Logo

Cheer Finals & More LIVE on MHSAA.tv

March 3, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director

It’s another big weekend of MHSAA Championship action on MHSAA.tv, with nearly 300 hours of live streaming video in Girls Competitive Cheer and Individual Wrestling, plus Student Broadcast Program-produced coverage of Basketball Districts.

Live streaming this week begins at 2 p.m. Thursday (March 5) from The Palace of Auburn Hills at the Individual Wrestling Finals. A dedicated camera will be on each of 12 mats on the floor, and include full graphics to indicate the participants in each match, plus full in-progress scoring information via Trackwrestling.

Here’s the complete wrestling coverage schedule:

  • Thursday – First Round – 2 p.m.


  • Friday – Rounds 2-3-4 – 8:30 a.m. - Round 2 at 8:30 a.m. is the first Consolation round. Round 3 at 10:30 a.m. is the second round in the Championship bracket. Round 4 at 1:30 p.m. is the second round in the Consolation bracket.

  • Friday – Semifinal Round – 7 p.m.

  • Saturday – Rounds 6-7-8 – 8:30 a.m. - Round 6 at 8:30 a.m. is the third Consolation round. Round 7 at 9:45 a.m. is the fourth Consolation Round. Round 8 at 11 a.m. is the final round in the Consolation bracket.

  • Saturday – Final Round & Awards Presentations – 4:45 p.m.

Girls Competitive Cheer coverage begins Friday (March 6) from The DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids. Here’s the complete schedule:

  • Friday – Division 1 – 6 p.m. (Grand Blanc, Grandville, Hartland, Lake Orion, Livonia Stevenson, Rochester, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, Sterling Heights Stevenson)


  • Saturday – Division 2 – 10 a.m. (Allen Park, Dearborn Divine Child, DeWitt, Gibraltar Carlson, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, Ortonville Brandon, St. Joseph)


  • Saturday - Division 4 – 2 p.m.  (Breckenridge, Hart, Houghton Lake, Hudson, Manistique, Michigan Center, Pewamo-Westphalia, Shelby)


  • Saturday - Division 3 – 6 p.m. (Armada, Comstock Park, Howard City Tri-County, Lake Odessa Lakewood, Onsted, Paw Paw, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Richmond)

The continued wrestling and full cheer coverage is part of six straight weekends of live MHSAA Championship coverage on MHSAA.tv, and online viewers can catch every weekend of action for one low cost of $14.95. 

A Month Pass on MHSAA.tv for $14.95 will give a viewer access to events over a 30-day period from the time it is purchased.  Over the next three weekends of live winter championship coverage, the following events will be featured: 

  • Ice Hockey Semifinals & Finals – March 12-14
  • Girls Gymnastics Finals – March 13-14
  • Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals – March 14
  • Girls Basketball Semifinals – March 19-20
  • Boys Basketball Semifinals – March 26-27 

A Day Pass is available for $9.95. All events will be available for free on-demand viewing by Wednesday the week following their initial live airing. 

Highlights from last weekend’s Team Wrestling Finals are now available at MHSAA.tv. Two highlight clips – one for each team from each match – are available from the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals – 56 highlights in all.  You can also view those clips from the Second Half pages of the MHSAA Website:

The School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.

Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover varsity competition this week for broadcast on MHSAA.tv  (as of Feb. 23). The following events will have live streaming video unless otherwise indicated:

Monday, March 2
Girls Basketball District Semifinal – Wolverine v. Posen at Hillman, 6 p.m. (Video on Demand)
Girls Basketball District Semifinal – Hancock v. L’Anse at Calumet, 6 p.m. (VOD)
Girls Basketball District Semifinal – Onaway at Hillman, 7:30 p.m. (VOD)
Girls Basketball District Semifinal – Ironwood at Calumet, 7:30 p.m. (VOD)

Tuesday, March 3
Boys Basketball – Wolverine at Posen, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Houghton at Calumet, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Midland Bullock Creek at Pinconning, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 4
Girls Basketball District Final at Hillman, 6 p.m. (VOD)
Girls Basketball District Final at Calumet, 7 p.m. (VOD)

Friday, March 6
Boys Basketball – Byron at Montrose, 7 p.m.

