Individual State Finals Recap
2009 MHSAA Individual State Finals
Palace of Auburn Hills - March 12-14
DIVISION 4
103 -- For the first time in his career, Brenan Lyon has been as big as his opponents this year. The Ithaca senior is finally similiar in size to other 103lbers and it made a difference as Lyon did not lose a match all year, going 57-0 en route to his first and only state title. The 6x Fargo All-American was a runner up last year and this year he ended his career with three falls and a 14-5 major decision to decisively win his 1st state title. Lyon may not have the size to compete in college, however, he will likely be a contender this summer in Fargo as he goes for his 7th and 8th all-american honors.
112 -- The Lyon family earned two state titles this weekend as Brenan's twin brother Chris brought it home at 112lbs. The bigger Lyon brother did not cruise the tournament with the ease of his smaller counterpart, however, as Chris had close matches in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. In the finals Lyon faced a familiar foe in teammate James Carey. For the Ithaca squad this should be starting to feel like a norm as last year Brenan Lyon beat Carey in the semifinals. Impressive freshman performance by Traverse City St Francis' Isiah Schaub, who finished 3rd after barely missing a trip to the finals.
119 -- After losing to Zeb Hilyard last weekend at team states, it was looking like Collin Zeerip would have his hands full as he looked to repeat this weekend at 119lbs. Zeerip made it happen though, as he went through a pair of Hudson grapplers to gain a little revenge after the Tigers knocked Hesperia off in the team finals last weekend. In the finals Zeerip edged another returning champ in Hilyard 6-3 and he will now be gunning for three next year.
125 - Allen Krupp has been one of the top wrestlers in Division 4 the past few years and he showed why this weekend as he tore through the 125lb bracket, capping off his weekend and career with a 13-0 major decision in the finals. The only match where Krupp was contested at all was in the semis when eventual 3rd place finisher Cevin Walker lost 8-2.
130 - Cody Wray became Montrose's first state champ in Division 4. In their first year wrestling in D4 since moving down from D3, the Rams got a champ on the board right away with Wray, who will be back next year to defend his title. Wray made things interesting, however, scoring 1 point wins in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals over Matt Crowder of Hart. Next year shouldn't be any easier for Wray as three of the top four finishers will be returning.
135 - The Marry family is getting good at creating Palace fireworks. Devan Marry finished up a solid freshman campaign with a state title, knocking off a tough senior in Jeff Sabin 6-4 in the finals. Devan follows his brother Derrick who two years ago won the state title at 125lbs as a freshman, knocking off then sophomore Brandon Zeerip along the way. Derrick has not been back to the finals since, suffering an injury that kept him out this year. Next year Hudson coach Scott Marry could very well be handing out charts to two sons on saturday evening in Auburn Hills.
140 - In a weight that was considered wide open Aaron Smith of Mio left little room for speculation as he controlled every match he wrestled en route winning this weight. ONe of the favorites to win was Malcolm Martin of Hesperia, who surprisingly finished 7th. Smith will return next year with a shot at repeating as he an Martin are the only two returning placers in this weight.
145 - Undefeated seasons don't come around often, however, Jordan Hayward completed the feat at this weight witha 4-2 win over Brandon Douglass of Addison in the finals. Prior to the finals, Hayward was not seriously contested as he score two mjr decisions and a tech fall. The only returning placers in this weight will be Jacob Williams (Union City) and J Jessup (Clare)
152 - Brandon Zeerip was in a league of his own here as he destroyed everyone who stood in his path of winning his 2nd state title. The Hesperia senior won all 4 of his matches by either pin or tech-fall and with he and his brother's wins last weekend it brought the Zeerip family total to 8 (Justin-4, Brandon-2, Collin-2). Brandon will now look to senior nationals in a few weeks and then the University of Michigan next fall.
160 - Coming in it was already known that nobody in this weight would likely have what it takes to challenge Dan Yates for this title. Yates cruised through as he won his 3rd state title. Yates will now look for a good showing at Sr Nationals to put himself on the recruiting map as he is one of, if not the top recruit in Michigan who remains unsigned.
171 - Justin Gordon of Fife Lake Forest capped off his undefeated career by knocking off Dansville 2x placer Grant Cook in the semis and then taking down Bruce Romagnoli of Iron Mountain in a good finals match 7-4. The favorites in this weight were both knocked off in the semifinals as Romagnoli upended undefeated Matt Plemmons of Homer and Gordon downed Cook. Romagnoli came close to becoming the first yooper state champ, however, he fell short and is the 2nd straight UP big man to finish runner up after Gladstone's Joel Vallier finished 2nd last year.
189 - Gabe Elliot came into last weekend on a high after knocking off Dan Yates in the team finals to propel Hudson to their first ever state championship and he didn't slow down all weekend. Elliot cruised to the finals and then shutout Dominique Walker in the finals 7-0 to avenge a loss to Walker at regionals. Walker finished a strong senior season and scored a big fall over preseason #1 Taylor Trim in the semifinals with a first period throw. There were only three non-seniors who qualified in this weight and only one placer will returng - Jordan Higgins of Mendon.
215 - Dave Severn's move to Bronson appeared to pay off as the junior finished his season undefeated with a 3-2 win over returning runner up Zack Ritter in the finals. Severn, the son of former MMA star and standout wrestler Dan "The Beast" Severn, will return next year as one of the state's top big men. There was surprisingly a good deal of youth in this weight with 6 of the placers coming back next year to challenge Severn.
285 - The D-Pomm legend has only begun here in Michigan as the man-child freshman finished 6th in the state last year and then won his 1st title this year. Pommerenke has rare size, technique, and confidence for a freshman heavyweight and if he continues to progress he could be one of the top heavyweights in the country in a couple years. D Pomm's only match that made it out of the first period was his 6-1 semifinal win over Joe Young of Constantine. Only one placer besides Pommerenke returns, so it is difficult to see anyone challenging him in Division 4 in the years to come.
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