Records Fall to Gaylord Star, Technically
May 16, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gaylord junior Dominic LaJoie just missed on a third MHSAA wrestling individual championship this winter, falling in the Division 2 championship match at 119 pounds.
But he finished 61-1 to make the MHSAA single-season wins list and set two records with 43 technical falls this season and 64 over his three-season career.
Teammate Jon Martin also was an MHSAA runner-up, at 130 pounds, and closed his career with a 201-22 record – which made an MHSAA wins list, as did his 58-4 finish this season.
Click the “Wrestling” heading below for the record book for that sport in full, and read on for more of last week’s record listing additions in football, girls soccer and softball.
Football
Grand Ledge kicker Brendan Baker finished his career last fall with near perfection, connecting on 60 of 61 extra-point tries to make the single-season list in that category, while also finishing a streak of 49 straight that started at the end of 2014 and stretched 13 games into Week 10 of 2015. Baker total made 123 of 131 extra-point attempts during a three-year varsity career.
A pair of long scoring players made the records lists from Ionia’s 2015 season. During a 34-26 loss to Eaton Rapids on Sept. 11, Ionia quarterback Mitchell Lahr completed a 99-yard scoring pass to John McCord. Against Portland on Sept 25, Martin Gale returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score in a 61-13 defeat.
Muskegon Oakridge quarterback Brady Luttrull put together a strong junior season in the fall – and set himself up for some career milestones as well. Luttrull made single-season lists with 2,579 passing yards, 270 attempts, 159 completions and 32 touchdown passes and already sits on career lists with 4,240 passing yards and 53 passing touchdowns over his sophomore and junior seasons. He also made single-game lists with 25 completions, including 17 straight, and six touchdown passes against Muskegon Catholic Central on Aug. 28 and for 416 passing yards against North Muskegon on Sept. 11. Teammate James Cooper III caught all six of those TD passes against MCC to rank second all-time on the single-game receiving touchdowns list, and he made the career touchdowns list with 22 over 20 games as a junior and senior.
Millington’s 1940 team was added to the list of now 20 that did not give up a point (the last team to do so was in 1973). The Cardinals finished 1940 with a 7-0-1 record.
Girls Soccer
Middleville Thornapple Kellogg had a few submissions added from earlier this decade – including one for an MHSAA record. Erin Scheidel assisted on all 10 goals for her team in its 10-0 shutout of Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills on May 19, 2014, setting the record for most assists in one game by three. She finished the season with 27 assists in 20 games to make the single-season list, and teammate Aly Miller made the single-season shutouts list for goalkeepers with 14 the year before, 2013. Thornapple Kellogg finished 14-4-2 in 2013 and 16-2-2 in 2014. Scheidel plays now at Siena Heights University.
Softball
Alex Sorgi played a significant role in Utica Ford’s success over the last four seasons, and she made the MHSAA records in multiple categories – for her 20 doubles last spring, her 204 hits over four seasons from 2012-15 and her 183 career stolen bases in 149 games. The stolen bases total ranks ninth all-time. Sorgi is playing this season at Bowling Green State University.
Wrestling
Laingsburg senior Kevin Koenig added a Division 4 championship at 285 pounds this winter to go with a title at 215 as a sophomore and runner-up finishes at 215 in both 2013 and 2015. He finished with a career record of 219-10, and his 60-4 record as a freshman made the single-season wins list.
Clinton’s Nicholas Rolland finished his career this winter with 153 escapes, good for fourth on that career list. He was 53-8 as a senior and 128-58 for his career after surviving a horrific lawnmower accident as a child. (Read about it in the Adrian Daily Telegram.)
Southgate Anderson’s Logan Parks capped his high school career in 2015 with a Division 1 runner-up finish at 145 pounds and has entries in the MHSAA records for his 58-2 record as a junior and 197-26 record over his four-season career. Parks wrestled this season at Central Michigan University.
PHOTO: Gaylord's Dominic LaJoie wrestles Melvindale's Julian Saldana in the Division 2 championship match at 119 pounds this winter. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Gee, Mason ... What a Run for Stockbridge
December 18, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Stockbridge averaged 45 points per game in building a 13-7 record over the last two seasons, mostly on the arm of quarterback Mason Gee-Montgomery and top receivers Austin Cimala and Kolby Canfield.
