Unified Sports: Unified Goal, Unified Effort
By
Mark Uyl
MHSAA Executive Director
April 11, 2019
The following publisher's note and cover story were featured in this winter's edition of the MHSAA benchmarks magazine.
At its best, sport breaks down barriers and differences through promoting teamwork, inclusiveness and humility. At its worst, we’ve seen sport do the opposite.
Obviously those involved in school sports aim to create a culture within every school which fosters the best of what all of us can be. Those places that do this best have created a culture in every hallway, classroom, playing field and gymnasium filled with diverse students pulling for one another and working together regardless of the different backgrounds, races, religions, abilities, physical stature or academic acumen of each person. A culture of understanding and acceptance is what we strive for in each of our school communities.
On Nov. 24, such a scene played out on the grand stage of the playing surface at Ford Field in Detroit. In what we hope will be the launching pad for many more such events, Unified Sports competitors from four MHSAA member schools competed simultaneously in two games prior to the MHSAA Division 7 Football Final.
Unified Sports is an inclusive sports program within Special Olympics which pairs students with and without intellectual disabilities as teammates for training and competition.
From the time competitors walked through the tunnel to perform in front of family, friends, and the appreciative crowds from New Lothrop and Madison Heights Madison awaiting kickoff for the 10 a.m. game, the enthusiasm was unmatched.
Following competition these Unified teams were given tours of the facility, including a visit to the Detroit Lions locker room. We intended to deliver a day filled with an experience and memory for a lifetime for our guests, and feedback suggests that was accomplished. But, make no mistake, the session left lasting impressions on the staff here at the MHSAA, as well.
Brighton, Holt, Mason and Sparta – schools represented at the 2018 Football Finals – are among the 300-plus schools statewide which are Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools®, and it is our hope that the number continues to grow around Michigan and throughout the country.
The MHSAA and Michigan Special Olympics have a wonderful relationship, and we will continue to plan with our valued partner for future events as opportunities present themselves.
There is no limit to the benefits of these games and such a partnership. And, no limit to the enthusiasm of its participants who are helping to redefine school cultures by helping us break down barriers and build inclusive school communities around this great state.
***
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
The pass was lofted high, and floating toward the end zone nearest the tunnel where teams enter the playing surface at Ford Field.
As players from both teams converged, the intended receiver came away with the ball, clutching his prize and raising his arms in jubilant triumph.
It was arguably the best catch of the Thanksgiving weekend football feast in Detroit, and undoubtedly a memory this player will never forget. Moments later, the ear-to-ear grin remained as he high-fived spectators and family members on the way to the tunnel and up to the locker room.
And all of this happened before the second day of MHSAA 11-Player Football Finals kicked off Saturday, Nov. 24.
The play was one of many memorable moments to take place during the first-ever Unified Champion School event held in conjunction with the MHSAA Football Finals. If this year’s exhibition was any indication, it will be the first of many to come.
“The event far exceeded our expectations, and in discussions with the students, coaches and parents involved, I think it exceeded their expectations as well,” said MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. “The feedback was positive, and the thanks and appreciation we received was overwhelming.”
Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® (UCS) is an education-based project that uses sports and education programs to activate young people to develop school communities where all youth are agents of change – fostering respect, dignity and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities.
Last summer, as Uyl was settling into his role as executive director at the MHSAA, Tim Hileman was acclimating himself to a similar role with Michigan Special Olympics. Both were replacing long-time leaders – Jack Roberts at the MHSAA and Lois Arnold at Special Olympics, who both had served their organizations for more than three decades.
The similarities brought Uyl and Hileman together, and they began to nurture seeds that had been planted by their predecessors.
“Mark reached out when the announcement was made that I was to become CEO of Michigan Special Olympics,” said Hileman. “We strongly believed in the benefits of a partnership between the two organizations. We talked about long-term plans and the goal of growing a culture of inclusion within our schools. A more immediate component was exploring existing opportunities to highlight a partnership, and what greater way to do that than at Ford Field during one of the most prominent weekends of the MHSAA sports season?”
The inaugural event included students from Brighton, Holt, Mason and Sparta school districts, each of which sponsor Unified teams.
