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Individual State Finals Recap

2009 MHSAA Individual State Finals

Palace of Auburn Hills - March 12-14

DIVISION 1

103 -- Freddie Rodriguez of Holt proved why is one of many highly hyped freshman this year as he was dominant en route to winning his 1st state title. Rodriguez has attained a great deal of national success to this point in his career and he solidified himself as one of this state's top up and coming talents on the mat with his performance last weekend. He avenged his only loss of the year as Rodriguez defeated Alex Calendrino of Howell, another freshman, in the finals 6-2. A sign of the youth impact here - last year there were 0 state placers in Division 1 at 103, this year three of the top 4 were freshman (Rodriguez, Calendrino, Todd Melick [4th]).

112 -- DCC freshman Alec Mooradian silenced the doubters by capping off his amazing freshman year unbeaten while winning a state title. Mooradian is another one of the big time freshman making noise this year and he proved the hype to be right, knocking of two very talented juniors en route to the title. Mooradian edged returning runner up Jacob Scholten in the semis and then Ben Matthisen in the finals. Mooradian, along with Rodriguez, will now both set their sights on their 2nd title next year and a few years from now we may be possibly looking at our next 4x D1 champ.

119 - Kyle Waldo did something that only Brent Metcalf has ever acheived by winning his 4th Division 1 state champinoship. Waldo scored a big fall over Robbie Bidlingmaeir in the semifinals and never looked back. He will now turn his attention south as he will be wrestling for Nebraska next year. Junior Leon Shannon of Wyandotte Roosevelt made a strong statement for himself as a title contender next year, scoring big wins over Bidlingmaier and Jared Zimmerman while coming back to take 3rd at this weight.

125 - Cameron Amaties finished his career with an exlamation point, scoring a fall in the quarterfinals, major decision in the semifinals, and a fall over top junior Jake Byers in the finals to win his 2nd state title. After being upset at regionals, many looked at Amateis as an underdog to win this weight, however, he stepped up again in the Palace and won himself another state title. 125/130 should open up a little bit next year as 6 of the 8 placers in this weight were seniors.

130 - Sean Turner capped off a strong senior season by winning this weight and knocking off undefeated Justin Zimmerman in the finals 7-5. This was a weight that was considered wide open, however, Turner pinned his way to the finals before downing Zimmerman. Another very good freshman who gets much less notoriety - Angelo Latora of Portage Central finished 7th here in a weight where only 2 of the 16 qualifiers were underclassmen.

135 - Winning is winning and Paul Hancock finally got it done. After falling just short the last two years, the Dearborn Fordson senior scored three very close wins en route to his first title. Hancock won in overtime in the quarters, 6-5 in the semis, and in overtime in the finals. This weight was fairly young as the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th place finishers all return - look out next year!

140 - Billy Osborne of Bedford finally got the Palace monkey off his back by winning this weight. Osborne has been one of the most talented wrestlers in his weight the past few years, but has never wrestled particulary well in A. Hills, until this year. Osborne downed Bohn and Mann in the quarters and semis before ending Charlie Cordero's cinderella run in the finals with a 2-1 win. Cordero was one of the big surprises of the tourney as he upset Billy Curry and returning runner up Zach Johnson in the semis to make the finals.

145 - Josh Houldsworth cemented himself as one of Michigan's top juniors, winning this weight with relative ease. Houldsworth, who may be one of the top recruits in the state next year, expierenced his toughest match in the quarters with a 4-3 win over Dez Jones before scoring back-to-back major decisions in the semis and finals to win the title. Deshawn Nelson of East Kentwood was a big surprise to make the finals as he knocked off Alex Popp and Brent Winecoff to win a very tough half-bracket and make the finals. 5 of the top 6 finishers here were juniors, so 152 D1 should be tough next year.

152 - This weight saw one a great finals match as Robert Nash of Roseville downed Koort Leyrer 6-5 to win the title. Nash and Leyrer both sailed to the finals with dominant wins throughout the first two days of the tournament. This was an expierenced wieght with 15 of the 16 qualifiers being juniors or seniors.

160 - Jake Hyde of Holly won this weight and took the hardest road possible to the finals. Hyde edged top contender Josh Shaw in the quarterfinals, returning placer Jason Bonham in the semis, and Rockford's stud junior Jake Johnson in the finals. Johnson should be a heavy favorite to win next year as he was the only non-senior to finish in the top 6.

171 - For the 2nd year in a row it was a Rockford Ram bringing home the title here as Jake Dorulla finally picked up a saturday night win in Auburn Hills after finishing runner up his freshman and sophomore seasons. Dorulla won 10-3 over Chris Lucas of Grand Haven in the finals and that was his closest match as he dominated his way to the finals. Dorulla will without doubt be one of the top recruits in Michigan next year.

189 - Evan Gros of Lake Orion made a bold statement for himself as one of the top upperweights in the state. Gros cruised to the finals with a pin, a tech-fall, and a major decision before edging EMU boung Nick Whitenburg of Bedford in a great finals match between two very athletic, talented 189lbers. Gros, who has yet to announce his college plans, may have created an argument for himself as a big time recruit with this performance.

215 - Joe Stefanski put on a show this weekend as he cruised to the finals and then scored a 7-4 win over Josh Franklin in the finals. The Rockford junior showed impressive size and athleticism for a 215lber and he should be a good pick to repeat next year with another title and could be a D1 college recruit if he chooses to wrestle after high school.

285 - In a clash of two stud heavyweights, Mike Mclure of Holland West Ottawa down Jesse Somsel again in the finals to win the state title. McClure is a monster of a heavyweight as he mixes his muscular build with rare athleticism for a big man. We have not received word on his college plans, however, he should be all over most coaches radar's right now and could be even more highly sought after with a good senior national performance.

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