HIGH SCHOOL
Lowell Fair Coverage
Junior Olympics Recap
Grand River Rumble Coverage
Annapolis Wins Milan Duals
Fargo Cadet & Junior Nationals Coverage
Disney Duals Recap
Junior Freestyle Duals Recap
Cadet Freesyle Duals Recap
Michigan Elite finishes runner-up at Northern Exposure
Big wins highlight MWA Classic
Trio of Cadets win Central Regional
MI Grizzly knocks off Ohio, Jersey squads to win Challenge
The Midwest Grand Challenge attracted 19 teams from all over the Midwest to Jenison Fieldhouse this weekend for a great day of wrestling. After nearly 12 hours of wrestling action with some of the best wrestlers from Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, and more, the 1st place trophy will not be leaving the state of Michigan. Team Grizzly stormed through their pool with three dominant wins before knocking off all-star teams from Ohio and New Jersey to win the tournament handily. Click more for a full recap and results from the semifinals and finals.
Massa, Yates, McClure, Morse ranked top 5 nationally
5/5 - InterMat's final 2009 high school national all-class rankings were recently released and 8 Michiganders earned top 20 honors, including four Michigan grapplers who were ranked in the top 5 of their respective weight classes. Taylor Massa of St. Johns and Dan Yates of Hesperia are both ranked #2 at 145 and 160lbs, respectively, while Michael McClure of Holland West Ottawa is ranked 3rd at 285lbs and Jackson Morse of Lowell is #5 at 152lbs. Click more to see all the Michigan wrestlers who are featured in the rankings.
Rought & Leyrer announce out of state plans
5/5 - Two more Top 50 recruits signed on the dotted line this week as 2x Division 3 state champ Calib Rought of Fremont and Division 1 runner up Koort Leyrer of Holt solidified their college plans and both will be heading out of state next fall. Rought, the #17 ranked recruit in Michigan, will be wrestling for NAIA Bacone College in Oklahoma while Leyrer signed with Cleveland State University. Both Rought & Leyrer wrestled 152 this season and plan on wrestling 157 in college. Read below for other recent commitments and go to Recruiting Central to see all the recruiting news.
CC Weber repeats at Body Bar with FILA Junior title
5/4 - The future of USA Women's wrestling was on display this weekend in Colorado Springs at the Body Bar FILA Cadet and Junior National Championsips. Three Michiganders came away with all-american status, including Goodrich senior and female phenom C.C. Weber, who continued her recent success by winning the FILA Junior title at 48kg. The win was Weber's 2nd in a row at the tournament as she won in the FILA Cadet division last year. Also placing was Julie Salata of Canton and Sherri Berube of Escanaba, who both earned FILA Cadet All-American honors.
Salata was runner up at 65kg while Berube finished 5th at 49kg. Click more for a full recap.
2009 DREAM TEAM UNVEILED!
4/30 - Michigan Grappler's third annual High School Dream Team has been released. Click more to read bios of the 1st team Dream Team and to view all of the Dream Team selections.
Dan Yates wins 2009 MI Grappler Wrestler of the Year
4/27 - The votes are in and it is now final - Hesperia senior Dan Yates is the 2009 Michigan Grappler High School Wrestler of the Year. Yates, who won his 3rd state title and the NHSCA Senior Nationals last month, is the third wrestler honored by Michigan Grappler.com as High School wrestler of the year. He edged fellow finalists Taylor Massa and Mike McClure for the award. Click more to read the full
story on 2009's Michigan Grappler wrestler of the year. The 09 Dream Team will be released later this week.
Massa & Rodriguez win FILA Cadet Freestyle Crowns
4/26 - Taylor Massa and Freddie Rodriguez won their final bouts today at the FILA Cadet Freestyle National Championships in Akron, OH. Massa won the 152lb title with a 6-5, 7-1 win over Kaleb Friedley of Missouri while Rodriguez scored a 7-0, 7-0 tech fall over Kevon Powell of Illinois at 101lbs. Alec Mooradian of DCC was the only other Michigander to place, finishing 5th at 119lbs. Click morefor a full recap
Rodriguez among greco placers at FILA Cadets
4/24 - The FILA Cadet and University Nationals got underway today in Akron, Ohio with Greco-Roman action. Thirteen Michiganders competed in all and three came away with all-american honors. Leading the way was Division 1 state champ and returning Cadet greco-roman all-american Freddie Rodriguez of Holt (pictured) who finished 3rd at 101.25lbs. Highland Park freshman Martaz Crutchfield finished 3rd at 275lbs while Joe Rendina of Dundee finished 6th at 127lbs. Click more for full recap of the Greco action.
Academic All-State Selections announced
4/24 - The Michigan Wrestling Association recently revealed the 2009 Acamdemic All-State teams. Leading the way with the highest team GPA was Division 2 State Champions Lowell with a 3.8 overall GPA. Click more to view the full Academic All-State Teams.
MWA Classic just over a month away! - The 2nd Annual MWA Classic is slated for June 17th in Hartland. Nominations are still being accepted to compete in the event, which is a dual meet featureing top seniors from different divisions squaring off. Go to the MWA Website for more info.
Schutt and Jeske sign on the dotted line
4/21 - Senior National All-American Andrew Schutt and 2009 Division 3 State Champion Jake Jeske of Swan Valley both signed this week. Schutt, the #13 recruit will be heading to New York to wrestle for Buffalo next fall while Jeske will be staying close to home and wrestling for the Chipps at Central Michigan.
Lake Orion State Champ picks Air Force
4/18 - Lake Orion senior Evan Gros announced his college plans this week. The Division 1 state champ and #14 recruit in Michigan has commited to attend the Air Force Academy and wrestle for the Falcons. Gros was a 4x Division 1 state placer and 2x finalist, including his state title this year. He is projected to wrestle 184 or 197 for the Air Force. Go to Michigan Grappler's Recruiting Central to stay up to date on all the recruiting news.
Massa, Thomas lead impressive Freshman class
4/17 - One of the major story lines of the 2008-09 wrestling season was the immediate impact of this year's freshman class. This year's freshmen made an unprecedented instant impact on the high school wrestling scene, including a number of state champions and nationally ranked wrestlers. Click below to view the full list of Michigan's top freshmen.
Zeerip named Dave Schultz Award Winner
4/16 - Hesperia senior and 3x state champ Brandon Zeerip was honored today as one of the 49 state winners of the prestigous Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award. Zeerip was the award recipient for the state of Michigan. The High School Excellence Award is named in honor of Olympic and World Champion Dave Schultz. Each award recipient is evaluated on excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, character, citizenship, and community service. Click more to view the full list of Award Winners.
