By BUTCH HARMON
Led by a hard-working group of wrestlers, coaches, and parents, the Carson City-Crystal wrestling team is working its way back to the upper echelon of Division 4 wrestling in the state of Michigan.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Carson City-Crystal was the class of Division 4 wrestling in mid-Michigan. From 1990 to 2006, the Eagles captured 12 district and six league championships. The program was at its peak from 1999 to 2003, as it won five regional titles in a row, reached the state semifinals in 1999, and was state runner-up in 2000 and 2001.
After a few lean years, Carson City-Crystal wrestling is well on its way to regaining its place among the best Division 4 wrestling programs in the state. Led by head coach Kacy Datema and assistant Trent Ward, the Eagles have worked their way into the top ten state rankings and have risen to No. 8 in the state in the latest rankings.
The team has wins over state-ranked Division 4 teams Pine River Area (No. 10) and Montabella (No. 9), and it finished third at the Ithaca Invitational behind Hesperia (No. 3) and Decatur (No. 5).
The key to CC-C’s success has been old-fashioned hard work.
“We’ve been working hard in the wrestling room,” Coach Datema said. “We have built our lineup and made sure our kids our spread out appropriately, and that has made us a pretty tough lineup.”
The lineup is especially tough starting in the lower weights, where it has two-time state champion Kenneth Dittenber leading the way.
“Kenneth is having a real good year,” Datema said. “He has only one loss, and he will have the opportunity to see that kid again. Kenneth is a tough, aggressive wrestler who gets after people. He does not look past anyone, and his goal is to win a third state title. He will probably be at 112 pounds, and it will be a dogfight to get three in a row.”
At 103 pounds, the Eagles have sophomore Alex Baker, who was a state qualifier last season.
At 125 pounds, freshman Dallas O’Green has stepped into the lineup.
“Dallas actually wrestles at 119 from time to time, so he is going up in weight class,” Datema said. “He has four losses as a freshman at 125, so he more than holds his own. He moves well and is aggressive on his feet.”
Junior Garner Cusack is at 130/135. Cusack is ranked ninth in the state at 130 and is a returning regional qualifier.
“Garner has a few losses, but he has wrestled some good kids,” Datema said. “He is an aggressive wrestler.”
Sophomore brothers Darren and Dillan Decker anchor the middle of the lineup. Dillan is ranked fifth in the state at 145 pounds, while Darren is ranked fifth at 152.
“The sophomore twins are solid kids,” Datema said. “They are tough and physical, and when they see opportunities they capitalize on them.”
The Eagles have a full lineup of wrestlers, something that could not be said just a few years ago.
“We’ve built a pretty good lineup,” Datema said. “In past years our numbers were way down. Three years ago, we just had seven kids on the team. Coach Ward joined me three years ago, and since then we’ve built a pretty decent lineup.”
The coaching duo of Datema and Ward has changed the fortunes of the Carson City-Crystal wrestling program.
“Coach Ward coached the team when they went to state in the early 2000s,” Datema said. “He took a few years off, but now he’s back.
“We’ve had a lot of community support, also. We are trying to get kids re-interested in the sport and trying to rebuild our youth program so we can sustain success. It’s been a lot of hard work in the wrestling room and making sure the numbers are up.”
The goal now is to get the team back to Battle Creek for the team state finals.
“Our goal is to get to Battle Creek and possibly win a match,” Datema said. “I think we are a team that can wrestle with the top five teams in the state. We are pretty solid all the way through.”