2009 MHSAA Team State Finals Recap
D1 - Rockford outlasts Holt to send Rinehart out on top
Don Rinehart has built a wrestling dynasty in Rockford and in
perfect form the legendary coach will be leaving the Rams wrestling
team on top. Rinehart has made it clear that this would his last
season at the helm and his #1 Rams stepped up and performed for
his last ever dual in the corner, edging #2 Holt 30-29 in a nail biter
for the Division 1 State Championship.
"I said if I had to write a book there's no better final chapter than
this," said Rinehart following the dual.
The dual started at 112 and went pretty much according to plan
through the first half as Holt and Rockford went back and forth,
exchanging big wins and swing matches at a pretty even rate.
Then at 160lbs the first big-time swing match came up with #1
ranked Jake Johnson of Rockford and #3 Josh Shaw of Holt.
Shaw, who had lost to Johnson twice earlier this season coming in, gave Holt a boost with a dominant 11-5 win over top ranked Johnson that put the Holt fans on their feet. Then, after Holt's Mike Andring used a tough ride on top to keep top ranked Jake Dorulla at bay at 171lbs, it seemed like Holt it was good position. Almost everyone in the arena was anticipating a quick and likely easy fall for Holt over Rockford's Zach Banaszak. However, Banaszak fought hard and stayed off his back long enough to avoid the fall against Holt's #3 ranked Corbin Boone, eventually losing via tech fall 4:58 into the match.
"Our 189lber saved it for us," said Rinehart, "We knew if we could win and pin (at 215/285) we would have it. We were pretty sure we would get the pin at heavyweight but that win (215) was huge and it was a war."
It was a war, indeed, when Rockford's #2 ranked Joe Stefanski took the
mat against Holt's #3 James Mireles at 215lbs. The top ranked big men
had wrestled twice this year prior to last night, with each of them picking
up a win a piece. The third meeting had everything on the line.
"I knew it was going to come to down to me," said Stefanski, "I knew I
had to put it all in the line for my seniors and Jesse's (Somsel) is one of
my best friends and I knew he was going to get the job done so I just
wanted to do my part and go out and get the win."
He did just that, outlasting Mireless in a heated battle that saw the 215lb
warriors go flying off the mat numerous times, including one occasion
that took out the Kellogg Arena barricades. In the end Stefanski won
6-4, which set them up for a pin at heavyweight to seal the deal.
Rockford big man Jesse Somsel didn't was much time, putting Holt's
Nick Taylor away in the first stanza and sending the Rockford crowd
into a frenzy.
Rinehart's final chapter was scripted out like a fairy tale as he walked out of Kellogg Arena for the final time in his illustrious career Saturday night as coach of the 2009 Division 1 State Champions.
"It was real big for us because he (Rinehart) has been such a good coach for us and always treated us so good," said Stefanski about the importance of winning it for Rinehart, "We really wanted to pull it out and win for him."
Rockford 30, Holt 29
112 Ben Matthiesen (HO) fall Alex Padilla (ROC), 1:29
119 Kyle Waldo (ROC) tech fall Drew Dyer (HO), 24-9, 5:26
125 Jake Byers (ROC) dec Kyle Hanton (HO), 3-1
130 Michael Jones (HO) dec Austin Scogg (ROC), 5-1
135 Tyler Jackson (HO) dec Robbie Gorton (ROC), 6-5
140 Zach Johnson (ROC) maj dec Jeff Baker (HO), 17-4
145 Cody James Scholl (ROC) fall Seth Hanton (HO), 5:51
152 Koort Leyrer (HO) dec Bruce Carlstrom (ROC), 6-0
160 Josh Shaw (HO) dec Jake Johnson (ROC), 11-5
171 Jake Dorulla (ROC) dec Mike Andring (HO), 2-0
189 Corbin Boone (HO) tech fall Zach Banaszak (ROC), 21-6, 4:58
215 Joe Stefanski (ROC) dec James Mireles (HO), 6-4
285 Jesse Somsel (ROC) fall Nick Taylor (HO), 1:55
103 Freddie Rodriguez (HO) fall Tyler VanRooyan (ROC), 1:21
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D2 - Lowell leaves little doubt with convincing win in Division 2 Finals
It was a general consensus that the Division 2 State Champions
were unofficially crowned a week and a half ago in Greenville when
#2 Lowell upset top ranked Greenville to win the Regional crown.
That feeling was all but validated last night when Lowell picked
apart the #2 seeded Oxford Wildcats in the Division 2 finals.
After a big pin for by Matt Frisch at 125lbs, hope was still alive for
Oxford with an 11-6 lead going into 130lbs. However, the Red
Arrows turned up the heat after that, rattling off 8 straight wins to
put the meet away and lock up a state championship.