Brighton, which has been in the game since 2016-17 and involves a combined 75 general education students and students with intellectual disabilities (I.D. students), recently earned national recognition for its Unified program.
“Andy Doupe, a faculty member who teaches special education here, brought the initiative to our district and it was a no-brainer that we needed to implement the program,” said John Thompson, athletic director at Brighton High School and a member of the MHSAA Representative Council. “It was a great opportunity to be supportive of all students in our community.”
Brighton Unified coach and faculty member Jody Renicker has helped take the lead.
“The foundation of Unified Sports is pretty simple,” Renicker said. “It's the idea that training and competing together is one of the fastest ways to friendship and understanding. The students discover that they are much more alike than they are different. This helps to dissolve the preconceptions and stereotypes often associated with people with disabilities.”
Just up the road in Holt, that community was gaining its own recognition, bringing home the Gold Medal from the USA Flag Football Championships in Seattle last summer. The lessons and experiences proved even more valuable.
“Athletes roomed with UCS partners,” said Val Suszko, a coach for the Holt/Mason program, which involves roughly 80 students with and without disabilities and is in its sixth year of existence. “The friendship that they developed over those 10 days was priceless. They are friends for life. They care for and protect each other. Without this experience, they wouldn’t have ever met.”
That’s the overriding goal of Unified athletics: to break down barriers within schools and communities while introducing young people to those with various challenges, offering opportunities to lead and assist.
“The inclusion of special needs kids and how it makes them feel is a wonderful part of the school community and program,” Thompson said. “We have a young lady with a prosthetic leg who never wore shorts because she was embarrassed. Now, being part of our basketball team, she wears shorts all the time.
“Naturally there’s a huge upside for the special needs students, but the general ed kids are being provided an opportunity to grow and develop leadership skills. The experiences open some eyes and break down some divisions that exist to make for an improved culture throughout the school. The melding of kids with different backgrounds of any kind is always good for perspective.”
Unified programs offer increased participation opportunity for the general education population as well as the I.D. students. For students who may not make the cut for school teams, or prefer to focus on academics or part-time jobs, the Unified option provides just what they are seeking. Others are varsity athletes looking for competition outside their preferred sport seasons.
“We receive a lot of interest from those partners who might have wanted to play on freshman, JV, or varsity teams but couldn’t meet the eligibility requirements or physically do not make the cuts at those levels of team tryouts,” said Renne Wyman, Unified coach at Sparta High School. “So they wander into the gym and join us. What happens is, the level of play ratchets up a notch or two. These kids initially come here to play, not necessarily help the intellectually disabled kids.
“But, then they start giving shooting advice, or directing them where to move offensively or whom to cover defensively. Suddenly they are talking to each other, and no adult staged the mentoring. It carries on between quarters, at halftime, before games and practices. They start texting and offering a seat in the cafeteria at lunch. I’m talking about major culture change in our building.”
This type of interaction serves to reduce the number of negative incidents in the hallways.
“Statistics show that these programs have proven to reduce bullying of the intellectually disabled population,” said Suszko of Holt/Mason. “To have an organized sports team and school support team is invaluable. The students with intellectual disabilities gain so much. They train together, play together and develop friendships through sports with the general school population.”
With such important life lessons in the balance, and 300-plus schools around Michigan sponsoring school programs, the time was right to further shine a spotlight on the product. In the past, Unified basketball events have been showcased during MHSAA Hoopfest events in conjunction with the Boys Basketball Finals, and it was time to take the next step.
“A partnership between the MHSAA and Special Olympics is a natural fit, and our goal is to assist in promoting inclusiveness and leadership components of Unified Champion Schools as opportunities at our tournaments allow,” Uyl said. “These are such worthwhile endeavors, and the student-athletes involved truly symbolize the best in school sports.”
The Ford Field event provided a chance for some serious competition on the field, along with countless smiles – and some tears – from onlookers and support groups following the action.
“My favorite story from that day came as Mark (Uyl) was addressing the group in the Lions locker room and thanking them for being there,” Hileman said. “I looked into the corner of the room and there’s a man – pretty good sized, tough-looking – standing there with his wife, and they’ve got tears in their eyes. The dad came up and told me, ‘I never thought I’d see my son play any kind of sport, and here he is at Ford Field. I’ll never forget this, and never watch a Lions game without thinking of this.’
