranked No. 3 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Grand Rapids Christian 10-4 in the championship game of its Best of the Best Invitational. Gull Lake also beat No. 5 St. Clair during the event. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].
Addition of Girls Wrestling Team Championship Highlights Winter Sports Changes
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 5, 2024
With the first wrestling matches of the 2024-25 season taking place Wednesday, and the first girls and boys skiing and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving meets able to be scheduled for this weekend, teams will be competing in all 13 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Those sports are or will soon join competition already underway in girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls gymnastics, boys ice hockey, and Upper Peninsula girls and boys swimming & diving.
This season, for the first time, an MHSAA Finals team championship will be awarded in girls wrestling. After first introducing a girls championship bracket to the Individual Wrestling Finals for the 2021-22 season, the MHSAA will honor its first team champion based on those individual finishes. The format will be similar to how MHSAA team championships were awarded for boys wrestling prior to the creation of the dual format Team Finals with the 1987-88 season.
Also on the wrestling mat, a competition rule change alters the penalty for using a wrestler at an ineligible weight class – dependent on when the ineligible wrestler is discovered.
Beginning this season, the use of an ineligible wrestler – if discovered during the involved match – will result in six team points being awarded to the opponent, plus the head coach of the team with the ineligible wrestler will be assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty resulting in a one-point team score deduction. If the ineligible wrestler is discovered after the involved match, any points earned by the offending wrestler will be removed from the team score, along with the point for unsportsmanlike conduct, and six points will be added to the offended team’s total. In both instances, neither wrestler involved in the match in question may compete again in that dual. If the ineligible wrestler is discovered after the dual is completed, the teams have left the mat area and the scorebook has been signed by the official, the results and team score will stand.
A pair of wrestling playing rules changes also will be immediately noticeable. The number of match points awarded for a takedown was increased from two to three. Also, near-fall points will now be awarded based on the number of seconds during which the near-fall criteria are met – beginning with two points for two seconds, up to four points for four seconds.
Postseasons for basketball and bowling also will incorporate slight changes. In basketball, entire District brackets will be seeded for the first time, instead of the previous top two teams receiving seeds only. Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) data will still be used to seed those full brackets. In bowling, Regionals may now take place as early in the week as Wednesday and Thursday, as long as the Team and Singles competitions are competed on consecutive days. Previously, those were competed only on Fridays and Saturdays, respectively.
The 2024-25 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 15 and wraps up with the Girls Basketball Finals on March 22. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – Feb. 24, 26, 28
Regionals – March 4, 6
Quarterfinals – March 11
Semifinals – March 13-14
Finals – March 15
Girls Basketball
Districts – March 3, 5, 7
Regionals – March 10, 12
Quarterfinals – March 18
Semifinals – March 20-21
Finals – March 22
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 19-22
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1
Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 14-15
Regionals – Feb. 22
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1
Gymnastics
Regionals – March 1
Finals – March 7-8
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 17-26
Quarterfinals – March 1
Semifinals – March 6-7
Finals – March 8
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 10-14
Finals – Feb. 24
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 15
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 6
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 14-15
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 5-6
Regionals – Feb. 12
Finals – Feb. 21-22
Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 8
Boys Regionals – Feb. 15
Girls Regionals – Feb. 16
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1