Today in the MHSAA: 9/9/19
September 9, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Unranked – and probably soon-to-ranked – volleyball and soccer teams dominated the top half of today’s list of achievers from an invitational-filled weekend across a number of sports.
1. Volleyball: Unranked Beaverton defeated Division 3 No. 4 Bronson in the final to claim Bay City Central’s Mitten Bay Invitational title – Midland Daily News
2. Volleyball: Also-unranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern downed Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and then honorable mention Northville to win the Grand Haven Invitational – Grand Haven Tribune
3. Cross Country: The East Grand Rapids, Ada Forest Hills Eastern and Pewamo-Westphalia girls and Ann Arbor Skyline, Haslett and Hanover-Horton boys won championships at the Bath Bret Clements Invitational – Athletic.net
4. Boys Soccer: Unranked Portage Northern made a number of stops in getting past Division 2 top-ranked Mattawan 1-0 – JoeInsider.com
5. Girls Swimming & Diving: Chelsea, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, edged LPD2 honorable mention Grand Rapids Northview to win the DeWitt Invitational – Chelsea Sun Times News
6. Cross Country: Brighton’s boys and Troy’s girls won Gold division Averill Invitational championships at Kensington Metropark – Athletic.net
7. Cross Country: Traverse City teams swept titles at the Bullock Creek Lancer Invitational, the West girls and St. Francis boys claiming championships – Traverse City Record-Eagle
8. Volleyball: Petoskey finished the day 6-0 and defeated Midland Dow in the final to win its home invitational – Petoskey News-Review
9. Cross Country: The Petoskey girls and Charlevoix boys won Charlevoix Mud Run championships – Petoskey News-Review
10. Volleyball: Kingsford repeated as the Great 8 Tournament champion at West Iron County – Iron Mountain Daily News
Today in the MHSAA: 1/6/20
January 6, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The clashing of statewide wrestling powers and a nearly unbelievable performance on the ice highlighted a power-packed first weekend of 2020.
1. Wrestling: Division 1 top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central, No. 2 Davison, No. 3 Brighton and Division 2 top-ranked Lowell took the top four team places, respectively, at the 56th DCC Invitational – Oakland Press
2. Hockey: Division 2 No. 2 Livonia Stevenson downed Hartland 5-2, with Seth Lause scoring an incredible three short-handed goals – Observer & Eccentric
3. Boys Basketball: Flint Beecher downed Benton Harbor 76-62 in a matchup of teams expected to make runs at Finals championships in March – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
4. Hockey: Division 1 No. 5 Brighton handed the first loss of the season to the last team without one, 3-2 to Division 3 top-ranked Calumet – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
5. Hockey: Division 1 top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central earned a significant league win 6-0 over No. 4 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – Oakland Press
6. Girls Basketball: Kelsey Richards went over 30 points for the fifth straight game as Fruitport Calvary Christian earned a 50-46 statement win over Central Montcalm – Muskegon Chronicle
7. Wrestling: Division 4 top-ranked Clinton followed a pair of individual champions to the team title at the 45th Dave Elliott Memorial Tournament – Adrian Daily Telegram
8. Boys Basketball: In another matchup of championship hopefuls, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s downed Grand Blanc 69-66 – Flint Journal
9. Girls Basketball: Hart continued its surge with a 51-35 win over Calvary Christian the day after the latter’s big win noted above – Muskegon Chronicle
10. Hockey: Ann Arbor Pioneer improved to 8-2 with a 2-1 win over rival Skyline in the final of the Jilek Cup – We Love Ann Arbor
Also of note …
Football: The football community is mourning the death of Zeeland West assistant Gasper Giarmo, who coached more than 30 years combined at seven schools including a decade at Byron Center – Grand Rapids Press