“So many of our athletes are told what they can't do. Special Olympics is about showing what they can do.”
For Suszko, the highlights began earlier in the morning.
“The most memorable moment for me was watching the expressions on all of the athletes’ faces as they walked through the tunnel onto the field,” she said. “What a great opportunity. The hospitality that Mark Uyl, Nate Hampton, and the rest of the staff gave us was appreciated so much. The parents were excited. They loved seeing their athlete participating alongside the other high school football teams. Watching barriers being broken and teamwork being established is what inclusion is all about.”
There were plenty of emotions to go around, from the guests and the hosts.
“The kids and parents were over the moon when the invitation came. Ford Field, the MHSAA Finals, it really resonated with the kids, the school and families,” Thompson said. “Nate and Mark and all staff involved went out of their way to make it a wonderful and meaningful experience. They did more for the families and kids than anyone expected. We are very appreciative of the MHSAA continuing to work toward inclusion, and events like these help to spread the word.”
Spreading the word will help bolster an already strong movement both in Michigan and nationally. Hileman is excited for the future in partnering with the MHSAA for events like the one in November, which generate a high level of enthusiasm. In the near future, he has some more immediate goals.
“We are concentrating on expanding league play. That’s what sports are; athletes competing, and our athletes want to compete,” Hileman said. “We have league play in the O-K Conference, and in the Lansing area. Our goal and vision is to continue to build on the Unified conference experience; more competitions during the season.”
The Sparta program has been in place for four years, and numbers have increased from a handful to a total of 60 partners and Special Olympics athletes combined. Volunteers are a vital part of the initiative, and Wyman says hundreds of people donate their time at affiliated service projects held twice yearly. The school offers Unified flag football at the league/conference level each fall, Unified ski/snowboard on a smaller scale, Unified basketball at the league/conference level in the winter, and is looking to add Unified track & field at the league/conference level this spring.
Make no mistake; athletes of all kinds like to compete.
“My kids are learning the game like they never did before. The partners don’t dumb down the vocabulary or slow down what they teach. This occurs in real-time scrimmaging with a need to adjust quickly,” said Wyman. “So our Unified athletes are being coached and challenged to increase their skill and conditioning at a level I just can’t replicate in my Special Olympics Physical Education class where no partners are present.”
One also cannot replicate the related successes outside the gyms and away from the fields, where Wyman reports that I.D. students are now being offered rides to school for dances and athletic events, improving their grades to be eligible to participate in the program and becoming healthier through the activities, all while gaining confidence in themselves.
Renicker believes that seeing is believing, and encourages people to attend events in neighboring communities. The impression will likely spur action.
“My No. 1 suggestion would be to come and witness how special a Unified Game is,” Renicker said. “It will give you hope for our future and highlight some pretty amazing things that are going on in schools every day that don't make the front page of the newspaper. I feel so lucky to be part of a school community that values this program and the culture it has created.”
Hileman recently attended a national Special Olympics event and heard International Chairman of Special Olympics Dr. Timothy Shriver proclaim his dream: that just as every high school sponsors boys and girls athletic programs, he hopes that one day every high school in the country will become a Unified Champion School.
It is a big dream, but the slightest nudge can put things in motion, as Wyman has seen.
“It can start small. You only need one or two partners to commit and you can get something going,” Wyman said. “A lot of kids would love to help in supporting roles, whether it’s running sporting events, officiating, keeping stats, designing, or organizing. In the beginning, it is one person reaching out to one school seeing if they can get together and play the game.”
With that, the guidance of Special Olympics, and assistance from partners like the MHSAA, maybe the ball can keep rolling all the way around the state.
***
Inclusion is Primary Mission of Special Olympics UCS
Team sports bring people together. Special Olympics Unified Sports® teams do that, too, and much more.
About 1.4 million people worldwide take part in Unified Sports, breaking down stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities in a really fun way. ESPN has served as the Global Presenting Sponsor of Special Olympics Unified Sports since 2013, supporting the growth and expansion of this program that empowers individuals with and without intellectual disabilities to engage through the power of sports.
