10 to Remember: Winter 2014-15
April 2, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As one might imagine, six straight weekends of MHSAA Finals produce enough highlights to distract us from our seemingly endless Michigan winters.
As explained to preface “10 to Remember” many times before, all championships are lifetime memories for those who achieved them. Those listed below are just one person’s thoughts on which moments from this season will continue to be discussed most in the seasons to come.
10. Brother Rice Rides Team Effort to Repeat
Birmingham Brother Rice repeated as Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming and diving champion, and did so by winning by more than 100 points for the second consecutive season. But what made this Warriors finish so impressive was that it didn’t include a single individual championship – they won the opening and closing relays of the meet and took seven second-place individual finishes along the way.
9. Kearsley Sweeps Bowling Championships … Again
Flint Kearsley varsity bowlers are guaranteed one other title this season – MHSAA champions. Both the girls and boys teams won team titles in Division 2, just as they had in 2014. The Kearsley girls again defeated Bay City Western in the championship match, this time by a mere 30 pins, 1,242-1,212. The Kearsley boys also earned their title by defeating Bay City Western, and by only seven pins – 1,351-1,344.
8. Rockford/Sparta Owns the Weekend
Rockford hosted the MHSAA Gymnastics Finals, making the cliché “bringing home the title” a short trip – twice. The Rams, a co-op with Sparta, won the team competition by 1.750 points over reigning champion Canton; Rockford’s only other MHSAA gymnastics championship also was the first in any sport in school history, in the Lower Peninsula in 1989. Juniors Madi Myers and Morgan Korf led the effort with the third and fourth-highest all-around scores of the Team Final – and Korf came back the next day with a stunning move to take the Division 1 individual championship. She had finished 18th in Division 1 as a sophomore.
7. Breckenridge Returns to Cheer Elite
In its second season back as a competitive program, Breckenridge added to its stature as one of the most powerful competitive cheer programs in MHSAA history by claiming the Division 4 championship by nearly 24 points over runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia. Breckenridge has won eight MHSAA titles in cheer, but didn’t have a team for six seasons because of low participation until bringing back the program for 2013-14.
6. Cowboys Lasso First Basketball Title
First Detroit Western International won its first Detroit Public School League championship since 1922. Then it made its first MHSAA Semifinals since 1974. The Cowboys capped this season with its first MHSAA Final victory, a nail-biter 62-59 over Saginaw Arthur Hill in Class A. Western also defeated Detroit Catholic League A-B champion Detroit U-D Jesuit in the Semifinal, and finished the season 26-0.
No team traveled farther to the MHSAA Basketball Finals than the Calumet girls – and it can be argued that no team came from farther away in expectation to become an MHSAA champion. The unranked Copper Kings traveled more than 500 miles to arrive at the Breslin Center, then defeated top-ranked Laingsburg in a Class C Semifinal and perennial power Flint Hamady in the championship game to claim its first MHSAA title in the sport.
4. Skatzka, Olson Become Latest of the Greatest
Richmond’s Devin Skatzka and Davison’s Lincoln Olson pushed the list of MHSAA four-time individual champions to 21 by finishing their careers with big victories. Olson actually was the 20th, winning his match at 135 pounds by technical fall in Division 1. Skatzka then became No. 21 with four MHSAA titles, with a technical fall in the 160-pound match in Division 3.
3. Brighton Claims First Title in Final Match
Few Finals in any sport this winter carried the drama of Brighton’s 31-25 win over Hartland in Division 1 wrestling. Bulldogs 112-pounder Lee Grabowski entered the final match carrying his team’s three-point lead but facing the scenario that if he lost even by decision, and the team score went to 28-28, Brighton would lose the tie-breaker. Oh, and Grabowski was facing an opponent he’d lost to twice in league competition earlier in the winter. Grabowski won a 4-2 decision this time, and Brighton won its first team title.
2. Godwin Heights, Powers North Central Cap 3-Season Surges
Wyoming Godwin Heights and Powers North Central made the MHSAA record book by adding to a pair of the most successful three-season runs in boys basketball history – and capping them with championships. Godwin Heights won its first MHSAA title, downing Detroit Henry Ford 85-68 in the Class B Final, to finish the last three seasons a combined 74-5. North Central, meanwhile, downed Morenci 67-47 in Class D to win its first title since 1984 and cap a three-season 75-5 run.
