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: 1/5/26
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 5, 2026
1. BOYS WRESTLING Top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central edged No. 4 Brighton by a point to win its invitational, which featured four of the top six ranked teams in Division 1 – Detroit Catholic Central athletics
2. BOYS BASKETBALL Stevie Hall scored his 1,000th career point and the game winner in Detroit Cass Tech’s 54-52 win over Cleveland Central Catholic at the Detroit Public School League Holiday Classic – Detroit Free Press
3. GIRLS WRESTLING LeRoy Pine River clinched the Montague Invitational with Kaylee Gibson’s win over No. 2-ranked Lowell in the day’s final match – Cadillac News
4. BOYS WRESTLING Division 2 No. 7 Freeland repeated as Saginaw County champion – Saginaw News
5. BOYS BASKETBALL Michael Lindquist became the second Greenville boys basketball player to reach 1,000 points, doing so during a 71-56 win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central – Grand Rapids Press
6. GIRLS WRESTLING Bay City John Glenn won the championship at the Reed City Invitational by 30 points – Bay City Times
7. GIRLS BOWLING Rockford defeated reigning Division 4 champion Ravenna to clinch the Fruitport Invitational title – Rockford Athletics
8. ICE HOCKEY Division 3 No. 4 Houghton defeated Division 1 No. 7 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 5-1 and No. 5 Brighton 6-1 during a downstate trip – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
9. GIRLS BASKETBALL Saginaw Heritage handed DeWitt its first loss, 60-55 in double overtime – Saginaw News
10. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Spring Lake – ranked No. 8 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – set 34 personal records in winning its home invitational – Local Sports Journal
Also of note …
MHSAA Longtime Catholic High School League director Vic Michaels, a member of the MHSAA Representative Council for more than two decades, died at age 71 – Oakland Press
MEDIA The Detroit and statewide media communities are mourning the death of the Detroit News’ longtime prep sports reporter Dave Goricki – Detroit News
FOOTBALL Lansing Eastern hired Dan Boggan – the winningest coach in Lansing Sexton history – to take over the program – Lansing State Journal