2018-19 Parade of Champions
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 20, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A total of 105 schools won one or more of the 128 Michigan High School Athletic Association team championships awarded during 2018-19, with two teams earning the first Finals championship in any sport in their schools’ histories.
Ypsilanti Lincoln celebrated its first MHSAA Finals championship by winning the Division 1 boys basketball title in the winter, and Millington claimed its first by earning the Division 3 softball championship this spring.
A total of 19 schools won two or more championships this school year, paced by two schools winning four: Pewamo-Westphalia won in boys basketball, girls basketball, competitive cheer and girls track & field; and Marquette won in boys skiing, girls skiing, girls swimming & diving and girls track & field. Five schools won three MHSAA Finals championships: Bronson, Detroit Country Day, East Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Hudsonville Unity Christian.
Winning two titles in 2018-19 were Chassell, Detroit Catholic Central, Houghton, Ishpeming, Ishpeming Westwood, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, Lake Orion, Negaunee, Ontonagon, Sault Ste. Marie and West Iron County. Farmington Hills Harrison – in its final school year before closing this summer – also was part of two championships, winning the Division 1 boys bowling title and then as a secondary school in a cooperative program with Farmington and North Farmington that finished first in girls gymnastics.
A total of 28 teams won first MHSAA titles in their respective sports. A total of 53 champions were repeat winners from 2017-18 – and 22 of those won for at least the third straight season, while 12 extended title streaks to at least four consecutive years.
The Rockford girls lacrosse and Marquette boys skiing programs own the longest title streaks at seven seasons, while Lowell wrestling and Flint Kearsley girls bowling both have won six straight championships.
Sixteen of the MHSAA's 28 championship tournaments are unified, involving teams from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, while separate competition to determine titlists in both Peninsulas is conducted in remaining sports.
Click Here for a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2018-19.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
Girls Wrestling District, Regional Team Titles Headline 2025-26 Winter Additions, Rule Changes
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 4, 2025
The MHSAA will this season award District and Regional team championships in girls wrestling for the first time, with those additions headlining changes to winter sports as 2025-26 activities continue to get underway this month across the state.
Ice hockey, gymnastics, competitive cheer, girls and boys bowling, Upper Peninsula girls and boys swimming & diving, girls and boys wrestling and boys basketball all have begun competition for the 2025-26 season. Girls and boys skiing, Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving and girls basketball will begin competition over the next week.
The first Finals team championship in girls wrestling was awarded to Grand Haven to conclude the 2024-25 season, with scoring based on results from individual brackets at the MHSAA Individual Finals. Team champions for District and Regional levels this winter will be determined using the same format as the sport continues to grow toward the possibility of a head-to-head team tournament. A total of 1,505 girls participated in wrestling during the 2024-25 season, more than double the 620 participants from 2021-22, the first season the MHSAA conducted a girls division at the Individual Finals.
Ice hockey teams also will enjoy a significant addition this winter, as they are now allowed to play 27 regular-season games – two more than in seasons past – plus one scrimmage. Ice hockey also has one on-ice rule change that will be noticeable: A puck resting on top of the goal netting between the crossbar and goal frame is now considered unplayable and results in an immediate game stoppage. A puck outside of the goal netting and below the crossbar remains in play for both teams.
The most noticeable rule changes in basketball this winter address goaltending. Offensive teams no longer can be called for goaltending violations, reducing ambiguity over whether a ball was a shot or a pass. Additionally, a rule change establishes that once the ball contacts the backboard, it is automatically considered to be on its downward flight – if a player touches the ball after it hits the backboard, and the ball has a possibility of entering the basket, it is to be ruled as goaltending.
Another basketball rule change expanded the definition of basket interference to include when a player slaps or strikes the backboard, causing the backboard or basket to vibrate, while the ball is on or within the basket, touching the backboard, or within the cylinder.
As were allowed during the fall Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving season, backstroke ledges will be permitted this LP boys and UP girls and boys season in pools that maintain a 6-foot water depth. If used in competition, identical ledges must be provided by the host team for all lanes, although individual swimmers are not required to use them. Also in swimming & diving – during relay exchanges – second, third and fourth swimmers must have one foot stationary at the front edge of the deck. The remainder of their bodies may be in motion prior to the finish of the incoming swimmer.
The 2025-26 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 21 and wraps up with the Girls Basketball Finals on March 21.
A one-year calendar change will move this season’s Competitive Cheer Finals one week later than usual, to March 6-7, to accommodate scheduling at McGuirk Arena at Central Michigan University. Districts this season in cheer are scheduled for Feb. 20-21, 2026, and Regionals for Feb. 28, with Finals the following weekend. Dates for the 2026-27 and future competitive cheer seasons will return to their previously-approved schedule, with Finals to be held during the last Saturday (and previous Friday) in February.
Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates for 2025-26:
Boys Basketball
Districts – Feb. 23, 25, 27
Regionals – March 3, 5
Quarterfinals – March 10
Semifinals – March 12-13
Finals – March 14
Girls Basketball
Districts – March 2, 4, 5
Regionals – March 9, 11
Quarterfinals – March 17
Semifinals – March 19-20
Finals – March 21
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 18-21
Finals – Feb. 27-28
Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 20-21
Regionals – Feb. 28
Finals – March 6-7
Gymnastics
Regionals – Feb. 28
Finals – March 6-7
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 16-25
Quarterfinals – Feb. 28
Semifinals – March 5-6
Finals – March 7
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 9-13
Finals – Feb. 23
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 21
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 5
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 13-14
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 11-12
Regionals – Feb. 18
Finals – Feb. 27-28
Wrestling – Individual
Boys Districts – Feb. 14
Girl Districts – Feb. 15
Boys Regionals – Feb. 21
Girls Regionals – Feb. 22
Finals – March 6-7