Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

MOUNT PLEASANT – The joyful outpouring and high-pitched shrieks that rocked McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant at 8:20 p.m. Thursday were six years in the making.

That was the exact moment when the final scores were read and Rochester realized it had edged its archrival from down the road, three-time reigning champion Rochester Adams, by less than a single point to win its first MHSAA Division 1 competitive cheer championship since 2017.

There were screams, leaps, smiles and hugs – the kind of pure emotion that is rare, but happens in high-level sporting competition.

“It doesn’t feel real,” Rochester senior Ava Grabke said amongst the chaos. “All the hard work we’ve put in this season, really all of these years, finally did pay off.”

Rochester won with a three-round total of 790.62, with Adams less than a point behind at 789.72.

The third high school in the Rochester Community Schools district, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (787.56), placed third, followed by Brighton (317.10) and Grandville (316.80).

The back story is that Rochester has the most cheer titles in state history (now 15), but in recent years, rival Adams has had the upper hand – winning the past three Division 1 championships and edging the Falcons at this season’s District and Regional, making the Highlanders favorites to “four-peat” at the Final.

Instead, it was Rochester, under the direction of first-year coach Samantha Koehler, which got off to a great start in Round 1 and held off a fierce challenge from Adams.

“We had one of our best Round 1 performances of the season today and, obviously, there’s no better time for that than the state finals,” said Koehler, who was a highly-successful head coach at Plymouth before taking over the Rochester program last year from legendary coach Susan Wood.

“It just goes to show that every round matters – every point, every decimal.”

Rochester had a 1.4-point lead after the first round, but Adams trimmed that to 0.9 points by getting the best score in Round 2 – setting the stage for a pressure-packed Round 3.

Stoney Creek and Hartland were also within striking distance and went early in Round 3, but were unable to make a big move.

Rochester vs. Adams took place in the sixth and seventh spots, respectively, in the Round 3 rotation. Both teams were outstanding under pressure and, fittingly, ended up with identical scores of 321.10 in the final round – giving Rochester the overall win by that nine tenths of a point.

“I think going first in that opening round hurt us a little bit,” said ninth-year Adams coach Brooke Miller. “We started a little lower than we expected and even though we won Round 2 and tied them in Round 3, we couldn’t overcome it.”

It was the fourth Finals runner-up finish to go with the three championships for the Highlanders, who had 12 seniors out of 28 athletes on the roster.

Among those seniors, Katie Burgin, Alex Ris and Ashley Rosati were all returning all-state second-team selections, and Emma Maynard and Peyton Regalado were honorable mention choices in 2022.

“Knowing we lost by less than a point is hard to take,” said Adams senior Ava Bolin. “But at the same time, there’s no better feeling than knowing when you get off the mat for the last time that there’s nothing else you could have done. That’s how we felt today.”

Koehler said the rivalry between the three Rochester schools and Oakland Activities Association Red rivals is incredibly intense, but for the most part, very positive. She has an ongoing group chat with Miller and Stoney Creek coach Tricia Williams where they wish each other the best.

“I really don’t have an explanation about how our three Rochester schools are 1, 2, 3 in the state, other than iron sharpens iron,” said Koehler. “We see them pretty much every weekend during the season, and it’s always super close. We know we have to keep working and improving to keep up with them.”

The victory was particularly sweet for the Falcons’ nine seniors, especially after failing to qualify for the Finals in 2021 and then placing fifth last year.

Rochester’s nine seniors were Grabke, Amelia Craft, Emily Isabell, Juliet Jones, Elizabeth Dyki, Maeve Losh, Martina Dedvukaj, Shreya Pillai and Wanja Kamau – all of whom enjoyed one final group rendition of the Rochester program’s theme song, “You Gotta Be” by Des’ree, this time on the McGuirk championship mat.

“It felt great,” Dedvukaj said with a smile. “It was like all the hard work and everything that happened over the past four years led us to this moment.”

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Rochester competes during Thursday’s Division 1 Final at McGuirk Arena. (Middle) Rochester Adams takes the mat on the way to a runner-up finish.