Chaos in Kellogg - DCC, St Johns, Richmond, Hudson win thrilling Finals
2010 MHSAA Team State Finals
Kellogg Arena
Battle Creek, MI
DIVISION 1
For the first time since 1988 the
Shamrocks of Detroit Catholic Central
hoisted the State Wrestling Championship
Trophy, at it was bonus points that made
the difference.
DCC and Rockford split 7 matches a piece,
however, the Shamrocks did not score one
decision in the dual. Rockford, meanwhile,
won 4 of their 7 matches by way of
minority decision.
The dual began at 130lbs and Rockford
jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as returning
state finalist Jake Byers scored a 13-5
major decision over Charlie Joseph.
However, the Shamrocks answered back
with a technical fall by sophomore Nick
Mason at 135lbs and then Justin Melick
tacked on 6 points after Austin Scogg was
disqualified for stalling. Senior Doug
Eldridge kept the ball rolling for the
Shamrocks with a first period fall at
145lbs and the Shamrocks took a 17-4
commanding lead heading into the heart of the Rockford lineup.
The Rams did what they were expected to do as they answered back 6 straight victories, winning every match from 152 to 285. Rockford's decision to weigh state champ Jake Dorulla in up a weight at 189 paid off as The Banaszak brothers both won close decisions at 171 and 189lbs and then Dorulla, bumped up to 215 scored a dec over DCC's Andrew Johnson before fellow state champ Joe Stefanski beat Mike Kinville 7-2 in a battle of highly ranked 215lbers.
The Rams took a 24-17 lead into the last four weight classes, however, DCC's powerful fleet of light weights proved too much. Top ranked freshman Ken Bade scored a 19-6 major decision over #7 Tyler Vanrooyen at 103, then #3 Todd Melick scored a first period fall over highly touted freshman Jared Johnson at 112lbs which gave DCC a 27-24 lead going into the final two bouts.
At that point DCC chose to send their second string 119lber Matt Thompson to the mat bumping returing state champ and #1 ranked Alec Mooradian to 125lbs. Rockford, needing to win the final two bouts, chose to bump along with them, wrestling Chris Barrentine at 119 and moving #2 ranked Jacob Scholten up to wrestle Mooradian.
Barrentine came out strong at 119, scoring the first takedown, however, Thompson turned the tide in the second period with a fall that brought the CC crowd to their feet as they clinched their first state title in over 20 years. With the dual mathematically out of reach, the Rams voided the final weight so the Scholten-Mooradian match never happened.
GRAPPLER VIDEO - Hancock bringing a title home to Catholic Central
DIVISION 2
Drama and close calls filled the Division 2 finals between
Allegan and St Johns. Allegan came in riding a high after
rolling through a very good Stevensville Lakeshore team in
the semifinals while St Johns barely snuck past Greenville
in the semis to advance.
The dual did not start out well for the Red Wings and
Allegan came out firing with back to back falls at 130 and
135lbs before #3 Matt Smith dismantled St Johns #6
Travis Curley 14-0 at 140lbs heading into another battle of
ranked wrestlers at 145lbs.
The 145lb match had the feeling of a must win for St Johns
as they trailed 16-0 after the first three matches and not
much happened for the first 6 minutes as they went to
overtime tied 2-2.
After a scoreless minute on their feet, Wohlfert went down
for the first 30 second period and escaped quickly before
Smith answered with a quick takedown that made it look
like the match was all but over. Wohlfert, however,
managed to escape before the end of the period as the
stanza ended in a 4-4 with just as much scoring in 30
seconds as the previous 7 minutes. Smith next took his turn starting on bottom and escaped rather quickly to take a one point lead. After going out of bounds the wrestlers re-started with :11 in the neutral position with Wohlfert in having to make something happen. On the restart, the clock failed to start as the wrestlers went at it and Smith was called for stalling, giving Wohlfert a point and sending the match to an ultimate tiebreaker. The Allegan coaches protested the clock malfunction, however, the officials determined that the stalling warning was before the :11 were up, therefore the match went to an ultimate tiebreaker period.
Smith went down to start the UT period and needed to escape in :30 to win. Wohlfert held on strong, however, clutching to single legs, returning Smith to the mat and holding on for a much needed St Johns victory.
The Red Wings picked up steam following the Wohflert win as Taylor Massa scored a first period fall at 152lbs and Devin Scheick won 16-7 for a major decision over Andrew Kelley at 160lbs. St. Johns then held Allegan to minority decisions at 171 and 189lbs before holding #1 ranked John Rizgallah to a major decision at 215lbs that proved to be valuable in the end.