Promoting Social Inclusion Through Sport
Special Olympics is dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding. In Unified Sports, teams are made up of people of similar age and ability. That makes practices more fun and games more challenging and exciting for all. Having sport in common is just one more way that preconceptions and false ideas are swept away.
States Embracing Unified Sports
Young people with disabilities do not often get a chance to play on their school sports teams. More and more states are adopting the Unified Sports approach that Special Olympics pioneered.
Unified Sports is also an integral part of Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools, which was founded in 2008 and funded through the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education to use Special Olympics as a way to build inclusion and tolerance in schools. Unified Sports are now in more than 4,500 elementary, middle and high schools in the United States. Seventy percent of Unified Champion Schools (Pre-K through Grade 12) are engaging in Unified Sports! Also 215 U.S. colleges and universities have Special Olympics College Clubs on campus, providing ongoing Unified and inclusionary activities for students and Special Olympics athletes. Seventy-three of the 215 U.S. colleges and universities activating Special Olympics College conduct ongoing Unified Sports on their campuses. Learn how to get involved at www.playunified.org.
Mission: Inclusion
As part of the Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International “Mission: Inclusion” partnership, the LCI youth network-Leos have become a strong global partner in expanding and implementing Unified Sports together with Special Olympics. The Leos have helped start and sustain Unified Sports in a number of nations worldwide, and serve as one of the movement’s strongest youth leadership networks in bringing inclusive programming to communities across the world. From Zimbabwe to Brazil and from California to India, the Leos continue to amplify the voice of athletes and embody the creed: Play Unified. Live Unified.
Major sports organization, league and event support to Play Unified
Many high-profile, professional sports organizations and events have also showcased Unified Sports as a vehicle to show the power of inclusive sports! This support includes:
• National Basketball Association (NBA)
• Major League Soccer (MLS)
• Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
• National Collegiate Athletic Association, D-III
• ESPN's X Games Aspen
• National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
• National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA)
PHOTOS: (Top) Unified teams from Brighton and Mason/Holt play during the second day of the MHSAA 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field. (Top middle) Participants from those three schools and Sparta took part in the morning's games. (Middle) Sparta athletes stand together for the national anthem. (Below middle) A Brighton coach and players exchange high fives. (Below) Brighton's Unified basketball team plays during a celebration for receiving national recognition last fall. (Photos by John Johnson.)
Century of School Sports: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 31, 2024
As part of our school year-long celebration of a “Century of School Sports” and the MHSAA’s 100th anniversary, we’re connecting every season with members of Michigan’s sports media, our historian and longtime communications staff to present some of what they remember most from their time covering our games.
Below is our second installment, covering several of their winter sports memories.
Never Underestimate How Much These Moments Mean
Jack Doles, WOOD TV (Grand Rapids)
In one of my first years covering sports for WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Allendale High School went on a deep run in the 1991 basketball tournament. Joe Modderman was the star player for Allendale. He played his heart out, but the team ended up losing (in the Class D Final, 62-48 to Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard). During our postgame interview, Joe got very emotional. I saw just how important this game was to him. Joe ended up playing at Iowa State and eventually Grand Valley, so he knew he had a lot of basketball left to play. His tears were for his teammates, who had played their final game.
I still bump into Joe and we talk about that moment we shared afterward. It was a great lesson in how impactful those moments are.
Memorable All-Time Matchup, Unforgettable Scores
Tim Staudt, WILX (Lansing), in 53rd year of broadcasting
Picking one from the winter is easy – the District-opening game of the 1977 state basketball tournament at Don Johnson Fieldhouse and Lansing Everett’s Earvin Johnson versus Eastern’s Jay Vincent. Everett won 63-41 after losing 70-62 to Eastern in Jenison Field House before 10,000 fans the previous Friday to end the regular season. Both those scores I still remember to this day.
‘C-O-O, L-E-Y, Cooley, Cooley, Cooley High’
Mick McCabe, Detroit Free Press since 1970
March 28, 1987, Crisler Arena
Detroit Cooley 82, Detroit Southwestern 77, OT.