"Oxford's a great team and we had some close win matches there
in the middle all kind of go our way, which definitely gave us
leverage," said Lowell coach Dave Dean.
The championship also marks the first for Dean, who arrived in
Lowell 4 years ago with high hopes and expectations after a long, successfully college coaching career. Following the win, Dean talked about the significance of the regional win over Greenville.
"That was a huge step to getting here and no doubt about it Greenville is a heck of a team," said Dean, "There was definitely some teams down here we had concerns about, but we left a great team at regionals. That team (Greenville) should of been here this weekend and people will say 'Hey that's all the magic of this time of year' but I don't think that's magical at all."
After beating Greenville, Lowell entered this weekend as the team to beat and they found themselves in a situation they had never been in before with a huge target on their backs.
"We went from chasing something and being underdogs to a week and a half later and we feel like all the pressure is on us now," said Dean, "It was a first for me in my four years here, we have always been running to gun someone down."
With one title know under his belt, the future is looking good for Dean and his Red Arrows, who are a very young team with a strong youth system.
"All the youth kids up there and the people and supporters, it is nice to have them validated for all their hard work and hopefully there is kids up there dreaming about being champions someday. When I look up there that is what I am hoping for," said Dean, "We have a lot to work with going into next year and we have the potential to be a very good team."
Lowell 35, Oxford 20
112 Calvin Cavanaugh (O) tech fall Zack Jeffries (L), 18-3, 5:47
119 Tyler Jack (L) fall Mike Thomas (O), 1:59
125 Matt Frisch (O) fall Gabe Morse (L), 1:11
130 Dan Fleet (L) maj dec Zac Miller (O), 12-4
135 Ryan Dean (L) maj dec Dakota Peasley (O), 10-1
140 Andrew Morse (L) tech fall Luke Blose (O), 18-0, 4:44
145 Rocky Pabon (L) dec Ben Ralston (O), 10-8
152 Jackson Morse (L) maj dec Mike Myer (O), 13-4
160 Tim Gingerich (L) dec AJ Logan (O), 3-2
171 Gabe Dean (L) dec Geoffery Charles (O), 7-5
189 Ryan Olep (L) dec Josh Villarreal (O), 7-1
215 Prescott Line (O) dec Thomas Fleet (L), 2-0
285 Dylan Smith (O) dec Connor Kruse (L), 6-5
103 Jacob Peasley (O) dec Aaron Nowak (L), 7-0
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D3 - Goodrich comes back from early deficit to remain kings of Division 3
After falling behind 22-3 to Dundee, things were not looking good for
Goodrich last night in Battle Creek in their efforts to repeat as Division 3
champions. However, their stellar upperweights showed why Goodrich
was 46-0 coming in to Saturday night as they rattled off 7 straight wins,
including falls at 189 and 285 to seal the deal.
"I don't think you ever feel good about falling behind," said Goodrich coach
Matt Turnbow, "Once we got to 140 we were better on the scoreboard then
I had us on paper. Dundee picked up a lot of points, but we picked up a
huge win at 135 with Kirk Britton beating Josh White and that was a huge
momentum builder for us right there, then from 145 on the rest went our
way."
During Goodrich's upperweight run there was little for the Dundee crowd to
cheer about as Dundee rarely showed signs of hope in any of the seven
matches. The closest of the upperweight bouts was a 9-3 win by top
ranked Mike Lasinski at 215 over Justin Heiserman, who bumped up to
avoid top ranked 189lber Kyler Elsworth.
In the end it was the seniors that won the title for the Martians as veterans Weil, March, Elsworth, Lasinski, and Lovell brought it home.
"I wasn't real disappointed with the 112 starting weight," said Turnbow, "You start right at their strength and then we can see what we need to do to reel them back in."
Although they have been ranked #1 all year, there are a few teams in Division 3 that many people though had good shots at winning this weekend. Turnbow's squad had one of the toughest roads to the title and in the end they overcame all their roadblocks and completed the repeat.
"Starting out with regionals we had Corunna and that was a barn burner. I think we had the toughest road of everybody and we just took it one match at a time and that's all we could do," said Turnbow. "I think this shows how tough our guys are. On paper we were probably not the best team down here and I think we out-toughed everybody."
