Michigan Grappler's 1st Annual
Palace Awards
2008 MHSAA Individual State Finals
Palace of Auburn Hills - March 6-8
All-Tournament Outstanding Wrestler - Jackson Morse (Lowell)
Division 1 - Alex Ortman (Temperance Bedford)
Division 2 - Jackson Morse (Lowell)
Division 3 - Andrew Schutt (Yale)
Division 4 - Allen Krupp (New Lothrop)
Morse defeated 3x finalist Brennan Brumley in dominant fashion at 140lbs in D2
to win his first title as a sophomore. The Brumley/Morse match was highly
anticipated as both of them defeated 4x champ Mark Weber earlier this season.
Morse was not affected by the hype as the youngster looked like a season veteran
controlling Brumley the entire match. Morse also won a big match in the semis over
returning champ Garrett Rozeboom of Mason.
Most Impressive Team Performance - Rockford
Division 1 - Rockford (2 champs, 4 finalists, 9 overall placers)
Division 2 - Mason (3 champs, 5 finalists, 8 overall placers)
Division 3 - Goodrich (2 champs, 4 finalists, 6 overall placers)
Division 4 - Hesperia (3 champs, 6 overall placers)
Rockford and Mason were the most impressive teams this year. Rockford has the most placers while Mason had the most champs & finalists. What is scary about Rockford is that out of there 9 placers, 8 of them return next year!
Outstanding Rookie Performance - Roger Wildmo (Durand)
Division 1 - Adam Bonner (Rockford), 8th @ 135
Division 2 - Victor Vettese (Avondale), 1st @ 103
Division 3 - Roger Wildmo (Durand), 1st @ 112
Division 4 - Devin Pommerenke (Rogers City), 6th @ 285
Wildmo pulled off one of the greatest comebacks the Palace has ever seen
as he mounted 5 nearfall points in the third period to comeback from nearly getting
pinned in the first period against Swan Valley's super sophomore Darius Wass.
Adam Bonner of Rockford was the only freshman to make the podium in all of
Division 1, Vettese was the only frosh to win it besides Wildmo, and Pommerenke
placed top 6 at heavyweight (thats unheard of for a freshman)!
Best Championship Celebration
1. The "I have been here before and will be back" - Roger Wildmo and Jackson Morse
Morse and Wildmo each won equally huge matches here as Wildmo, a freshman, pulled off a thrilling comeback to upset Darius Wass and Morse, a sophomore, won the most highly anticipated match of Division 2 over Brumley (both previously mentioned). Following their enormous victories neither wrestler ran around the mat, threw their arms in the air, held up number 1 with their fingers, or even engaged in any heavy fist pumping. Rather, they both walked back to the center of the mat and took off their ankle bands as the crowd went crazy as if to say, "No big deal - I have been in these situations before and I will be back a couple more times". While there is nothing wrong with being excited and celebrating a state title, you've just got to respect what Morse and Wildmo did.
2. The "assisted arm raise" - Jake Bohn/Alex Ortman, Paul Hancock/Cameron Amaties
Following two of the most exciting matches of the division 1 finals the losing wrestler
assisted the official in the raising of the winning wrestler's hand. Jake Bohn at 160, who fell
to Alex Ortman on a last second takedown, and Paul Hancock at 119, who got caught on
his back several times by Cameron Amaties, both took the liberty of raising their opponents
opposite hand while the official presented them to the crowd. Classy, good sportmanship,
both things we like to encourage here at Michigan Grappler. Bohn/Ortman are pictured-->
3. The Dubose Backflip -
It is often immitated but never duplicated, the Marcel Dubose signature backflip.
Dubose hit the flip last year following his D3 title, last summer following his Fargo Junior
Title, and again last weekend following his 3rd consecutive state championship. While many
people are capable of hitting some good backflips and Dubose was not the only one to pull it off last weekend, few grapplers hit it with the flare and explosion of Dubose (not to mention he is a 220 pound He-Man tank flipping through the air like Spiderman!)
Top 5 Fashion Trends of the Weekend
1. Pink dress shoes
Highland Park had only one wrestler still competing during the medal rounds on
saturday morning in 189lb Stavon Owens. While Owens may have been the only HP
grappler in action, at least he had the best dressed coach in his corner giving support.
One of the Higland Park coaches (who we do not have the name of) was wearing a
crisp grey-pinstripe suit accompanied by pink dress shoes and a matching pink
handercheif in his pocket. The coach was filling in for suspended HP coaches
Whitfield and Washington, who were punished by the MHSAA for coaching at the Senior Nationals last spring. Regardless of results, I think the substitute would give Washington and Whitfield a run for their money in the ensemble department. Who says real men don't wear pink?
2. The suit with a baseball hat look
What better way to say, "I'm formal, but I'm still here to party" then rocking a ball-cap with your suit. A couple coaches, including the South Haven coach, pulled it quite well saturday night. The beatiful thing about this is you will probably only see this in a wrestling arena (just picture Tom Izzo sporting a green State hat on the sideline)
3. Warm-up robes
You gotta love DCC and Lowell bringing back the warmup robes. The
vintage Dan Gable-esque robe look was rocked by numerous members of DCC
and Lowell and I would not be surprised to see some more robes emerging out of
the woodwork next year. Lowell's Ryan Olep, who finished 2nd at 160lbs, is
pictured on the medal stand sporting the robe.
4. The sweater vest
Im sure there were multiple coaches trendy enough to rock the sweater vest
this weekend, however, DCC coach Mitch Hancock is the only one we caught on
camera (pictured to right). The sweater vest may be the most underrated
coaching attire in all of wrestling. It is dressy and stylish, but at the same time
if you hug a 285lb Mike Martin after he wins his 2nd D1 title, you dont have to worry about his sweatiness getting all over your drycleaned shirt. This credit cannot be given to Hancock without throwing a shoutout to one of the most efficent sweatervest wearers in wrestling, MSU assistant coach Chris Williams. For those of you who have been to an MSU home dual, you may notice that Williams regularly dons the sweatervest.
5. Glittery national anthem
What better way to kick off the Final round of the state tournament that with a beutiful
rendition of our nation's anthem. And what better ensemble to wear while performing it then the
blue glittery number that this young lady wore here. She may have been the only person on the
floor at the time that could get away with blue glitter.
Well that is all we have after a wild weekend of Michigan prep action in the Palace. The high school season is now offically over and prerp wrestlers can look forward to Senior Nationals, Ohio TOC, the Borderwars events, and the freestyle/greco season. Special thanks to all that assisted in our State Tournament coverage and congratulations to all that participated in a great weekend of wrestling.
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