This time it was in the bag. Losers in five consecutive state championship games, Southwestern was certain to win its first state championship against a Cooley team that seemed to have no business playing in the state finals. After all, Southwestern had already beaten Cooley twice and the second victory came only a month earlier when the Prospectors destroyed Cooley by 35 points in the Detroit Public School League title game. Yes, 35 points!
But behind the play of sophomore Michael Talley (23 points) and senior Rafeal Peterson (22 points), Cooley took control early and led by 11 points at halftime The Cardinals led by eight heading into the fourth quarter and thought they had the game won before Doyle Callahan scored for the Prospectors an instant before the buzzer to force overtime. Southwestern scored the first basket in overtime and it would have been the perfect time for Cooley to call it an afternoon. But Peterson countered with the biggest basket of the day to tie the score and kept Southwestern from extending its lead. Instead, Southwestern had consecutive turnovers, missed a shot and committed a foul as Cooley took a five-point lead with 38 seconds remaining as chants of: “C-O-O, L-E-Y, Cooley, Cooley, Cooley High” reigned down from the Crisler rafters. It was the first of three straight Class A state championships for Cooley and Talley, who as a senior went on to become the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award winner.
Future U-M Teammates Face Off to Finish High School Careers
Greg Miller, formerly of 9&10 News (Cadillac)
The girls basketball Class C state championship game in 2011 pitted future college teammates Nicole Elmblad (St. Ignace) and Madison Ristovski (Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett) in a shootout for the ages. Ristovski scored 30 points, while Elmblad put up 33 points to go along with a 19-rebound effort, as the Saints pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn a 65-54 victory. Elmblad scored 14 of her 33 points in the deciding quarter to lead St. Ignace to the championship. It was a great back-and-forth matchup of two evenly-matched teams led by two outstanding athletes. The following year, the pair began to play as teammates at the University of Michigan and were both part of some of the winningest teams in program history.
Coles' Shot Goes the Distance
Perry Farrell, MHSAA.com and formerly of Detroit Free Press
I didn't cover the event, but Saginaw Buena Vista's Chris Coles made a shot from about 65 feet in the Class B state boys championship basketball game to defeat arch-rival Flint Beecher 33-32. It is the greatest shot in Michigan high school basketball history. And being a graduate of Buena Vista it was one of the highlights of our school.
Competitive Cheer Finals Atmosphere has Few Rivals
Geoff Kimmerly, MHSAA Communications Director and formerly of Lansing State Journal
I moved to the MHSAA during the 2011-12 school year after more than a decade at the Lansing State Journal, where among other areas of coverage we produced team-by-team previews for all of our area varsity sports – including the addition of a competitive cheer preview as that sport began to gain popularity and participation in the mid-Michigan area. But before leaving the LSJ, I had never covered a competition.
The new job, and a new venture of covering all of our MHSAA Finals for our previous Second Half website, brought me to the Grand Rapids Delta Plex on a Friday night in early March, 2012. I had covered Finals in several other MHSAA sports – although 2011-12 would also see my debut at lacrosse, swimming & diving, gymnastics, cross country, hockey and bowling championship events – so I’d been around some of the larger and loudest crowds for high school competitions over the previous decade or more.
But WOW. The Division 1 crowd, which reached into the Delta Plex rafters, was as charged as anything I’d seen at Ford Field or the Silverdome, or Breslin aside from the oft-recalled Detroit Renaissance/Wyoming Park boys basketball game in 2004. Coming close on atmosphere were some of the Team Wrestling Finals I’d experienced. But this night had people seemingly piled so high I thought they might roll out of the stands onto us. Dads were leading full sections in chants, and when their teams took the mat they were even more electric, and all of that took the typical emotions of a season-ending event to another level.
And of course, the competition was outstanding. Southgate Anderson won its first of what would be three straight Division 1 titles (and if you still don’t credit this as being a sport, try to do anything these athletes make happen on the mat). I was definitely a little awestruck by the whole evening, and left with a whole new appreciation for how another of our sports energizes its community.
Vikings Find Stride at Tournament Time
Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal
Watching Lansing Everett defy the odds and make an improbable run to the boys basketball state Semifinals at Breslin Center in 2016 is one of the most notable things I observed from the winter sports season. Everett lost 10 regular-season games that year and at that time had become the first team in a decade to reach the state Semifinals despite double-digit losses in the regular season. Everett wound up falling to North Farmington in the Semifinal in what was its second-straight appearance in the final four in Class A.