Rendina, Youtsey, Wildmo, Pommerenke...who's #1?
4/15 - Michigan Grappler's Top Sophomore rankings for 2009 have been released. Among the top sophomores this year are Devin Pommerenke, Joe Rendina, Roger Wildmo, and Conor Youtsey (pictured above left to right). Click more to check all the Super Sophomores who made the cut.
Morse, Dorulla, Nieman among Michigan's Top Juniors4/13 - Michigan Grappler's annual lists of top wrestlers by grade are being released this week, starting with the Top Juniors in the state. 2x state champion and Super 32 champ Jackson Morse sits atop the group. The Top Juniors list is a preview of who the top senior recruits will be heading into next fall. Click more to view the full list. The top sophomore's will be coming out later this week.
Updated Top Recruits list released
4/9 - With the 2009 State Tournament and Senior Nationals in the books, the College Recruiting should begin to pick back up in the coming months. Michigan Grappler has released our updated Top Senior Recruit lists and Dan Yates of Hesperia, behind his Senior National title last weekend, has now moved to the #1 spot in the Recruiting Rankings. Go to our Recruiting Central to stay up to speed with all the recruiting news throughout the spring.
Rendina wins Western Junior Regional
4/10 - Joe Rendina opened some eyes this weekend in Vegas. The Dundee sophomore went a combined 12-2 in the past three days of wrestling at the Western Junior Freestyle and Greco Regionals, including a three period win in today's freestyle finals over Jesse Hillhouse of Wyoming to win the 125lb title. Three Michiganders, Conor Youtsey (119), Andrew Morse (135), and Jordan Thomas (145), fell in the finals to finish runner-up at their respective weights. Click more for a full recap.
Massa wins Western Junior Greco Title
Rendina & Osterman finish Runner-Up
4/8 - St Johns freshman Taylor Massa continued his impressive streak of wins on the national circuit today as he scored a dominant technical fall over John Thompson of Washington to win the 145lb Western Junior Greco Roman Regional Title today. 8 other Michiganders placed in the top six of their respective weights, inlcuding Joe Rendina (125) and Dan Osterman (130), who finished runners up in their weight classes. Click more for a full recap.
Lyon and Yates win Senior National Titles
8 Michiganders earn All-American leading state to 3rd place finish
4/6 - For the second year in a row a pair of Michanders are coming home from Virginia as Senior National Champions. Brenan Lyon of Ithaca and Dan Yates of
Hesperia won their final matches last night to claim titles at their respective weights. In all, there were 8 Michigan wrestlers who placed top 8 in their weight, earning all-american status, and Michigan finished 3rd overall as a state behind California and New York. Click more for a full recap.
2009 Observerland Review
3/24 - MI Grappler is pleased to publish Charles Rothwell's review of the 2009 Observerland Conference wrestling season review. Rothwell, an avid follower and fan of the conference, reviews this season while taking a glimpse at what next year has to offer for the Observland teams. Click more to read his review.
State Champions crowned in Auburn Hills
3/17 - After three days of intense wrestling action in Auburn Hills 56 high school wrestlers across 4 divisions walked away as "state champions". Michigan Grappler was there all weekend with live session notes, and now that is all over we are giving you the rundown of what happened. Click below to read our recaps of each division as well as the Palace Awards.
Champions crowned in Battle Creek
3/7 - After an action packed weekend of intense team wrestling the 2009 state champions were crowned this evening in Battle Creek. Rockford barely edged Holt in a thrilling Division 1 final 30-29 while Lowell out gunned Oxford for the D2 title, Goodrich came back against Dundee to win their 2nd straight D3 championship and Hudson upended Hesperia to win the school's first ever D4 state championship. Click below for a full recap.
Team State Finals pairings announced
3/1 - The MHSAA seeding committee released the quarterfinal pairings for next weekend's Team State Championships today. The #1 seeds were as follows: Rockford (Div 1), Lowell (Div 2), Goodrich (Div 3), Hesperia (Div 4). Click more to view the pairings.
Palace Bound! State Finals trips earned at Regionals
2/29 - In an action packed day of wrestling 896 prep grapplers across the state of Michigan stamped their tickets to compete for a state championship in two weeks at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Individual Regional Tournaments wrapped up this evening and the Individual State Brackets will be released early next week. View the Regional Results as they are posted and stay up to speed with all the happenings pertinent to the State Tournament with our special coverage section.
Lowell dethrones Greenville in thrilling Regional Final
2/26 - Top ranked returning D2 state champs Greenville suffered their only loss of the season last night to #2 ranked arch rival Lowell 33-25, ending their bid to repeat as
state champs. Along with Lowell, 31 other teams around the state kept their
championship hopes alive as well with Regional Titles. One of the bigger surprises
was unranked Eaton Rapids knocking of #5 Fowlerville and #6 Tecumseh en route to the D2 quarterfinals. Another unranked team pulling off a big upset was Westland John Glenn, who downed #5 Temperance Bedford en route the Division 1 quarterfinals. Click below for all the results.
Greenville & Lowell put on a show; Greenville survives
2/5 - The matchup of Division 2's top two teams did not dissapoint last night as #1 Greenville and #2 Lowell went back and forth in a rollercoaster dual. The returning
state champs prevailed as Greenville won 31-28. All-state senior Nick Bogue of Greenville sealed the deal at 125lbs in the second to last match of the night with an overtime win over Lowell freshman Gabe Morse. Click below for a box score of the dual. Click the video to the right for a video recap of the dual from the Grand Rapids Press.
Hartland downs Lake Orion to win home duals
1/25 - 18 teams came to Hartland High School yesterday for the Hartland Bracket Duals and in the end it was the home team that finished on top as #3 Hartland downed #6 Lake Orion 42-20 to hold their ranked near the top of Division 1. Canton finished 3rd, beating Holly in the conoslation finals 35-20. Click more for full results from the duals.
Holt claims Mooney Title; Walters downs Schutt
1/17 - Holt outscored Fowlerville, St Johns, and Corunna to win the 47th Annual Jim Mooney Williamston Classic today behind the effort of 3 individual champions. The deepest weight of the day was 135lbs, which was won by St Johns' senior Jake Walters (pictured). Walters knocked off defending state champ Andrew Schutt of Yale in the finals to win a weight that feautured 4 undefeated wrestlers and 3 state finalists. Walters also defeated D1 state runner up Paul Hancock of Dearborn Fordson in the semifinals. Click below for full results from the Mooney Classic.
Oxford claims DCC crown to highlight weekend action
1/11 - The DCC Invite lost some of it's firepower this weekend as snowy conditions kept some of the teams from attending. However, the teams that did make it put
on a good show, including Oxford who outdid D1 powers DCC, Anchor Bay, Clarkston, and Canton.To view all the results on the weekend, click below.
