Today in the MHSAA: 1/22/18

January 22, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Today's Top 10 

1. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 1 Dundee, Division 1 No. 7 Oxford and Division 4 No. 1 Hudson took the top three spots, respectively, at the Hudson Super 16 – Adrian Daily Telegram

2. Boys Basketball: Reigning Class D runner-up Buckley and 2017 Class C semifinalist Manton played a classic, with Buckley winning 62-60, while doing so to raise money for a family struggling with a cancer fight and to honor a local coach who died after battling the disease – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Competitive Cheer: Division 4 No. 4 Sanford Meridian Early College edged No. 3 Farwell and No. 7 Houghton Lake to win the 10-team Harrison Invitational – Midland Daily News

4. Hockey: Top-ranked Livonia Stevenson hung on for a 4-2 win over No. 5 Trenton in a matchup of Division 2 contenders – Observer & Eccentric

5. Hockey: Division 3 No. 7 Detroit Country Day handed Birmingham United its first loss this season in the premier game of the Oakland Activities Association/Metro League Showdown – Southgate News Herald

6. Bowling: The unranked New Baltimore Anchor Bay girls and Division 1 No. 2 Macomb L’Anse Creuse North boys won Macomb County championships – Macomb Daily

7. Wrestling: Escanaba won the 17-team 51st U.P. Championships meet, finishing just ahead of Gladstone and Marquette – Marquette Mining Journal

8. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 4 Whitehall claimed its 12th straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association title, with 11 wrestlers reaching tournament finals – Muskegon Chronicle

9. Boys Swimming & Diving: Lower Peninsula Division 2 honorable mention Battle Creek Lakeview claimed its 27th straight All-City championship – Battle Creek Enquirer

10. Girls Basketball: Battle Creek Central bravely took to the floor and was edged by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 53-47 a day after the unexpected death of junior varsity coach Julionna Mahar – Battle Creek Enquirer

Also of note …

Football: Longtime Walled Lakes Western coach Mike Zdebski stepped down after leading the team to 160 wins and 17 playoff appearances, to take a coaching job in Arizona – Detroit Free Press

Boys Soccer: Longtime Warren DeLaSalle and Fraser coach Thaier Mukhtar is returning to take over the Pilots’ program – Macomb Daily

Today in the MHSAA: 1/5/16

January 5, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Winter sports return in force with a full slate of events statewide tonight, but here are a few headlines of note as we get rolling – plus two great reads from the wrestling world.

Boys Basketball

Ishpeming in recent seasons has scheduled its first basketball games later than other teams to offset the football team’s four straight runs to the MHSAA Finals at Ford Field – but the Hematites were one of the first to play in 2016 and came away with a 74-72 win over Gladstone to move to 2-0 – Marquette Mining Journal

Girls Bowling

From Sunday, two-time reigning Division 2 champion Flint Kearsley got past 2015 Division 1 finalist Jackson to win the Lila Jean Furnish Classic in Owosso, which included a number of the state’s top teams – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Good Reads

When Clinton wrestler Nick Rolland was 3, his parents were told to say their good-byes after he was pulled from under a running lawn mower. But doctors were able to save his life, and then his leg, and this weekend he’ll wrestle for his 100th career win – Adrian Daily Telegram

Hastings wrestling coach Mike Goggins started out as an athlete for the Saxons, later coached at the middle school and now also is the high school athletic director – and owner of more than 400 varsity coaching wins after reaching that milestone during the Montrose Invitational on Dec. 29 – Grand Rapids Press