Linked Up: 10/28/11
December 13, 2011
Each week I'll post links to stories that interest me most during my travels in online sports land. I was going to wait for next week for this first installment, but these seemed worthy of telling you about now.
See something high school sports-related that you think others would find valuable? Send me a link.
These two teams provide multiple reasons why 8-player football has been such a strong addition -- most notably, it is providing our smallest schools with an opportunity to still play football despite fewer players, and succeed. The sport took off in this state in 2009, and this weekend mark the start of the first MHSAA 8-player Tournament. Akron-Fairgrove will play its first postseason game since 1992, while Owendale-Gagetown will play its first since 1979.
Olivet's Peters coaching his heart out (Battle Creek Enquirer)
I covered Olivet and coach Dean Peters for more than a decade, including during last season's first-ever Eagles run to the MHSAA football finals. One of the great people in high school coaching, he needed emergency double-bypass surgery earlier this month but is back in the coaching booth. Olivet faces Lansing Catholic in a Pre-District game.
Megan Hubbard a standout for Hanover-Horton cross country (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
This is a neat story about a runner who is second-best on her team and has never won a race -- but also is likely the second-best to ever run at her school. Usually, we hear only about who finishes first.
Standley Lake football player Rhett Gutierrez overcomes eye disease (The Denver Post)
Almost always, links I post will be Michigan-related. But this story is just incredible. We've seen athletes with different degrees of vision impairment do incredible things in high school athletics. But this is the first time I've heard of someone overcoming that obstacle to play quarterback for his football team.
Today in the MHSAA: 2/3/25
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 3, 2025
1. WRESTLING Division 1 No. 2 Brighton finished first and No. 4 Hartland second at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
2. WRESTLING Division 4 No. 2 St. Louis clinched its 11th league title in 12 seasons by finishing first in the Jack Pine Conference – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
3. WRESTLING Gaylord clinched its 17th-straight Big North Conference title – Petoskey News-Review
4. COMPETITIVE CHEER Rochester claimed a third-straight league title, finishing less than a point ahead of runner-up Stoney Creek at the final Oakland Activities Association Red competition – Oakland Press
5. WRESTLING For the second-straight season, Melvindale finished first and Dearborn Heights Crestwood second in the Western Wayne Athletic Conference – Southgate News-Herald
6. WRESTLING LeRoy Pine River finished a sweep of Highland/Mid Michigan Conference championships with a first place in the individual tournament – Cadillac News
7. WRESTLING Division 4 No. 9 Bronson finished a sweep in the Big 8 Conference – Coldwater Daily Reporter
8. WRESTLING Division 2 No. 10 New Boston Huron also finished a championship sweep, in the Huron League – Southgate News-Herald
9. WRESTLING Division 4 No. 7 Lakeview finished an undefeated sweep of Central State Activities Association championships – Greenville Daily News
10. BOWLING The Ishpeming/Negaunee girls and Ishpeming Westwood boys were champions at the Upper Peninsula Bowling Conference finals – Marquette Mining Journal
Also of note …
GIRLS BASKETBALL AJ Rickli became Paw Paw’s all-time leading scorer during a 50-47 win over Vicksburg, and Kalamazoo Christian’s Jordyn Bonnema set a single-game scoring record against Parchment – Kalamazoo Gazette
BOYS BASKETBALL Flint Carman-Ainsworth’s Donovan Hamlin reached 1,000 career points during a win over Detroit Catholic Central – WJRT
GIRLS BASKETBALL Audrey Wardlow became the third in program history to reach 1,000 career points for Pinckney – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
WRESTLING Southgate Anderson finished an outright championship in the Downriver League – Southgate News-Herald
WRESTLING Division 2 No. 8 Freeland finished first and Essexville Garber second in the Tri-Valley Conference – Bay City Times
WRESTLING Lapeer finished first and Midland second in the Saginaw Valley League – Midland Daily News