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: 1/23/20

January 23, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Two of the three No. 1-ranked hockey teams in Michigan faced off Thursday in league play to take today’s No. 1 spot, followed by one of the state’s annual wrestling powers claiming a conference championship.

1. Hockey: Division 2 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice edged Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 – Oakland Press

2. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 2 Richmond clinched the Blue Water Area Conference championship with a sweep of Croswell-Lexington and Imlay City – Macomb Daily

3. Hockey: Division 1 No. 4 Brighton avenged an earlier loss to No. 3 Salem with a 3-0 win in the rematch – Observer & Eccentric

4. Bowling: Bay City Central’s girls and Essexville Garber’s boys won Bay County championships – Bay City Times

5. Girls Basketball: Michigan Center avenged last season’s Regional Final loss to Springport, 61-49 – Jackson Citizen Patriot

6. Hockey: Division 2 No. 2 Livonia Stevenson continued its recent success against No. 4 Hartland, 7-0 – Observer & Eccentric

7. Girls Basketball: Bellaire remained undefeated and ended Gaylord St. Mary’s 59-game Ski Valley Conference winning streak with a 49-36 victory – Up North Live

8. Boys Basketball: Carrollton moved to 8-0 with a 77-70 win over Reese – Saginaw News

9. Hockey: Grand Haven came back from a one-goal deficit with four minutes to play to get past Hudsonville 5-3 – Local Sports Journal

10. Hockey: Will Dawson scored a natural hat trick during the first period to lead Division 2 No. 6 Traverse City Central past Petoskey 6-0 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Football: Gwinn is mourning the unexpected death of football coach Dion Brown, who took over the program in 2014 and led it to multiple playoff appearances – WLUC

Football: Hudson coach Chris Luma has stepped down with a 180-70 record over the last 23 seasons – Adrian Daily Telegram

Football: Continuing Rockford’s streak of 25 straight winning seasons will rest with former assistant Brent Cummings, who was promoted to head coach – Grand Rapids Press