Never-Ending 2008 Hockey Championship Game Ends with 2 Champions
John Johnson, MHSAA Communications Director from 1987-2020
On the ice that night, the busiest championship weekend the MHSAA has known came to an end with the longest game in the history of the Finals. Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s skated for 109 minutes and eight overtimes before administrators ruled the game a 1-1 tie and awarded co-championships in the name of safety for two exhausted teams who had earned victory. Ironically, the contest was just 1:32 from ending (in regulation) when Tim Hooker of St. Mary's knotted the score at 1-1. His tally equaled a power-play goal by Marquette’s Mike Peterson in the second period.
Coming home at the end of the weekend, and feeling like everything was wrapped up as I got closer to Lansing, I’ll never forget my phone blowing up with calls from folks wondering about what was happening with hockey. And then rushing into the house to punch up the audio of the game on the computer, I listened to a very hoarse John Kreger announcing that co-champions had been declared.
Evans’ Game-Winner Still Unbelievable
Lorne Plant – State Champs!
I had the opportunity to get to know then-head coach at Detroit Rogers Steve Hall when I did a State Champs! feature on Brenda Gatlin, who was the first woman to be head coach of a PSL boys basketball team in the (19)80s at Cass Tech. Just so happened, Steve Hall was a player on her team. That took place during the 2002-2003 basketball season, which was the first winter season in the State Champs! era. Two years later, Detroit Rogers had won the state championship the previous two years, so you can only imagine how hard it is to try and win three in a row. As far as I could tell, only two teams had won Class D state titles three times in a row. Chassell did it in the mid 50s, and Detroit East Catholic did it in the late 70s and early 80s. It had been a while. Strange that what only happened three times in 79 years has happened three more times in the last 20 (Class D/Division 4 state champions by a single team three times in a row. No one's ever won four in a row, but I digress).
Back to the '05 final, when the ball went out of bounds with three seconds left in OT and the ball was given to Rogers down a point, I settled in for the final shot. Then the refs overturned the call and gave it to Bellaire, and I thought to myself, "You had a nice run, Steve." And then, the freshman Eric Evans made one of the most incredible plays I've ever seen. He stole the ball and in the same motion threw it up towards the basket and it went in, I couldn't believe it. I will never forget that play.
1 Reporter's Take on Boys Basketball “Games of the Decade”
Brad Emons, Detroit Free Press (formerly of Observer & Eccentric newspapers)
March 6, 1986: In a Class A District Semifinal before an overflow crowd of 2,000 at Alumni Arena, host Wayne Memorial (18-3) took eventual state champ Romulus (25-2) and Mr. Basketball Terry Mills to two overtimes before falling, 93-92. The 6-foot-9 Mills, who later starred at Michigan and played 10 seasons in the NBA, scored 37 points, including 11 in the second OT. The Eagles, who also featured DI players Steve Glenn (Austin Peay) – who added 19 points – and Juan Street (Bowling Green), went on to defeat Detroit Southwestern for the state title at U-M’s Crisler Arena, 72-65. Wayne, which gave up an average height of five inches per man, had three players foul out. The Zebras got a team-high 27 points from Mark Robinson, while Spence Williams and Rod Sommons added 18 and 14, respectively.
March, 18, 1978: Orchard Lake St. Mary’s capped a perfect 27-0 season with a 67-52 Class D championship win over Detroit St. Martin dePorres at U-M’s Crisler Arena. Just a day earlier at MSU’s Jenison Field House, St. Mary’s ousted Mio Au Sable and the state’s all-time career scorer Jay Smith (2,841 points) in convincing fashion, 77-52. In the Quarterfinals at Corunna, OLSM thwarted Saranac and 6-8 MSU recruit Ben Tower, 71-53. The Eaglets’ starting lineup featured Dominican Republic native Evaristo Perez (MSU), Jim Paciorek (Michigan), Barry Bugaj, Dave Kay and Gregg Williamson. After the Semifinal win over Mio, St. Mary’s coach Bob Shoemaker lauded the play of Paciorek saying, “They couldn’t stop Jim even with a blow torch.”