Feel the Power...all-division Ind. rankings released
MI Grappler's Power 15 Individual Rankings Released
1/7 - As the 2nd half of the Prep season gets into motion here in Michigan, our first batch of Power 15 Individual Rankings have been released. The Power 15 includes the top 15 individuals in the state across all divisions at each weight class. State Champ and nationally ranked junior Jackson Morse of Lowell landed the #1 spot at 152lbs. Click below to view the Power 15 Rankings.
Freshman steal the show at Goodrich TOC
12/31 - In a tournament filled with returning state champions and some of the most decorated wrestlers and teams the state of Michigan has to offer, it was the young guns that stole the show. Both of the Outstanding Wrestler Awards were given to freshman and the tournament's most anticipated finals match came at 145lbs with two freshman....More...
Goodrich, Lake Orion, Gaylord win titles
12/21 - Blizzardy snow and below freezing tempatures couldn't stop what was the most action packed weekend of the young prep wrestling season as numerous talent filled invitiationals wrapped up last night all over the state. Among the teams coming away with big wins was D3's #1 ranked Goodrich, who won the Genesee County tournament. Lake Orion brought home the Oakland County Championships as well and Gaylord won the Marquette Challenge up north. Check out all the results from the weekend by clicking below.
Rendina downs Smith to lift Dundee past Bedford
12/14 - The 2nd week of the high school season featured some highlight team and individual matchups this weekend. One of the notable individual performances was turned in by Dundee sophomore Joe Rendina (pictured), who won the Bedford
Invitational with a 10-0 major decision over reigning D3 state champ Nick Smith of Ida. Rendina's performance helped power his 3rd ranked Dundee squad over the #2 team in D1, Temperance Bedford.At the Howell Invitational Swan Valley showed why they are the #1 team in Division 3 as they crushed the competetion, outscoring 2nd place Clarkston by nearly 75 points. Click below for all the results from this weekend.
Michigan Grappler Prep Previews
All divisions now posted
11/28 - The Michigan High School wrestling season is upon us - read our in depth breakdowns of the top teams in each division and get ready for the new season to begin!
Big names come out for Border Wars Nationals
Top name out of state stars combine with MI's best to make for tough event
11/3 - The Border Wars Nationals has always attracted some of Michigan's most talented wrestlers for a great pre-season event, but this year the tournament started spreading and attracting some big name out of state grapplers. In the high school division 8 of the 14 champions came from out-of-state, however, one of Michigan's notable performances was turned in by Swan Valley junior Darius Wass (pictured) who won the 119lb crown with a 11-2 win over Leon Shannon of Wyandotte Roosevelt. Click more for a full recap of the Border Wars Nationals.
Rendina chooses Wolverines
11/5 - Michigan picked up their fourth big commitment of the early recruiting season last week as Dundee state champ Pete Rendina verballed to the maize and blue. Rendina, a 3x Division 3 state placer and 2007 state champ, joins Hesperia's Brandon Zeerip who commited back in August. Rendina is #11 ranked recruit in the state of Michigan.
Morse makes statement with Super 32 win
Morse becomes 3rd Michigander to win Super 32, Massa & Miller finish 2nd
11/3 - Jackson Morse emerged as one of the premier wrestlers in the country this
weekend with an amazing performance, knocking off three nationally ranked
wrestlers en route the 145lb Super 32 Championship. Taylor Massa fell in the
140lb finals to #1 ranked Andrew Alton of PA and Adam Miller made an impressive
run to the finals but lost his last bout to Justin Armstrong of Texas. Two other
Michiganders placed as Jake Walters of St Johns finished 5th at 130 and Nick
McDiarmid of Fowlerville finished 3rd at 215lbs. Click more for a full recap.
State champ Miller picks CMU
10/28 - Central Michigan landed their first big addition of the year in the form of Division 2 160lb state champ Adam Miller of Sparta. Miller, who is ranked as the #7 recruit in Michigan, is the 2nd Top 10 recruit to commit this week as Mason's Craig Eifert (#4) commited earlier this week to Cornell. Goto Recruiting Central to see all the commitments.
Dorulla shines at USAW Preseason Nationals
10/25 -12 Michigan high schoolers made the trip to Iowa this weekend for the USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals and 7 of them finished in the top 8 of their respective weights, including Jake Dorulla of Rockford, who won the 171lb championship.Dorulla knocked off Iowa state runner-up Kyven Gadson 7-3 in the finals en route to the title. Click more to read a full recap of the event.
MI Grappler's High School Team Previews: Division 1
10/24 - The Division 1 team race appears to be up for grabs this year with no clear cut favorites. Holt stormed through three Division 1 powerhouses last year at the state meet, beating Hartland, Davison, and Temperance Bedford on their way to their 3rd state title under coach Rocky Shaft. After graduating a loaded senior class, however, the door appears open for someone to step up and knock Holt off. Click more to read our indepth lookat the top teams in Division 1.
DCC's Hasenaur commits to Cornell
10/23 - Detroit Catholic Central senior Shea Hasenaur has made his college plans as the returning state runner-up has commited to wrestle for coach Rob Koll at the Universtiy of Cornell in Ithaca, NY. Hasenaur, who is a top 50 recruit coming out of Michgan and currently ranked #1 in Division 1 at 145lbs, is projected to wrestle 149/157 for the Big Red.
Vilker, Watkins win tough weights at Spartan Classic
10/21 - The Border Wars Spartan Classic attracted numerous big names last Sunday for the last Michigan qualifier prior to the Border Wars Nationals, which will be Halloween weekend in Battle Creek. In a high school division that saw brackets filled with state qualifiers and placers, Bernie Vilker and Don Watkins were among the notable performances turned in. Vilker knocked off 4 returning state qualifiers, including D2 state champ Andrew Stepanovich, en route to the 130lb title. Click more for a full recap and full results.
2x state champ Osterman commits to Green & White
10/6 - Michigan State University picked up their first commitment for next year in the form of 2x state champ Dan Osterman of St Johns. Osterman, who is ranked as the #6 recruit in Michigan this year, has made the D4 state finals every year of his career, winning at 103lbs as a freshman and 130lbs last year as a junior. He is projected to wrestle 133lbs for the Spartans and is the third wrestler out this year's Top 10 recruits to commit. Goto our Recruiting Central to see all the commitments.
Who's #1?.....preseason individual rankings released!
10/3 - Michigan Grappler's first individual rankings of 2008-08 have been compiled. These first rankings go five deep at each weight and rank the best at each weight among all divisions. Click more to find out who made the cut.
