Dan Stickradt
Sports Scene
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
NOVI — Being ultra-competitive and having a ‘refuse to lose’ attitude is definitely in Myles Amine’s blood. He not only carries the genes, but he’s also been practically forced into the mindset. It’s his heritage.
“It’s always competitive in my family,” joked Amine, who comes from a long line of sports stars at the youth, high school, college, and even Olympic levels. “We’re always talking about sports. I have had so many members of my family that were successful at sports.”
And Myles Amine, instead of getting lost in the shuffle or being joked about during the family reunions, has carved his own path and created his own story in the highly-athletic Amine family.
The youngest of three siblings, the Brighton resident is now a senior at Detroit Catholic Central High School. His older brother Malik attended Catholic Central and is now at the University of Michigan. That alone is pressure enough to follow in the footsteps of an older sibling.
His sister Michelle played sports at Brighton, his father Mike was a standout athlete at Lincoln High School in Warren, his uncles were multi-sport athletes at Catholic Central, and even his grandparents “were Olympic athletes. Everyone is an athlete in my family, or so it seems,” laughed Amine.
Amine grew up loving sports – playing soccer and football and even wrestling in youth programs in Hartland beginning in the third grade. Although he doesn’t compete in organized sports today outside of wrestling, he still loves soccer and football and almost every sport under the sun — with some competitive flair.
“Even when I go golfing, I am super-competitive,” he said. “I hate to lose. I always try to win.”
Amine first walked the halls at Catholic Central when he was in middle school. He studied all of the trophies and the long legacy of success and wanted to be a part of it. “There’s a lot of history here at Catholic Central. They have been so successful in wrestling and in a lot of other sports. They also have a very good academic program,” said Amine. “I remember being in the eighth grade, I think, at one of my brother’s meets, when I realized how much I wanted to go to Catholic Central.”
Humbled by his past defeats and life lessons, Amine in on a journey that has led him to become one of the better wrestlers at Catholic Central and in the state of Michigan. He carried a 145-25 career record into the individual regionals on Feb. 21, with his eyes on another individual state title and a fourth straight state-qualifying berth.
As a freshman, Amine wrestled at 112 pounds and qualified for state. His sophomore year, he finished third in the state at 130, losing by one point to eventual state champion Austin Ecker of Hartland in the semifinal round.
His junior year, Amine rose to the top and captured a state title at 140, while this season he is top-ranked at 160 and one of the leading favorites to contend for another state title.
He has won dozens of tournaments in his career, including Oakland County, district, and regional titles, and he is gearing up for another state title run.
Teamwise, Amine was a part of team state titles in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and this year he has aided the Shamrocks to their seventh straight berth in the Elite Eight in Battle Creek.
“It’s always our goal to get here. Coach Hancock has done a great job since he took over with keeping the expectations high and helping us to prepare,” said Amine. “We have a chance to do something special, win four straight state titles. There isn’t a clear-cut favorite. There’s a lot of very good teams; it’s wide-open this year. We have a chance just like everyone else.”
Amine carries the same competitive mantra into the classroom. The University of Michigan signee carries a stellar 4.2 GPA and scored 28 on the ACT.
”I am actually retaking it soon,” he said of the ACT. “With Michigan’s business school being so strict, I want to take it again and go for 30. I don’t want to settle.”
Myles Amine doesn’t settle for mediocracy. He has school and family traditions to hold up — and has done a fine job living up to legacy.
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com