Today in the MHSAA: 2/20/20

February 20, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half

Four teams celebrated their first MHSAA Team Wrestling Regional championships Wednesday as the field of 32 was determined across the state. We were able to gather coverage of two of those title celebrations, plus a number of other championship runs on the mat, ice and bowling lanes.

1. Wrestling: No. 7 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer won its first Team Regional title in this sport, downing Greenville and Allendale in Division 2 – Local Sports Journal

2. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 7 Fremont also won its first Regional title on the mat, with wins over Muskegon Orchard View and Comstock Park – Muskegon Chronicle

3. Wrestling: After falling to No. 9 Westland John Glenn in the postseason three straight seasons, No. 5 Temperance Bedford won the latest meeting to claim a Division 1 Regional title – Monroe News

4. Wrestling: No. 2 Gaylord edged No. 3 DeWitt 33-30 to lock up a Division 2 Regional championship – Gaylord Herald-Times

5. Wrestling: Mason upset No. 4 Eaton Rapids 33-27 on the way to claiming a Division 2 Regional title – Lansing State Journal

6. Wrestling: No. 3 Brighton got past No. 6 Holt 55-8 to clinch a Division 1 Regional title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

7. Wrestling: No. 5 Hart downed Whittemore-Prescott to clinch a Division 4 Regional title, its first Regional championship since 1990 – Muskegon Chronicle

8. Hockey: Division 1 No. 2 Saginaw Heritage downed Division 3 No. 9 Midland Dow 2-0 to lock up the Saginaw Valley League championship – Midland Daily News

9. Wrestling: A last-second pin gave No. 10 New Boston Huron a 38-37 win over Gibraltar Carlson and a Division 2 Regional championship, its first Regional title since 2003 – Monroe News

10. Bowling: The Ravenna girls and Fruitport boys won Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championships – Local Sports Journal

NOTE: Croswell-Lexington and Kingsley also won their first Wrestling Team Regional championships Wednesday.

Also of note …

Football: Flint Beecher coach and athletic director Courtney Hawkins will be leaving the Bucs to join the Michigan State football staff – WJRT

Today in the MHSAA: 2/14/20

February 14, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first round of the Team Wrestling Tournament finished up Thursday with a dramatic ending in Division 2 leading a loaded list of headliners from across the state and five sports.

1. Wrestling: Caleb McNeil’s last-match comeback gave No. 8 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer a District Semifinal win over No. 4 Whitehall, and the Rockets then shut out Muskegon to win the title in Division 2 – Local Sports Journal

2. Hockey: Division 2 top-ranked Livonia Stevenson shut out Division 1 No. 3 Brighton 4-0 in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship game – Observer & Eccentric

3. Wrestling: Bark River-Harris defeated Manistique in Division 4 to claim its first District title in this sport – Escanaba Daily Press

4. Wrestling: Unranked Union City got past No. 8 Mendon in Division 4 to earn its first District title since 2008 – Coldwater Daily News

5. Wrestling: Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice earned its first District title in this sport in a decade with a 51-20 win over Birmingham Seaholm in Division 1 – Oakland Press

6. Boys Basketball: Fraser’s 50-48 overtime win over St. Clair gave St. Clair and Port Huron Northern a shared Macomb Area Conference Gold title, Northern’s first league championship since 2001 – Port Huron Times-Herald

7. Boys Swimming & Diving: Holland West Ottawa clinched a share of a sixth-straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title with a 187-118 win over Grand Haven – Holland Sentinel

8. Girls Basketball: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart took back the Mid-State Activities Conference championship with a 63-48 win over Coleman – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

9. Boys Basketball: Marquette edged Escanaba 68-64 to clinch the Great Northern Conference title – Marquette Mining Journal

10. Girls Basketball: Oscoda clinched a second-straight North Star League Big Dipper title with a 64-27 win over Whittemore-Prescott – Alpena News

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Detroit Cass Tech advanced to the Detroit Public School League final with a 53-44 win over Detroit Communication & Media Arts – State Champs Sports Network

Boys Basketball: Muskegon Orchard View’s Ke’Ontae Barnes scored 30 points in a 58-43 win over Muskegon Catholic Central to go over 1,000 for his career – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Basketball: Saline junior Ella Stemmer went over 1,000 points for her career with 19 in a 59-31 win over Monroe – Ann Arbor News