Rockford, Greenville sit atop preseason team rankings
9/24 - Michigan Grappler's 1st team rankings of the 2008-09 season have been released. 2x state runner up Jake Dorulla (pictured) and the Rockford Rams will enter this season ranked #1 in the Power 15. Greenville landed the top spot in Division 2 while Swan Valley and Hesperia earned #1 rankings in Division 3 and 4, respectively. Click more to view the full Preseason Team Rankings. Individual
preseason rankings as well as division-by-division team previews will all be coming in thenext month.
MHSAA district & regional assignments announced
9/20 - Often times in high school wrestling the destiny of many teams and individuals rests in how the district and regional placements shake out. Every year there are a handful of early matchups that pit a couple of the state's best battling it out to stay alive at Districts or Regionals and this year is no different, click more to view the notable early matchups.
EMU picks up commitment from Schaner
9/17 - Eastern Michigan received their first commitment from the Class of 2009 today as Big Rapids 3x state placer Seth Schaner committed to wrestle for the Eagles next fall. Schaner, who is a Top 20 recruit, finished 3rd last year in Div 3 at 130lbs. Stay up to speed with all the recruiting news by checking out our Recruiting Central.
#1 recruit Waldo commits to Nebraska
3x State Champ verbally commits to be a Husker
9/15 - Michigan's #1 recruit is now off the board as Rockford's 3x state champ Kyle Waldo made his college plans today, commiting to wrestle for coach Mark Manning at the University of Nebraska. Waldo, who earned All-American honors in Fargo last summer, is the 2nd Michigan recruit to commit thus far as Hesperia's Brandon Zeerip (#3) commited to Michigan last month.
Top 50 recruits of 08-09 released
9/6 - Michigan Grappler's Top 50 Michigan recruits for this year have been released. Kyle Waldo of Rockford is the #1 recruit of this year's class. Click below to view the top 50.
COLLEGE
Recruiting Roundup 2009
Michigan Grappler has broken down the incoming recruiting classes of all the Michigan College programs, click more to see who is coming in and what impact they might have.
Michigan Grappler Team of the Decade
As 2009 nears an end, so does the first decade of the 21st century. Michigan Grappler has gone back in time to put together the best college wrestlers in the state of Michigan over the past 10 years, click more to see who we came up with.
CMU announces 2009 recruiting class
Kamron Jackson coming back to Michigan as a Spartan
Simaz & Trice fall in University Nationals Finals
4/26 -The University Nationals attracted some of the best collegiate wrestlers in the country to Akron, Ohio this weekend and 8 Michigan Grapplers came away with all-american honors, including two 2007 graduates who made the finals. CMU freshman Jarod Trice finished runner-up at 120kg while former Allegan state champ Cam Simaz of Cornell finished 3rd at 96kg. Simaz lost in the finals and then defaulted his true second match to finish 3rd. Click more for a full recap of the University Nationals.
Olivet names Brissette new Head Wrestling Coach
4/24 - Olivet College has found their new wrestling coach. The Comet Athletic Department has named Bay City native Brandon Brissette as the new man to take over for coach Todd Hibbs at the OC. Brissette has been an assistant coach at Heidelberg College for the past four years and was a 2005 graduate of Wartburg College where he was a 4 year letter winner on the wrestling team. Click more to view the full release from Olivet.
Oakland University lands fleet of Michigan recruits
4/16 - The young Oakland University Wrestling Team should receive a big boost next fall in the form of a star-studded group of Michigan recruits. The Grizzlies
have already received commitments for next year from 19 wrestlers, including three of Michigan's Top 100 Recruits. Don Gorman and Jake Hyde, the #43 and #45 ranked recruits from Michigan Grappler's recent Top 100 Senior Recruit Rankings, headline Oakland's recent additions. Hyde was a Division 1 state champion this year at 160lbs while Gorman was a 3x Division 3 state placer. Goto our Recruiting Central to stay up to speed with all the recruiting news.
Jones wins final bout to finish 3rd at FILA Juniors
4/11 - Michigan State sophomore Anthony Jones won his final bout at 154lbs today via 2nd period fall over Anthony Vinson, Jr. to finish 3rd at the FILA Junior Freestyle National Championships today. Jones was one of 7 college grapplers with Michigan ties to place today, click more for a full recap.
Cam Simaz named EIWA Freshman of the Year
3/27 - The EIWA announced their post-season awards monday and Allegan, Michigan native Cam Simaz was named the conference freshman of the year. Simaz, a 3x Division 2 state champion from Allegan, earned all-american honors at the NCAA Championships by finishing 8th at 197lbs. Click more to read the full release from Cornell.
Gomez, Luke win NCAA Titles; Metcalf dethroned
3/21 - The 2009 NCAA wrestling season concluded tonight and there will be a Spartan and a Wolverine coming home with some major hardware. MSU junior Franklin Gomez (pictured) won the 133lb title with a win over Reece Humphrey of Ohio State and Michigan's Steve Luke downed Mike Miller of CMU at 174lbs to end his senior season undefeated as a national champion. Davison natives Paul Donahoe and Brent Metcalf were both upset in the finals. Metcalf, a returning champ and Hodge Trophy winner, was knocked off by Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State in what many are calling the upset of the decade.Click more for a full recap.
Hibbs stepping down as coach at Olivet College
3/11 - Olivet College announced today that coach Todd HIbbs will be stepping down as the leader of the Comets wrestling program. Hibbs has been an instrumental part of the resurgence of Olivet as national contenders in NCAA Division III and in his five years at the helm he has ammased a record of 54-26-2 while racking up three Mid-States Conference Championships. Click more for full release from Olivet.
Brew finishes runner up at NCAA DIII Championships
3/11 - Former Sparta state champ Jason Brew capped off his illustrius career at Olivet College last weekend by finishing runner up at the NCAA Division III National Championships. Brew fell 2-1 in the final to Aaron Wernimont of Wartburg. Wernimont is widely considered one of the top wrestlers in all of DIII. Click more for a recap.
CMU wins 8th straight MAC title
3/10 - Central Michigan University rebounded from a late season loss to Kent State to win their 8th straight MAC Championship last weekend in dominant fashion. The Chipps were led by 4 individual champions in true freshman Scotti Sentes (125), Steve Brown (149), Trevor Stewart (165), and Mike Miller (174). EMU finished 4th win one champion - John McClure at 184lbs. CMU nabbed 4 other automatic NCAA tournament bids as Connor Beebe (133), Anthony Dalie (141), Vice Didona (184), and Jarod Trice (285) finished runner up to earn at large bids. Therefore, at least 8 Chipps will be wrestling at the NCAA Tournament. The rest of the qualifers will be announced later this week.
