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New Math: Division & Multiplication Problems

July 25, 2017

By Jack Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director 

This is the second part in a series on MHSAA tournament classification, past and present, that will be published over the next two weeks. This series originally ran in this spring's edition of MHSAA benchmarks.

High school tournament classifications went viral before there was social media and most of us knew what “viral” meant.

Much as a virus infects computers today or has created epidemics of disease around the world for centuries, high school tournament classification – once introduced – tends to spread uncontrollably. Once started, it tends to keep expanding and rarely contracts.

While we are still some distance from providing every team a trophy as a result of expanding high school tournament classification across the country, there is criticism nevertheless that we are headed in that direction – a philosophy which is supposed to exist only in local youth sports for our youngest children.

Michigan could be blamed for all this. Michigan is generally accepted as the first state to provide different classifications for season-ending tournaments for different sized schools. It started a century ago. Today, every state has various classifications for its tournaments in most if not all sports. And it is a bit ironic that Michigan – creator of the classification chaos – more than most other states has kept the number of tournament classes or divisions under control.

Yes, there is evidence that tournament classifications have expanded over the years in Michigan, especially with the relatively recent introduction of tournaments in football and the late 1990s’ move from classes to divisions in most MHSAA tournaments. But the MHSAA Representative Council has held true to its word when it expanded the playoffs for football from four classes to eight divisions: this is needed because of unique factors of football, factors that exist in no other sport; and all other sports should be capped at a maximum of four classes or divisions.

Kentucky is the preeminent defender of single-class basketball. All of its 276 high schools compete for the single state championship for each gender. In Indiana, there are still open wounds from its move in 1998 from one to four classes for its 400 schools in basketball.

Multi-class tournaments have tended to increase the number of non-public school champions, which some states are trying to lower through enrollment “multipliers,” and also tend to increase the number of repeat champions, which some states are trying to affect with “success factors” which lift smaller schools into classifications for larger schools if they take home too many trophies.

While there is considerable evidence that state tournaments do as much bad as good for educational athletics, state associations persist in providing postseason tournaments because, on balance, the experiences are supposed to be good for student-athletes. And once we reach that conclusion it is just a small leap to believe that if the tournaments are good for a few, they must be better for more – which leads to creating more and more tournament classifications. One becomes two classes, then three, then four and so forth.

While the argument is that more classifications or divisions provides more students with opportunities to compete and win, it is undeniable that the experience changes as the number of tournament classifications expands. It is not possible for state associations to provide the same level of support when tournament classifications expand to multiple venues playing simultaneously. For example, there is less audio and video broadcast potential at each venue, and less media coverage to each venue. Focus is diluted and fans diminished at each championship.

No one can argue reasonably that today's two-day MHSAA Football Finals of eight championship games has the same pizazz as the one-day, four-games event conducted prior to 1990.

In some states the number of divisions has grown so much that it is difficult to see much difference between the many season-ending state championship games and a regular-season event in the same sport.

It is a balancing act. And Michigan has been studying that balance longer than any other state, and charting a steadier course than most.

Addition by Division

The shift to Divisions for MHSAA Tournament play in numerous sports has added up to a greater number of champions for teams and individuals across the state. Following are the sports currently employing a divisional format, and the procedures for determining enrollment and classification. 

In 23 statewide or Lower Peninsula tournaments, schools which sponsor the sport are currently divided into nearly equal divisions. They are:

  • Baseball - 4 Divisions
  • Boys Bowling - 4 Divisions            
  • Girls Bowling - 4 Divisions
  • Girls Competitive Cheer - 4 Divisions
  • LP Boys Cross Country - 4 Divisions
  • LP Girls Cross Country - 4 Divisions
  • LP Boys Golf - 4 Divisions
  • LP Girls Golf - 4 Divisions
  • Ice Hockey - 3 Divisions
  • Boys Lacrosse - 2 Divisions
  • Girls Lacrosse - 2 Divisions
  • Boys Skiing - 2 Divisions
  • Girls Skiing - 2 Divisions
  • LP Boys Soccer - 4 Divisions LP
  • Girls Soccer - 4 Divisions
  • Girls Softball - 4 Divisions
  • LP Boys Swimming & Diving - 3 Divisions
  • LP Girls Swimming & Diving - 3 Divisions
  • LP Boys Tennis - 4 Divisions
  • LP Girls Tennis - 4 Divisions
  • LP Boys Track & Field - 4 Divisions
  • LP Girls Track & Field - 4 Divisions
  • Wrestling - 4 Divisions

Lists of schools for each division of these 23 tournaments are posted on MHSAA.com approximately April 1. Listings of schools in Upper Peninsula tournaments for their sports are also posted on MHSAA.com. The lists are based on school memberships and sports sponsorships in effect or anticipated for the following school year, as known to the MHSAA office as of a date in early March.