Monday, March 9
Boys Basketball District First Round – Wyoming Lee at Comstock Park, 7 p.m. (VOD)

Live stats of select basketball games are also available on MHSAA.tv. Check out the MHSAA.tv website on game night to see which schools are streaming live stats, or stop by to view stats following games on an On-Demand basis.  A Day Pass to view live stats is $1.95.

All sporting events – live or delayed - are available on MHSAA.tv on a subscription basis for their first 72 hours online. A portion of each subscription is returned to schools originating the broadcast. Video subscriptions run $9.95 for a Day Pass and $14.95 for a Month Pass.  Some schools are also offering Annual Passes at a discounted rate. 

To view all of the recent School Broadcast Program productions, go to MHSAA.tv, click On-Demand on the nav bar of the left side of the page, and on the Filters tab at the top of next page, click on All States and then select Michigan. 

Division 6 Final: Play it Again, Yellowjackets

November 29, 2011

DETROIT – So began the legacy of Ithaca quarterback Travis Smith.

And so continues an incredible run by one of Michigan’s newest football powerhouses.

The Yellowjackets pushed their winning streak to 28 and claimed their second straight MHSAA championship by downing Constantine 42-14 in Friday's Division 6 Final.

They did so led by a number of last season’s top players, but minus their 2010 Final star. That’s where the sophomore Smith came in, joining the starting lineup in the season’s second week and bringing Ithaca back to Ford Field for another title.

“It’s more special just because this is the last time to suit up for most of us. We’re not going to be able to play another game next year, and we get to end on the biggest stage high school football has to offer in Michigan,” Ithaca senior linebacker/running back Garrett Miniard said. 

“I think it was almost a little jealousy of the seniors last year of being able do that, being able to go out on top. I think that kept us going throughout the season, throughout the offseason. Being able to have that luxury of going out on top just like they did.

Ithaca (14-0) hasn’t lost since its 2009 Semifinal against Montague. With two more wins to start next fall, the Yellowjackets can become the 14th team on the MHSAA record book list with at least 30 straight victories.

And Smith should be there to lead the way. He connected on 18 of 25 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown Friday, and ran for 43 yards and a score. Miniard rushed for 43 yards and two touchdowns, and had 14 tackles. And senior David Brown caught six passes for 122 yards and also ran for a score.

Smith followed the path this fall of another former sophomore starter at his position – Alex Niznak, who graduated in the spring, plays at Central Michigan now, but didn’t leave before leading the Yellowjackets to both their first Semifinal berth and MHSAA championship over the last two seasons. Niznak’s title game performance last season included 251 yards passing, 138 rushing and an MHSAA Finals-record five touchdowns running the ball.

Brown originally took over at quarterback this fall. But he was injured on opening night – after running for three touchdowns against Williamston – and missed significant time, allowing Smith to take hold of the offense. Smith finished his first varsity season with a not-too-shabby 2,310 passing yards, 969 rushing yards, and a combined 48 touchdowns throwing or running.

“Coach (Terry) Hessbrook told me to just go in there and do what I can do, and just play football,” Smith said. “I’ve got so many good athletes around me. I just need to get my players the ball and let them do what they can do.”

Ithaca twice had catching up to do in the Final, with Constantine (11-3) scoring first and then taking a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter – before the Yellowjackets rolled to 35 unanswered points.

“These kids had this goal since last year … of getting back here,” Hessbrook said. “We didn’t want Ithaca football to just be one and done, or a one-year wonder. And they’ve worked really hard.”

Constantine junior Ben Mallo did run 17 times for 189 yards and both scores. But the Falcons were without quarterback Tommy Reed, who was injured during last week’s Semifinal win over Ecorse. They played Ithaca to a 14-14 halftime tie before the Yellowjackets’ offense broke the game open.

“We’ve played offenses with that type of talent. Last week, for instance. And I’m sure Coach Hessbrook watched those films and saw some things he could do against us," Constantine coach Shawn Griffith said. "It’s a lot different than what we do, and you saw we caused them a little bit of problems early in the game as well. We do our thing, they do theirs. They do their thing very well. We did ours well. We just weren’t quite there on a couple drives that ended short.”

Click for full stats and play-by-play.