Russell, Luke, Todd win Big 10 Titles to lead Michigan
3/8 - The Big Ten Championships wrapped up today in Pennsyvlania. The University of Michigan finished the weekend strong with three individual champions. Sophomore Kellen Russell won his 2nd title in as many years at 141lbs while seniors Steve Luke and Tyrel Todd finished their careers on top with Conference crowns as well. Michigan finished 3rd overall behind Iowa and Illinois. Michigan State's Franklin Gomez repeated as champ at 133lbs with an overtime win over Reece Humphrey of Ohio State and Davison native Brent Metcalf continued his dominance with a 2nd period fall in the finals over Bubba Jenkins of Penn State. Click more for full brackets.
MCC advances 9 to NJCAA National Tournament
2/16 The Muskegon Community College wrestling team finished second last weekend at the Central District Championships hled at Triton College in Illinois. 9 Jayhawks advanced to the NJCAA National Championships, including returning national runner up Chad Friend (pictured) who won the 197lb championship with a 10-4 win over former Kearsley state champ Travis Pettengill, wrestling for Meramec CC. Click more to see all the MCC national qualifiers.
Bell, Jackson, Bommarito lead North Idaho to Regional title
2/16 - Three former Michigan standouts won Western Regional Titles last weekend as freshmen. Former 2x D1 state champ Jeremy Bommarito of Hartland, along with 2x D3 champ Kamron Jackson and state finalist Celic Bell of South Haven all won tournament titles to lead North Idaho to the championship. With their tournament titles, Bell, Jackson, and Bommarito will now advance to the NJCAA National Championships in Rochester, MN on February 27-28.
New College rankings and RPI released
2/14 - Updated Division I NCAA Coaches Panel Individual rankings were recently released, along with the first ever rendition of the Individual RPI. The Coaches' Rankings and the RPI will be two of the main tools used in selecting this year's NCAA Tournament Qualifiers. Click more to see all the Michiganders in the rankings.
Wolverines route Penn State 31-6
2/15 - The 17th ranked Michigan Wolverines bounced back well from their Friday night loss to Ohio State as they ran all over 24th ranked Penn State on Saturday at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines won 7 of the 10 matches, including a big win by
freshman and 2007 MI Grappler Prep Wrestler of they Year Justin Zeerip who upended #20 Dan Vallimont 3-2. Click more for a full recap.
Olivet College wins Mid-States Conference Title
2/11 - Olivet College continued their reign as one of the elite programs in NCAA Division III last weekend as they claimed the Mid-States Conference Championship. Jason Brew and Kyle Vanderhyde of Sparta, along with Adam Wilson of Battle Creek Harper Creek, led the way indvidually claiming tournament titles. Olivet head coach Todd Hibbs was named Conference coach of the year while OC assistant Jeff Therrian was named assistant coach of the year. Click more for a full recap.
#18 Wolverines topple Spartans 28-7
2/9 - Michigan and Michigan State renewed their intrastate, Big Ten rivalry on Sunday at tit was the 18th ranked Wolverines coming away with the victory. After splitting the first 4 bouts of the dual, Michigan rattled off six straight to finish out the dual on top 28-7. Michigan senior captain and All-American Tyrell Todd (pictured) scored the only fall of the day. Click more for a full recap.
Top ranked Hawks down MSU 22-15
2/6 - The #1 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes came away with a victory tonight in East Lansing, however, MSU senior Rex Kendle scored the biggest individual win of the night as he knocked off 3rd ranked Ryan Morningstar at 165lbs. Kendle, who was featured in the national rankings earlier this season, upended Morningstar 5-4. Former Highland Park state champ Anthony Jones scored a big win for MSU as well, defeating Matt Ballweg 1-0 at 157lbs. Davison native Brent Metcalf scored a fall over MSU's David Cheza at 149lbs in his return trip to Michigan. Click more for a full recap.
Michigan takes down 8th ranked Gophers on the road
2/6 - The 18th ranked Michigan Wolverines scored a big win on the road tonight over the 8th ranked Minnesota Gophers 17-16. The two teams split five wins a piece, however, Michigan edged Minnesota behind bonus points scored by their two senior captains, Steve Luke (174) and Tyrel Todd (184). Click more for a full recap of the dual.
Grand Valley wins NCWA Duals, Oakland finishes 4th
2/2 - The NCWA is now comprised of over 150 clubs and programs and last weekend they invited their top 16 squads to compete for a National Duals title in Tenessee. Both Grand Valley State and Oakland got the invite and did well as GVSU won the duals and Oakland finished 4th. For a recap, click more.
Michigan State upends 17th ranked Wisconsin
Hinton's overtime fall propels Spartans over Badgers
1/30 - Coming off an 0-2 opening Big Ten weekend, the Michigan State Spartans needed to make a statement heading into the heart of the conference schedule. They did just that tonight against #17 Wisconsin behind the efforts of some talented underclassmen. Four of the six Spartan victories on the night came from freshman or sophomores, including a thrilling overtime win by redshirt freshman Ian Hinton at 174lbs. Click more for a full recap.
Donahoe, Gomez, Metcalf, Luke all #1 in coaches' poll
1/27 - The first NCAA Division I Coaches Panel rankings came out this week and four of the ten wrestlers ranked #1 are either from Michigan colleges or former Michigan prep stars. Michigan State's Franklin Gomez and Michigan's Steve Luke landed top rankings at 133lbs and 174lbs, respectively. Meanwhile, two former Davison HS standouts, Paul Donahoe and Brent Metcalf, earned #1 rankings at 125lbs and 149lbs. The coaches panel rankings are expected to play a large part in the new NCAA tournament selection process this year. Click more to view all the Michigan grapplers in the rankings.
CMU extends winning streak while dismantling #24 Pitt
1/19 - The 6th ranked Central Michigan Chippewas continued an impressive run as they tallied their 10th straight dual win tonight with a 29-6 rout over 24th ranked Pitt. Scoring the only win over a ranked opponent for CMU was #19 Conor Beebe, who upended #14 Jimmy Conroy at 133lbs by a score of 8-2. Click more for a full recap.
Spartans down West Virginia 22-15
1/17 - Michigan State picked up a road win over West Virginia University tonight by winning 6 out of the 10 matches. The Spartans biggest win of the night came from redshirt freshman Ian Hinton at 174lbs who picked up a fall over 12th ranked Kurt Brenner of WVU. Highland Park native Anthony Jones also won for MSU, with a 9-7 decision at 157lbs. Click more for a full recap.