1. Record Comeback Sends Saints Home as Champs
St. Ignace trailed undefeated Pittsford by 20 points two minutes into the Class D Final when it launched a comeback equaled by only one other team in MHSAA girls basketball history. The Saints tied the score with 35 seconds to play in regulation and continued the rally in the extra period to claim a 64-60 title-clinching victory. Detroit Cass Tech, in the 1987 Class A Final, also had come back from 20 down in the third quarter to win. The championship was St. Ignace’s fifth in girls basketball.
PHOTO: St. Ignace basketball players celebrate after the Saints tied the largest comeback in MHSAA Finals history on the way to claiming the Class D title. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Turning Point Leads to Defining Moment as Cedar Springs Makes 1st Regional Final
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2025
CEDAR SPRINGS – The Cedar Springs boys soccer team was aiming to accomplish a program first Tuesday night.
The Red Hawks drew inspiration from an early-season setback to make school history.
Cedar Springs upset Fruitport 2-1 in a shootout to become the first boys soccer team to advance past the Regional Semifinals, and will face Traverse City St. Francis tonight for a Division 2 Regional title.
“Heart in my throat,” Red Hawks coach Chris Frilen said when talking about the emotions from Tuesday’s win. “We had played Fruitport earlier in the year and lost there, and it was a turning point for us because it was our first loss and it gave us a reality check.
“After the offseason, we thought we were great, and we are not losing, and then you get your butt kicked. So getting a chance to play them again on our field with high stakes ... that was a big win for sure.”
Cedar Springs (16-4-3) also reached the Regional Semifinals in 2023, but lost to eventual Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian.
After starting this fall with three wins, the Red Hawks were shut out by Fruitport 2-0 on Aug. 21.
“We lost earlier in the season to them. So we really wanted to beat them because it was a tough loss,” said senior striker Ian Steans, who tied the rematch five minutes into the second half with his 33rd goal of the season.
“That was a game we really wanted to win because no team had made it past the Regional Semifinals.”
In the shootout, athletic junior keeper Brody Klenk stopped two of Fruitport’s first three penalty kicks in dramatic fashion.
“We thought if we could get level with them then we can make this a real fight, and hats off to Fruitport,” Frilen said. “They just kept taking it to us, and we had to respond defensively. It was back and forth, but the guys were confident in the huddle going into the shootout.
“It was just really satisfying because one of our assistant coaches is an alum, and he was on a team that never made it past the Regional Semifinals and he almost broke down. I was right there with him. It was very emotional.”
The expectations for a successful season began during the summer after the team competed at the Western Michigan University team camp.
Cedar Springs finished unbeaten and showed signs of growth.
“The potential was there because we had a good group of guys, and I thought after that team camp that we could have something special,” Frilen said. “We did some goal-setting during the week, and they set their sights on Regionals as an achievable goal. And so for us, we thought we could do this, but it was one game at a time.”
Stearns is one of 10 seniors Frilen described as “the core of the team.” They also include captains Jacob Smith and Avery Umphrey, both solid defenders on the back line, and midfielder Austin Grice.
“We have a lot of confidence, and we can win in multiple ways,” Stearns said. “It isn't one person, it's the whole team working together and communicating. Going into the season, we expected to make it far. We wanted to win the conference and Districts and we didn't know if we would be here, but we are.”
Cedar Springs went through a short lull midway through the season when it lost three straight games.
The Red Hawks haven’t lost since.
“It was a rollercoaster for a while, but that was the moment we got quiet and talked it out,” Frilen said. “For us to go forward we said that we are much stronger when we are all together, and we all have to pull in the same direction.”
The Red Hawks will host against Traverse City St. Francis, which defeated East Grand Rapids 2-1 in the other Regional Semifinal.
The two teams squared off previously last month.
“It was a Saturday morning and they came down here and we won 1-0, but it wasn’t easy,” Frilen said. “You have to think they will have that on their minds, so we have to be watchful of that. Every game is different, and we know with the stakes as high as they are we are going to get their best. We have to be ready.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Cedar Springs’ Marcus McCarthy (20) considers his options offensively during a regular-season game against Traverse City St. Francis. (Middle) Ian Stearns pursues the ball. (Below) The Red Hawks take a team photo after securing the District title last week. (Photos courtesy of the Cedar Springs boys soccer program.)