Their achievements are among those added this week to the MHSAA record book, along with a record-setting game by another receiver, the fastest goal ever in boys soccer (with video of the feat) and more top performances in softball and volleyball.
Football
Mason Gee-Montgomery, a junior, is listed 24 times, most notably after setting records this fall with 22 straight completed passes in an Oct. 9 games against Vermontville Maple Valley and for 51 touchdown passes in one season; he also tied a record with seven touchdown passes against Leslie on Sept. 11. Total, Gee-Montgomery has thrown for 5,660 yards and 84 touchdowns over his two seasons on varsity with the touchdowns already ranking fourth on the career list for that category. Receiver Austin Cimala earned 13 entries in the records with a two-year varsity career that saw him total 133 receptions for 2,674 yards (10th most) and 43 touchdowns, also tied for second-most in MHSAA career history. Kolby Canfield, also a junior, had 90 receptions this fall, sixth-most for one season, and he gained 1,265 yards and scored 19 touchdowns. Also, 2015 graduate Nick Ensign was added for six rushing touchdowns in a 66-64 win over Perry in 2014. The Panthers were part of four games this season with more than 100 points – wins of 54-50 over Parchment, 53-48 over Sand Creek and 55-46 over Essexville Garber, and a 61-42 loss to Lake Odessa Lakewood.
Senior pass combo Pat Naughton and Nick Turowski also earned its way into the records this season leading Comstock Park to an 8-3 finish. Turowski tied the MHSAA record with 18 receptions in a 44-27 win over Allendale on Oct. 16 and set the MHSAA season record with 113 receptions total (he also made the yardage list with 1,474, good for eighth most). Naughton was a three-year starter for the Panthers, completing 444 of 719 passes for 6,133 yards and 54 touchdowns. This fall he completed 184 of 271 passes for 2,386 yards and 25 scores. His career completions rank 10th on that list.
Former Kent City quarterback Jake Krueger finished his senior season in 2013 with five entries. He earned two with five touchdown passes in a half and six for a game against Howard City Tri-County, and also for 26 touchdown passes total that season and 52 over his three-year varsity career. He also threw for 4,547 yards over those three seasons.
Ypsilanti Community’s Jahz Watts joined Gee-Montgomery and a host of others by throwing six touchdown passes in a game, in his team’s 51-40 loss to Monroe on Sept. 4. Watts, a junior, completed 13 passes total for 315 yards that evening.
Clinton’s Erik Bouse kicked 11 straight extra points in a 77-6 win over Britton-Deerfield on Oct. 24, 2014, to tie for second-longest extra point streak in one game. He also contributed as the team reached the Division 6 Final this season.
Boys Soccer
Allen Park Inter-City Baptist added a trio of high scorers new and old. Senior Garrett Kraatz had 46 goals and 25 assists this fall for 71 points, good to tie for 13th most for one season. He finished his four-year career with 105 goals and 47 assists. Steven Fiema was added for finishing his career in 2011 with 96 goals and 130 points over four seasons. And Lyle Wensley was added for notching 121 goals from 1982-85; he made the all-state Dream Team as a junior and senior and currently is an assistant coach at Spring Arbor University, while Fiema plays at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida.
Josh Busscher’s kickoff for Holland Christian against Muskegon Western Michigan Christian on. Oct. 3 landed four seconds later as the fastest goal scored in MHSAA history. See video below.
Softball
Allen Park pitcher Hayley Bartholomew joined an elite group May 11 with 20 strikeouts in a seven-inning, 9-3 win over Taylor Kennedy. She’s now playing at Oakland University.
Reese’s Carlee Selle finished her career this spring with three more entries to go with 16 doubles she hit in 2014. She also had 16 this season, plus eight RBI in a game May 21 against Essexville Garber and back-to-back home runs against Sandusky in a Regional game June 6. Teammate Monica Hagen also was added for her 73 hits during the 2014
Volleyball
DeWitt’s five-set win over Mattawan on Nov. 12 included a pair of record-qualifying performances. Lexi Nordmann had 39 kills and Brooke Binkley had 55 assists although the Panthers fell 3-2.
PHOTO: Stockbridge quarterback Mason Gee-Montgomery drops back to pass during a game this season. (Photo courtesy of Frazzini Photography.)