Chipps down Lehigh & Okie State to win VA Duals
1/11 - The 12th ranked CMU Chippewas capped off an impressive weekend yesterday with a 21-12 win over a very tough #8 Lehigh team to win the Virginia Duals. The win over Lehigh was CMU's third straight over a ranked opponent after downing #23 Old Dominon and #13 Oklahoma State. DCC grad Trevor Stewart, ranked 10th ranked at 165lbs, scored two wins on saturday over ranked opponents to lead the Chippewas. Click more for a full recap of the Virginia Duals
Olivet finishes 8th at National Duals
1/11 - The Cliff Keen National Duals wrapped up today and Olivet College finished 8th in the D-III bracket. After losing their opening round match to Luther College, the Comets stormed back with back to back wins over Wabash and Johnson & Wales to advance to the top 8. They fell in the 7th place match to Heidelburg. Michigan went 1-2 in the D-I duals and were eliminated by Big Ten rival Penn State after beating host Northern Iowa 29-10. Click below to view all the brackets from the Duals.
Chipps retain state supremacy with win over Michigan
12/14 - 16th ranked Central Michigan University continued their reign as the top college team in Michigan last night with a 19-12 win over #10 Michigan in Ann Arbor. The dual unveiled the youth of both squads as their were 7 freshman in action. Michigan was a little shorthanded as senior all-american and captain Tyrell Todd did not wrestle. For a full recap of the dual, click more.
College Wrestling Network developed to expand coverage and promote sport
12/5 - A number of leading wrestling media organizations have combined resources to developthe College Wrestling Network, a partnership designed to expand the coverage of college wrestling on the internet and promote the sport.
Michigan Grappler.com is pleased to be one of the 10 outlets currently involved with the CWN, for more information about the network, click more.
Chipps go 3-1 at Journeyman Duals
CMU's only loss comes to #1 Iowa
11/30 - Tom Borelli and his #1 ranked Chippewas went 3-1 yesterday at the Journeyman Northeast Duals in Troy, NY. Their one loss of the day came by way of a 27-6 loss the top ranked Iowa. The Chipps defeated Bucknell, American, and Drexel on the day and highly touted freshman Jarod Trice went perfect on the day,
scoring 4 wins at 285lbs for CMU. Click more for a full recap.
Michigan downs #21 Penn on the road
11/23 - The 10th ranked Wolverines answered back from their upset loss on Friday with a win on the road yesterday over #21 ranked Penn. True freshman Zac Stevens of Monroe picked up his first collegiate dual meet win and former Lakewood state champ Eddie Phillips sealed the dual with a win at 285. Click more for a full recap.
Michigan & EMU fall in Friday night duals
11/22 - The University of Michigan traveled to Bethlehem, PA yesterday to open their dual meet season against 22nd ranked Lehigh. Michigan jumped out to an early lead with wins from Michael Watts and #5 ranked Kellen Russell at 125 and 141lbs, however, Lehigh won 5 of the last 7 to upend the Wolverines 20-12. EMU was also in action last night with their first home dual of the season. The Eagles hosted Clarion and lost 21-12. Former Tecumseh standout Chris Jenkins improved to 7-2 on the season with a first period pin at 133lbs for EMU. Click below for recaps of both duals.
Michigan State goes 2-1 in "Clash" with ACC
11/15 - Michigan State traveled south this weekend to take part in the ACC/Big 10 clash at the University of North Carolina. The Spartans went 2-1 on the day tallying wins over UNC and North Carolina State, but fell 21-15 to #21 Virginia. Leading the way for the Spartans were Eric Olanowski and Franklin Gomez who went 3-0 at 125 and 133lbs, respectively. For full results from the Big Ten/ACC clash, click more.
Michigan Grappler College Preview
11/12 - The college season is upon us - see what Michigan's schools are working with this year in our Michigan college previews.
Donahoe, Gomez, Kendle among MSU Open Champs
11/11 - The Michigan State Open attracted some of the best college wrestlers in the country to East Lansing last weekend. Three Michigan State Spartans won touranment titles, including Franklin Gomez and Rex Kendle in the Open Division. Kendle was one of the surprises of the tournament as he knocked off 12th ranked Chris Brown of Old Dominion in the 165lb finals 6-4. Click more for a full recap of
the MSU Open.
Two Chippewas win titles at Brockport Classic
11/11 - Central Michigan finished third in their opening tournament of the 2008-09 season this weekend in Brockport, NY. CMU's Steve Brown was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler after he upset two Top 10 ranked wrestlers, Oklahoma's Will Rowe and Army's Matt Kyler en route to the 149lb title. True freshman Scotti Sentes of Florida was equally impressive as he knocked off #15 Joe Fio of Oklahoma in the semis and then pinned 10th ranked Nic Bedeylon of Kent State just 13 seconds into the first period of the finals bout. Click more for the full release from CMU.
CMU and MSU land out-of-state recruits
Spartans pick up commitment from 3x Indiana Champ
10/20 - The MSU coaching staff picked up their 2nd big-time commitment of this recruiting season as 3x Indiana State Champ Josh Harper commited to wrestle for the Spartans. Harper, who informed MI Grappler Monday morning of his commitment, is projected to wrestle 133/141 for the green & white. CMU also received a verbal commitment from former Cadet Freestyle All-American Craig Kelliher of Apple Valley, MN. Kelliher finished 3rd in the state in Minnesota last year, losing only to Olympian Jake Deitchler. Goto our recruiting central to stay on top of all the recruiting news.
Michigan picks up blue chip commitment from Grajales
10/14 - Joe McFarland and his Michigan Wolverine wrestling team landed one of the top recruits in the country last weekend as 3x Florida State Champ Eric Grajales of Brandon High School commited to wrestle for the Wolverines next fall. Grajales, who is ranked by InterMat as the #2 recruit in the nation among all weight classes, is projected to wrestle 133/141lbs in college. Stay up to speed with recruiting in Michigan by checking out our
Ankney weighs in on "Spartan Life"
2nd installment of "Welcome to College'" comes from from former Holt star
10/10 - Michigan Grappler's Welcome to College blog series returns with Michigan State freshman Grant Ankney. In this entry Ankney, who was a 3x Division 1 state placer for Holt, gives an inside look at "The Spartan Life". Click more to read Ankney's blog.
2x state champ Osterman commits to Green & White
10/6 - Michigan State University picked up their first commitment for next year in the form of 2x state champ Dan Osterman of St Johns. Osterman, who is ranked as the #6 recruit in Michigan this year, has made the D4 state finals every year of his career, winning at 103lbs as a freshman and 130lbs last year as a junior. He is projected to wrestle 133lbs for the Spartans and is the third wrestler out this year's Top 10 recruits to commit. Goto our Recruiting Central to see all the commitments.