Avoiding Pin, Mason's Jackson Becomes Championship Hero
Rob Kaminski, MHSAA communications coordinator since 1999
During my quarter-century here with the MHSAA, Team Wrestling has always been one of my favorite tournaments. The venue, whether Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek or Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, is the perfect size for the event, and the crowds are raucous and enthusiastic with the Finals often packed to the rafters.
At one time, the format always began with the lightest weights wrestling first, finishing with the heaviest weights. The format then changed, with the starting weight being drawn right before the competition began, so there was a greater emphasis on strategy: which wrestlers would coaches send out for each weight class?
Such was the case in 2003 at Kellogg Arena. The Division 2 Final between Mason and Lapeer West not only featured two schools always near the top of their sport at the time, but also one of the top individuals in MHSAA history in Lapeer West’s Roger Kish, already a three-time individual champion who ruled the 189-pound weight class.
When 215 was drawn as the starting weight for the Final, the stage was set for a potential dramatic finish as Kish would face Mason’s Tom McDiarmid in the last bout of the meet. However, thinking that Kish would have an easier time against Mason’s 215-pounder and possible getting six points for a fall, Lapeer West sent Kish out for the first match of the dual against Mason’s Kody Jackson. An audible murmur filled the arena, as fans from the other divisions began to take notice of the strategy while also wanting to see one of the best wrestlers in MHSAA history. It seemed as though the first matches on the other three mats might as well have been taking place on Mars, as everyone focused on the D2 circle.
Kish did win the bout, 26-15, but the deafening roar from Mason’s crowd – and other non-partisans in the arena – for Jackson’s effort was something I’ll never forget. The young man had stayed off his back, avoided a pin, and Lapeer West got two points less than it had gambled for.
When it came time for McDiarmid’s turn at 189 to end the meet, Mason trailed 27-25. McDiarmid then took care of business with a 14-1 major decision to give Mason the title, 29-27, and send the crowd into a frenzy.
A week later, Kish and McDiarmid did indeed meet, this time in the MHSAA Individual Finals at 189, where Kish posted a 26-11 technical fall to secure his fourth MHSAA individual crown, and second straight at that weight.
#11 Never Forgotten
Jack Doles, WOOD TV (Grand Rapids)
The last story I'll share deals with a high school athlete who played multiple sports at Grandville high school and left a legacy, not with his play, but his actions.
Ryan Fischer played football and hockey at Grandville. He was a captain and the unquestioned leader of the team. Ryan was also beloved by his classmates, because he was an active listener and friend to everyone in the hallways. Sadly, Ryan died unexpectedly during the (2014) hockey playoffs (on the morning of the team's Division 1 Semifinal against Detroit Catholic Central). The team wasn't sure if they could play, but as they waited outside the Fischer home, Ryan's father brought his jersey to the team and told them Ryan would want them to play.
Grandville lost in the (Semifinal), but they fought and made a community proud. At the end of the game, the team took a knee to say a quick prayer, and then Detroit Catholic Central joined them. An incredible level of sportsmanship. Not long after the Fishers buried their son, they started a scholarship in his name. The scholarship is given to the athlete that embodies Ryan's values and spirit. In a story we did, his brother Connor told us his goal was to win that scholarship. He did, and now he serves in the United States Army. Meanwhile, the Grandville and Wyoming communities hand out an award each year called the 11.
Ryan wore number 11. His legacy lives on around West Michigan and beyond.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTOS Clockwise from top left: (1) Earvin Johnson brings the ball upcourt for Lansing Everett. (2) Nicole Emblad gets a shot up for St. Ignace. (3) A Grandville teammate of Ryan Fischer wears his jersey for the Division 1 Semifinal after Fischer died that morning. (4) Southgate Anderson competes at the 2012 Competitive Cheer Final. (5) Mason's Kory Jackson (red) and Lapeer West's Roger Kish wrestle during the 2003 Division 2 Final. (Middle) Detroit Cooley celebrates its 1987 Class A boys basketball championship. (Below) Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary's hockey players shake hands after their record-setting championship game. (MHSAA file photos.)