Goodrich 33, Dundee 25
112 Joey White (D) tech fall Kristi Garr (G), 24-6, 4:49
119 Brandon Treharne (D) dec Evan Grzecki (G), 12-5
125 Chris Rau (D) dec David Garr (G), 2-1
130 Joe Rendina (D) tech fall Bryce Montgomery (G), 25-10, 4:48
135 Kirk Britton (G) dec Josh White (D), 3-1
140 Pete Rendina (D) fall Ian Grzecki (G), 0:32
145 Joe Hopkins (G) dec Brandon Desbrough (D), 10-4
152 Parker Lovell (G) maj dec Scott Snook (D), 11-3
160 Drew Weil (G) maj dec Shane Ferguson (D), 9-1
171 Kyle March (G) maj dec Corey Heikkila (D), 9-1
189 Kyler Elsworth (G) fall Josh Segaert (D), 0:54
215 Mike Lasinski (G) dec Justin Heiserman (D), 9-3
285 Nick Lovell (G) fall Heath Cosner (D), 2:18
103 Nathan Jaworski (D) dec CC Weber (G), 3-0
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D4 - Hudson dethrones Hesperia for first ever State Championship
Last night Hudson did what few teams in Division 4 have done in
the past couple years - beat Hesperia. This is a dual that had
been highly anticipated all year long and they did not disappoint
as both teams came out firing and went back and forth from start
to end.
The 2nd match of the dual pitted two returning state champs
against one another as Hudson's Zeb Hilyard, who won at 112 last
year, scored a tilt in the closing seconds to top returning 103
champ Collin Zeerip 5-4 and give his squad an early boost.
"Our state champ beating their state champ with a last second
tilt," said Hudson coach Scott Marry, "You don't expect that
stuff - God gives you a gift and you accept it."
Hesperia answered back wit ha big win of their own as senior Adam Wiseman picked up a first period fall over Hudson freshman phenom Devan Marry at 140lbs in a match that was considered a toss up, or swing match.
"My son getting pinned at 140, I caught myself," said Marry, "Instead of chewing but I said 'No, that is one match out of 14 and we have to look ahead instead of behind.' "
Following the 140lb fall, Hudson and Hesperia split two matches a piece from 145 through 171 before the biggest turning point in the dual took place.
Hesperia sent out their senior 2x state champ Dan Yates, bumped up two weight classes to take on the 2nd ranked 189lber in all of Division 4. After trailing the entire match, Elliot scored a last second takedown to send the match to overtime. Once in overtime Elliot fended off a couple Yates leg attacks before shooting in on a deep double and taking the undefeated senior down, erupting the Hudson faithful to their feet.
"The timing of that (189lb match), with only 3 matches left and you know their whole team was looking to Dan as their leader as that monster and that invincible guy or figure head and I think it took the winds out of their sails, especially for their little freshman going out their at 215. It put their backs against the wall," said Marry.
Hudson's big guns at 215 and 285 all but sealed it, as they led 28-23 heading into the final match at 103lbs, where Hudson Dakota Kelley down to 103 from 112 where he has been wrestling all year long. Kelley was too much for Hesperia freshman Swan Rosencrans, who needed a fall for his team to win the dual.
Kelley won 9-4, locking up Hudson's first ever state championship in any sport. As impressive as Hudson win was, what is even more impressive is that they were without two of their best wrestlers, state champ Derrick Marry and state placer Kyle Benschooter, who were out with season ending injuries.
"This program has never been about one person. We are about people stepping in for one another and everyone doing their part," said Marry. "What happens when you lose great kids like that is it makes you stronger if you allow it to because the kids behind them got valuable experience and now we are deeper. It helped us here and it will help us next year."
Looking forward to next season, Marry and the Tiger faithful are feeling good about possibly winning the town's 2nd state championship.
"You always hope for it, but a lot of stuff has to happen to be a state championship team," said Marry, "You gotta have luck, you gotta be healthy, you gotta be eligible. So we will see."
Hudson 31, Hesperia 23
112 Camden McCaskey (HU) dec Matt Peacock (HE), 9-3
119 Zeb Hilyard (HU) dec Collin Zeerip (HE), 5-4
125 Kevin Vanderpool (HU) maj dec Jordan Bosma (HE), 12-3
130 Jordan Bates (HE) maj dec Luke Sparapani (HU), 21-8
135 Malcolm Martin (HE) maj dec Grant Benschoter (HU), 26-13
140 Adam Wiseman (HE) fall Devan Marry (HU), 0:52
145 James Herron (HU) dec Cody Berg (HE), 9-6
152 Brandon Zeerip (HE) fall James Williams (HU), 0:35
160 Mike Hamilton (HE) dec Keith Walworth (HU), 13-12
171 Kyle Benschoter (HU) dec Stephen Thome (HE), 9-5
189 Gabe Elliott (HU) dec Dan Yates (HE), 8-6 (OT)
215 Matthew Smith (HU) dec Brett Martin (HE), 12-5
285 Joe Beaubien (HU) forfeit Cody Wolever (HE),
103 Dakota Kelley (HU) dec Shawn Rosencrans (HE), 9-4
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