Life as a Chippewa - from Ben Bennett's perspective
Rockford 3x state champ gives first entry of "Welcome To College"
9/22 - The Michigan Grappler "Welcome To College" blog series is back and the first entry of this year comes from former Rockford 3x state champ and National Champ Ben Bennett. Bennett, who is a freshman at Central Michigan, gives perspective on the challenges of being a freshman student-athlete, from class and studying to working out and training. Click more to read Bennett's blog.
WIN Magazine's preseason college rankings released
Michigan senior Steve Luke ranked #1 at 174lbs
9/19 - WIN Magazine's Preseason College Division I Rankings were recently released and both the Univ of Michigan and Central Michigan landed in the team rankings at 10th & 14th, respectively. Michigan senior Steve Luke sits atop the 174lb individual rankings while Michigan State's Franklin Gomez is ranked #2 at 133lbs. To no surprise Davison native Brent Metcalf of Iowa, who won an NCAA Title and was named the Hodge Award Winner a year ago, returns this year ranked #1 at 149lbs. To view all the Michiganders in the rankings click more.
INTERNATIONAL
Weber & Salata place at Canada Cup
CC Weber and Julia Salata both placed at the Canada Cup in Ontario last weekend. Weber brought home the bronze medal in the Senior Division while Salata finished 4th in the Junior Division. Click more for full recap
2009 World Team Trials Coverage Section
Simmons wins U.S. Senior National Freestyle Crown
Simmons & Churella brothers among 10 Michigan natives to place
4/11 - The 2009 US Senior Freestyle Nationals featured an influx of up and coming young stars on the international scene with 7 first-time champions,
including former Michigan State 4x All-American Nick Simmons, who won the 55kg championship with a 7-4, 7-1 finals win over Obe Blanc. In all, there were 9 Michigan natives who placed today, click more for a full recap.
CC Weber finishes 3rd in Senior Women's Nationals
4/9 - A month ago CC Weber was battling high school boys for a State Championship and today she was duking it out it with adult women for a National Title. Weber finished 3rd at 48kg in the US Senior Women's Freestyle Division, click more for a full recap.
TheMat.com senior level rankings released
3/27 - TheMat.com and USA Wrestling released their latest senior level national rankings for Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Women's Freestyle. A handful of Michigan natives made the rankings, which will be used as a basis for the US National seedings next weekend. Two Michiganders landed #1 rankings in Men's Freestyle as Nick Simmons landed the top spot at 55kg and Andy Hrovat came in at #1 at 84kg. Click more to view the full rankings and see all the Michiganders in the rankings.
Andy Simmons takes 4th at Schultz in return
Simmons, Churella brothers round out Michigan placewinners
2/9 - After a nearly 2 year hiatus, Andy Simmons made his return to international wrestling last weekend at the Dave Schultz International in Colorado Springs. The former Michigan State 2x All-American went 4-2 at 60kg to finish 4th. He was the highest placing American in his weight. The Churella brothers Josh and Ryan both placed as well at 66kg and 74kg, respectively. Click more for full results.
Simmons, Churella, Hrovat place in NYAC International
11/23 - Some of the top international stars in the world came to the US this weekend for the NYAC International Open and some Michigan grapplers fared well, placing in the top 4 of their respective weights. Nick Simmons and Andy Hrovat both finished 3rd and were the highest placing Americans at 55kg and 84kgs, while Josh Churella took 4th at 66kg. For full results click more.
Michigan natives featured in USA vs Russia Dual
Simmons, Hrovat, and Churella brothers set to represent U.S. in November
10/31 - USA Wrestling announced yesterday that the United States would be hosting a dual against Russia next month on Thursday, November 20th in West Orange, NJ. Among the 11 Americans slated to compete in freestyle are four Michigan grapplers. Three former Michigan Wolverines: Josh and Ryan Churella, wrestling at 145.5 and 163lbs, respectively, and 2008 Olympian Andy Hrovat at 185lbs were selected to compete. Former MSU 4x all-american Nick Simmons will also be wrestling at 121lbs. To read the full release from TheMat.com, click more.
YOUTH
2009-10 Fab 50 Season to kick off with Lowell Fair
7/16 - The 3rd season of the Michigan Grappler Fab 50 Youth Tournament series will get underway next month at the Lowell Fair Championships in Lowell on August 8th. Check the 09-10 Fab 50 Page over the next couple months for further updates on the 3rd season.. The updated schedule as well as any rule or scoring changes will be released later this summer.
Cooper wins Fab 50 & MI Grappler Youth Wrestler of the Year
The 2nd season of the MI Grappler Youth Fab 50 Tournament Series is officially over and Zack Cooper finished the year atop the standings as the MI Grappler Fab 50 Youth Wrestler of the year. Click more for the full standings
Powell and Arthur double all-americans at Kids Nationals
Shon Powell and Angus Arthur highlighted the Michigan performances at the 2009 Kids Freestyle/Greco Nationals last weekend in Orem, UT. Arthur and Powell both placed in both styles, earning double all-amercan honors. Click for full recap and results....More...
Schoolboy Team finishes top 8 in both styles at Duals
9 Michigan youths win Double Titles at Central Regionals
Fab 50 season comes to a close
6/8 - The 2009 Michigan Grappler Fab 50 season is officially over and Michigan Grappler is asking all wrestlers who wish to be considered for the Fab 50 to send in any unreported results to fab50@michigangrappler.com. The deadline to submit results will be Friday, June 19th. The first week of July Michigan Grappler will release the unofficial final standings and then give a two-week period for any corrections or mistakes to be reported. Follwing that, the official Fab 50 for 2009 will be released. Goto the Fab 50 home page to view all the Fab 50 events and rules.
9 youth grapplers win double titles at Central Regionals in Ohio
5/24 - The USAW Kids Regional National Championships wrapped up in Columbus, Ohio yesterday and a large contingency of Michigan youths made the trip to compete. The Kids divisions of the tournament consisted of Intermediate, Novice, and Schoolboy age divisions, which are the equivalent to 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14 years of age. 8 Michigan youths claimed Double Titles by winning their weight class in both freestyle and greco-roman, the double champs were Stuart Massa, Daniel Guillen, Lucas McFarland, Kody Ebersole, Milik Dawkins, Logan Vish, Logan Massa, Zac Hall and Logan Marcicki. Click more for full results.
Davison finishes runner-up in Challenge MS Division
5/19 - Many of Michigan's best junior high wrestlers were in action at the Midwest Grand Challenge last weekend in East Lansing, competing in the Middle School Division. The Davison Wrestling Club (pictured) finished 2nd overall after winning their pool. Davison fell to The United All-Stars, an all-star team from Missouri and
Illinois, 42-31 in the finals. Two MYWA East Teams as well as Flat River and Shamrock, were the other high placing Michigan squads. Click more for full results.