The 285lb match was crucial as St Johns' stellar lightweights waited in the wings. St Johns unranked Taylor Pemberton and Allegan's 6th ranked 215lber Steve Blank wrestled to a 1-1 tie through 6 minutes heading into overtime. Then, in the overtime period Blank grabbed a hold of Pemberton's headgear as the two flew out of bounds and the official penalized Blank, giving Pemberton and St Johns another crucial, very close victory that brought them within 10 points, trailing 26-16.
The Redwing littlemen continued to prove valuable for St Johns as they scored 15 unanswered points with a fall at 103 by Jacob Schmitt, a 4-2 win at 112 by Brant Schafer, and a first period fall at 119 by Josh Pennell, giving them a 5 point lead heading into the final match, which pitted #8 Taylan Knoblach against unranked Rory Bender at 125lbs.
Bender managed to stay off his back most of the match, however, a tight power half by Knoblach in the final 30 seconds had the Allegan faithful to their feet as the Tiger senior narrowly missed scoring a state championship winning fall.
Bender survived and the Red Wings prevailed 31-30, winning the first wrestling state championship in their school's history.
GRAPPLER VIDEO:
St Johns coach Zane Ballard after finals match
Rory Bender hangs on St Johns wins
Semifinals - Curley (SJ) vs Fuller (Greenville)
DIVISION 3
Richmond and Dundee met in a rubber match as the two split during
the regular season, with Richmond winning on opening day and
Dundee scoring a big win later in the season. The rubber match would
be the most imporant with a state title on the line.
The match was everything it was hyped up to be as it was filled with
nailbiters between highly ranked wrestlers at almost every weight. 10
of the 14 matches in the dual ended in minority decision.
Richmond jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Justin Russo and Pat Baruth
scored decisions at 130 and 135lbs before Dundee bounced back with
a major decision at 140lbs by top ranked Joe Rendina and a 8-3 win
by state qualifier Ryan Bickley at 145lbs to give them a 7-6 lead
through four matches. The Vikings would never lead again.
Richmond state finalist Brian Henke survived an upset attempt as he
knocked off Brandon Desbrough at 152lbs in overtime, then fellow state
finalist Roger Crump won 3-0 at 171 over Corey Hekkilla. The two
teams continued to go back and forth as Justin Heiserman scored a
tech-fall at 189 for Dundee, then Greg Sebastian scored a decision at
215 for Richmond, then Dundee freshman John Marogen scored a
major decision at 285lbs.
In a battle of highly ranked little guys, Richmond's undefeated Stephen
Ireland knocked off #1 ranked Travis Sproles of Dundee 8-6 to turn the
tide in the Devils' favor. #7 Dominic Caterra scored another 2 point win at 112 over #10 Brandon Atchley of Dundee, giving Richmond an 8 point lead heading into the final two bouts.
#2 ranked Joe White snuck past #5 Josh Rivard 8-7 at 119lbs, keeping the hope alive for Dundee, however, #1 ranked Chris Rau's valiant attempt was not quite enough as he scored a 15-3 major decision over Casey Martin, leaving the Vikings one point short and giving Richmond their 4 state title in 11 years.
GRAPPLER VIDEO
Coach Hamblin pick a day get your ring
125 - Rau (Dundee) vs Martin (Richmond)
119 - White (Dundee) vs Rivard (Richmond)
DIVISION 4
In the end, top ranked Hudson left little doubt about who the kings of Division 4 are as they stormed through yet another team en route to their 2nd consecutive state championship.
After state champ Zeb Hilyard teched Paul Gietek at 125lbs for Hudson, Addison came back strong with two wins to take a 7-5 lead, giving them a sense of hope. Hudson, however, quickly distguingshed any hopes of an upset as they won the next 5 matches, four of those via fall, to jump out to a 29-7 lead that they would never surrender.
Addison would win three more matches as Hudson and coach Scott Marry cruised to a 43-20 victory, winning 9 of the 14 matches.
GRAPPLER VIDEO
Scott Marry starting a dynasty in Hudson
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Justin Melick of DCC reacts after scoring a fall against Oxford to send the Shamrocks to the finals
Jacob Schmitt and the trio of Redwing freshmen from 103-119 sparked the St Johns comeback over Allegan
Stephen Ireland's upset over #1 Travis Sproles at 103lbs was one of 5 Richmond wins over ranked Dundee wrestlers