In football, the 256 schools which qualify for MHSAA 11-player playoffs are placed in eight equal divisions annually on Selection Sunday. Beginning in 2017, the 8-player divisions will be determined in a like manner on Selection Sunday as well, with 32 qualifying schools placed in two divisions.

Schools have the option to play in any higher division in one or more sports for a minimum of two years.

The deadlines for "opt-ups" are as follows:

  • Applications for fall sports must be submitted by April 15
  • Applications for winter sports must be submitted by Aug. 15
  • Applications for spring sports must be submitted by Oct. 15

Subsequent to the date of these postings for these tournaments, no school will have its division raised or lowered by schools opening or closing, schools adding or dropping sports, schools exercising the option to play in a higher division, or approval or dissolution of cooperative programs.

When the same sport is conducted for boys and girls in the same season (e.g., track & field and cross country), the gender that has the most sponsoring schools controls the division breaks for both genders.

Davison/Detroit Catholic Central wrestling

Preview: D1 Features Historic Opportunity, Daunting Obstacle

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 30, 2021

Detroit Catholic Central will encounter a historic opportunity Tuesday at the MHSAA Division 1 Team Wrestling Finals.

But standing in the Shamrocks’ way might be its toughest opponent during this recent four-championship run.

DCC will wrestle for its fifth-straight team title. Davison is the only other Division 1 program to accomplish that feat – and carries the top seed this time after finishing runner-up to the Shamrocks both last season and in 2017.

The Quarterfinal pairings Tuesday at Wings Event Center are as follows:

Division 1 - 10 am - The Valley
#1 Davison - BYE - Mat 1
#4 Holt vs. #5 Rockford - Mat 2
#3 Hartland vs. #6 Clarkston - Mat 3
#2 Detroit Catholic Central vs. #7 Wyandotte Roosevelt - Mat 4
(Macomb Dakota opted out.)

Spectator limits remain in effect, but all matches will be broadcast live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv. Below is a look at all eight teams competing in Division 1, listed by seed.

#1 DAVISON
Record/rank: 17-0, No. 1
League finish: No league title awarded this season.
Coach: Zac Hall, first season (17-0)
Championship history: Eight MHSAA championships (most recent 2006), six runner-up finishes. Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Justin Gates (17-0) fr., 112 Aden Williams (19-2) jr., 119 Caden Horwath (21-0) soph., 125 Cameron Freeman (20-3) jr., 125 Brendan Maybee (17-6) jr., 135 Evan Herriman (18-1) soph., 140 Owen Payne (22-1) jr., 145 Kyle White (17-5) jr., 152 James Johnston (21-1) sr., 160 Josh Barr (20-0) soph., 171 Alex Facundo (20-0) sr., 189 Landon Kish (16-5) sr., 215 Jimmy Colley (14-0) jr., 285 Tyler Jelinek (19-1) sr.
Outlook: This will be Davison’s 10th-straight Quarterfinal, and the Cardinals come in favorites this time in part thanks to a 36-9 win over Detroit Catholic Central earlier this month. Facundo won 171 last season and this weekend will attempt to become the 29th four-time Individual Finals champion in MHSAA history. Horwath and Barr started possible four-time quests with their first titles as freshmen last season at 103 and 152, respectively. Other returning individual placers from last season including Herriman (fourth at 135), Johnston (third at 145), Colley (third at 215) and Jelinek (sixth at 285).

#2 DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 19-1, No. 2
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League Central
Coach: Mitch Hancock, 14th season (312-49)
Championship history: Fifteen MHSAA championships (most recent 2020), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Drew Heethuis (23-0) soph., 119 Anthony Walker (18-2) jr., 119 Clayton Jones (20-3) soph., 125 Cory Thomas (18-5) fr., 125 Mason Stewart (15-6) fr., 135 Steven Shellenberger (14-3) soph., 135 Dylan Gilcher (19-1) soph., 140 Philip Burney (18-3) sr., 140 Tatum Bunn, (17-3) soph., 145 Darius Marines (11-1) fr., 145 Camden Trupp (17-2) sr., 160 Cameron Adams (19-4) soph., 171 John Browning (7-2) sr., 189 Manuel Rojas (22-2) jr.
Outlook: A fifth-straight Division 1 championship Tuesday would make DCC just the fourth program to win five in a row since 1988 when for the first time team championships were awarded based on dual competition. The only loss, as noted above, was to top-ranked Davison. A number of standouts have graduated the last four seasons, and the projected lineup features only four seniors. But there’s still plenty of championship-pressure experience – Gilcher (112) and Rojas (189) won individual championships last season, while Heethuis was third at 103, Bunn was fifth at 125, Trupp was runner-up at 135 and Burney was sixth at that weight.