Cooper takes over lead in Michigan Grappler Fab 50
5/7 - Updated standings have been released for the 2008-09 Michigan Grappler Fab 50 and for the first time in over a year, Mark Hall is not in the lead. Big Rapids 8th grader Zack Cooper of Michigan Xtreme has emerged as the new leader of the Fab 50 with a commanding 50 point lead over the rest of the field. Cooper, who was a member of the MI Grappler All-Future team last year, has scored big points with MYWAY & MMWA state titles as well as Border Wars Fall and Winter National championships and a tournament win at the Viper Pit tournament in Ohio, among his many accomplishments this year. The Fab 50 season is near completetion as the only event currently remaining on the schedule is the USAW Central Regionals later this month in Columbus, OH. It is not too late to enter a wrestler for consideration in the Fab 50, to do so email a wrestler's results from any Fab 50 sponsored events to fab50@michigangrappler.com. Click more to view the full standings.
MYWAY Finale concludes in East Lansing
4/6 - The 2009 MYWAY Season came to an end yesterday in East Lansing as the state's best youth grapplers battled it out for the illustrius state championship. It was a great weekend of wrestling action and FloWrestling was in the building all weekend long with video coverage. Goto Flowrestling to view matches and interviews from the tournament and results are being posted on the MYWAY website.
Fab 50 standings released, MUSAW events added
3/26 - The first reporting of the Michigan Grappler Fab 50 youth standings has been released and to little surprise it is 2008 MI Grappler Youth Wrestler of the Year Mark
Hall of CMS Wrestling Club who sits atop the standings. Dalton Ballantine of Clio is currently in 2nd place while Zack Cooper of Big Rapids, Andrew Hughes of Holt, and
Taylor Grenawalt of Haslett round out the top 5.
Seven new USA Wrestling events have been added to the Fab 50 schedule for April/May, including the MUSAW Freestyle/Greco State Finals May 1st-3rd. The next two weeks will be crucial for Fab 50 contenders as the Monster Medal tournament will take place this weekend in Mason and the MYWAY State Finals will go down in East Lansing next weekend. Click below for a full listing of the Fab 50 Standings and go to the Fab 50 page to view the updated schedule.
MMWA season wraps up with League Finals
3/19 - The MMWA youth wrestling season wrapped up last weekend in Clarskton with the league finals. The MMWA Finals are a part of the Michigan Grappler Fab 50 and a number of Michigan's top youth grapplers scored valuable Fab 50 points while capturing MMWA state crowns. Click more for full results.
Hartland and Dundee win MYWAY Duals State Titles
2/25 - The Michigan Youth Wrestling Association continued their quest to build youth wrestling here in Michigan with their most highly competetive Dual State Championships yet. In the Elementary Division Hartland came away the victors while Dundee won the Middle School Division. Click more for a full recap.
7 Michiganders win titles at the CK Viper Pit
2/4 - Some of the Midwest's top youth grapplers were in attendance at the Cliff Keen Viper Pit tournament in Ohio last weekend and a handful of Michigan's best fared well, led by 7 individual champions. Reigning MI Grappler Fab 50 youth wrestler of the year Mark Hall won the 12&U 103lb championship, however, Hall suffered a rare defeat on the weekend as he wrestled in the 15 and under age division as well and finished 3rd at 105lbs. Other returning youth Dream Teamers to win titles included Angus Arthur, Brenden McRill and Zack Cooper. Brandon Zelenka, Kane Williams, and Ryan Prescott round out the Michigan champions from the Viper Pit. Click more for a full recap.
MI Next Level and G2 win All-Star Duals Titles
12/30 - The Border Wars All-Star X-Mas Duals attracted 19 elementary and middle school squads made up of some of the best youth wrestlers in the Midwest. Coming out on top of the talented Middle School Division was Team Michigan Next Level, who defeated Team All-American out of Pennsylvania 57-20 in the finals. Winning the youth division was G2, who knocked off CMS in the finals 48-34. Click more to see the final standings.
Border Wars Winter Nationals & All-Star Duals
12/11 - Back in January of 2007, tournament and wrestling event creator Rob Stehley had a vision to build the ultimate youth wrestling weekend in the state of Michigan. Last December, Mr. Stehley started the annual Winter Nationals & All-Star Christmas Duals. The event was a huge success in 2007 and looks to have gained some huge momentum for 2008. ...More...
5 Michigan grapplers win Kickoff Classic crowns
11/21 - The Cliff Keen Tulsa Kickoff Classic is widely known as one of the toughest youth tournaments in the country and 5 Michigan youngsters traveled to Tulsa last weekend and came home with Kickoff Classic titles. Holt freshman Freddie Rodriguez (pictured) was among those winning titles, click more for a full recap.
Events added to Fab 50
10/17 - The Michigan Grappler Fab 50 has been revamped with the addition of the Tulsa Nationals and Tulsa Kickoff. The Tulsa Kickoff will be next month, November 14-15 in Tulsa, OK and is a platinum event. The CK Victory at the Viper Pit was also added. The Viper Pit tournament is new this year to the Fab 50 and takes place in Stebenville, OH February 7th. Goto the Fab 50 page to keep up with all the updates.
Michigan USA Wrestling takes on new leadership
9/29 - Michigan USA Wrestling held their annual membership meeting Sunday morning in Grand Rapids and have elected a new state chairperson for Michigan.
Veteran coach and national team director Dan Coon of Fowlerville is the new Michigan State Chairperson. Coon, who is the varsity coach at Webberville, has been involved in MUSAW for 19 years as a coach and/or national team director. Two former Eastern Michigan wrestlers, Zack Beck and Joe Wood, have been elected as the Cadet and Junior Directors, respectively while new Kids Director is
Chris Codden of Manistee. Check the MUSAW website for further updates about any other changes in Michigan USA Wrestling.
MI Grappler All-Future Team unveiled!
9/20 - Michigan Grappler's "All-Future" Youth Dream Team has been announced. Michigan Grappler Youth Wrestler of the Year Mark Hall II of Davison, along with World of Wrestling's 15&U Wrestler of the Year Ben Whitford of Holt are among the notables on this year's star-studded team. Click more to view the entire All-Future Team.
2008-09 Fab 50 information released
9/19 - Michigan Grappler's Fab 50 Youth Tournament series 2nd year will be getting into full swing this fall. Their have been a few slight changes in the format of the Fab 50, including a travel rule. Goto our Fab 50 page to see this year's changes and the tentative schedule. Tournament Directors interested in adding an event should contact admin@michigangrappler.com.
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