Linked Up: 10/28/11

October 28, 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.

Akron-Fairgrove and Owendale-Gagetown eager for long-awaited playoff games in first season of eight-man football bracket (Bay City Times)

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: 1/28/19

January 28, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Multiple events over the weekend featured what potentially could end up as multiple MHSAA champions when the postseason gets rolling next month, as titans clashed especially in wrestling, hockey and boys basketball.

1. Wrestling: Division 1 No. 2 Brighton swept the Lowell Super Duals with wins over the Division 2 top-ranked Red Arrows, Division 3 No. 1 Dundee and Division 4 No. 2 New Lothrop – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Hockey: Division 2 No. 3 Livonia Stevenson broke top-ranked Hartland’s 21-game in-state winning streak with a 3-2 victory – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

3. Boys Basketball: Division 1 Detroit U-D Jesuit edged Division 3 Flint Beecher 70-69 in a matchup of MHSAA championship favorites in their respective divisions – WJRT

4. Gymnastics: Rockford finished first and Forest Hills second at the annual Kenowa Hills Invitational – Coldwater Daily Reporter

5. Wrestling: Division 2 No. 7 Niles finished first, and No. 10 Stevensville Lakeshore was second at the Greater Berrien County Invitational – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

6. Wrestling – Division 2 No. 5 Gaylord had four champions on the way to winning the 30-team Northern Michigan Championships – Gaylord Herald Times

7. Hockey: Division 2 No. 5 Brownstown Woodhaven downed Division 3 No. 5 Detroit Country Day 2-1 in overtime – Southgate News-Herald

8. Competitive Cheer: Division 4 Sanford Meridian posted the highest score of the Alma College Cheer Fest – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

9. Hockey: Unranked L’Anse Creuse United moved into first place in the Macomb Area Conference Red with a 3-2 win over Division 1 No. 9 Macomb Dakota – Macomb Daily

10. Wrestling: Division 4 No. 5 Manchester won the 22-team Leslie Todd Stern Invitational – Chelsea Sun Times News

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: New Haven downed Warren Mott 64-37 to clinch the Macomb Area Conference White championship – Macomb Daily

Girls Basketball: Negaunee defeated Iron Mountain, but the Mountaineers’ Riley Poupore scored her 1,000th career point – Iron Mountain Daily News