#3 HARTLAND
Record/rank: 22-0, No. 3
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Todd Cheney, 29th season (809-112-2)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2016, five runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 103 Jake Gillespie (24-3) fr., 112 Patrick Wlodyga (18-3) jr., 125 Ethan Kinch (24-2) jr., 135 Luke Thornton (28-0) sr., 135 Vinnie Abbey (25-3) fr., 140 Nick Dimitroff (18-2) soph., 145 Owen Edgar (13-6) sr., 160 Brayden Bobo (22-2) soph., 171 Avery Dickerson (26-0) jr., 189 Chase Kern (26-1) soph., 215 Paul Corder (20-2) sr.
Outlook: This will be Hartland’s 20th-straight trip to the Quarterfinals, and the Eagles will be seeking their first Semifinal berth since 2017. Wlodyga was fourth last season at 103, Dickerson was fourth at 171, and sophomore Nick Rochowiak was fifth at 140 and will wrestle 152 this week. Hartland allowed only a combined 15 points over its first four postseason wins.

#4 HOLT
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 6
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference Blue
Coach: Rocky Shaft, 41st season (624-107)
Championship history: Four MHSAA championships (most recent 2008), two runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Ryan Mosher (25-3) soph., 125 Zach Platte (21-5) sr., 130 Jason Jones (19-6) jr., 140 Ralph Thompson (28-2) jr., 152 Alex Russell (23-4) jr., 160 Adam Russell (23-5) sr., 171 Nathan Bremer (22-3) jr., 285 Joshua Terrill, 21-3) jr.
Outlook: The Rams eliminated Finals regular Brighton 43-29 in the Regional Final to advance to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2013. A Semifinal berth would be Holt’s first since its runner-up run in 2009. Only two seniors start, with seven juniors who could help the Rams continue to rise next winter. Platte, Bremer and Terrill were Finals qualifiers last season.

#5 ROCKFORD
Record/rank: 19-3, No. 9
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red
Coach: Brian Richardson, 12th season (255-114)
Championship history: Two MHSAA championships (most recent 2009), three runner-up finishes.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 112 Jak Keller (24-1) soph., 119 Elijah Bunn (24-2) soph., 130 Logan Schwartz (13-7) soph., 140 Brysonn Aulbach (18-8) jr., 152 Trenton Wachter (19-1) sr., 152 Colin Harju (10-4) sr., 160 Ryan Ahern (21-1) fr., 171 Moses Bosscher (22-5) sr., 189 Luke Watkins (21-4) sr.,
Outlook: Rockford is making its third-straight trip to the Quarterfinals and seeking to take the next step into the Semifinals for first time since its runner-up season of 2010. The Rams defeated another regular, Grandville, 37-16 in the Regional Final to advance. Wachter was third at 140 last season.

#6 CLARKSTON
Record/rank: 16-7, No. 10
League finish: Third in Oakland Activities Association Red
Coach: Brian Gibbs, first season (16-7)
Championship history: Class A champion 1991, runner-up 1995.
Individual Finals qualifiers: 125 Ashton Anderson (21-4) sr., 130 Auggie Anderson (10-3) soph., 152 Grady Castle (21-3) sr., 160 John Lord (14-11) sr.
Outlook: Gibbs moved up to take over the program after three seasons as an assistant, and the Wolves continued to roll with their third-straight Regional title. They defeated No. 7 Romeo 36-28 in the Regional Semifinal on the way to Kalamazoo this time. Ashton Anderson finished third at 125 last season.

#7 WYANDOTTE ROOSEVELT
Record/rank: 17-4, unranked
League finish: First in Downriver League
Coach: Brett Greene, 18th season (334-161)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Individual Finals qualifier: Lu Peterson (22-0) jr.
Outlook: Roosevelt is headed to the Quarterfinals for the first time after edging Westland John Glenn 33-32 in the Regional Final. The Bears also won their third-straight District title and fifth in six seasons. This could be just the start; Roosevelt has only two seniors among its projected starters for Tuesday, but six freshmen.

PHOTO: Davison’s Aden Williams, left, and Detroit Catholic Central’s Drew Heethuis wrestle during last season’s Division 1 Final at Wings Event Center. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)