Article - High School Sports Scene

They may be young, but they’re ready. The Midland girls basketball team proved that in their district championship win on Feb. 28 over Midland Dow 56-49. Now the Chemics, who finished the regular season 18-2 overall and a perfect 14-0 in the Saginaw Valley League North, are hoping for more.

“We won a very tough district with that win over Dow,” 13^th-year head coach Elaine Mahabir said. “I really believe that any team that can get out of our district always has a great shot at a regional. I think with the senior leadership we have on this team and the consistent play of our underclassmen, we are a very dangerous team in the postseason.”

Aside from senior Jessica Walter (18.3 points per game, 6.1 assists), the Chemics have won with a largely unproven roster, starting as many as three freshmen in some games. The perfect 14-0 league mark was good enough for the team’s third league title in school history and the two wins in districts brought their win total to 20 on the season.

“My kids have played very consistent, and we have great leadership with senior point guard Walter,” Mahabir said.

Aiding the cause for Midland are Jayden Williams (6.7 ppg, 7 rebounds), Alex Vansumerer (6.9 points), Sadie Dewildt (5.9 points), and Emily Resmer (4.4 points, 6.2 rebounds).

The Chemics’ two losses were against state-ranked Nouvel Catholic Central and Powers Catholic, while the Chemics have beaten Dow three times and handled Heritage in two close games, as well.

“The girls have played very stoic all season long,” Mahabir said. “When you are playing alongside Walter, you are able to not have to try and do too much. She finds you when you’re open, she relieves defensive pressure because teams key on her, and she is a great vocal leader. We have started three freshmen for the majority of the season.”

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A district championship remained just out of reach for the John Glenn girls basketball team, but that didn’t take anything away from what fifth-year head coach Cory Snider called a strong season.

“We have been so successful this year because of our ability to play both inside and outside with teams,” Snider said of the season that saw the Bobcats go 18-4 overall and win the North East Michigan Conference with a 5-1 record. “Our strength is our athleticism, and we have really ran the floor well this year. Our defense has been solid, which has led to great early opportunities for us offensively.”

Despite their third consecutive season with at least 16 wins, the Bobcats still had their season end with a loss to Bullock Creek in the district championship on Feb. 28. Aside from that loss to the Lancers, John Glenn lost two close games to Nouvel Catholic Central and one to Standish-Sterling.

“I also think our success is an attribute to how hard our girls work in the off-season,” Snider said. “They play a lot of basketball in the summer and fall, and it is really showing in the way they are playing together. Our chemistry has been very good this year, as well, and that makes playing a team game so much easier when you are willing to make sacrifices for the girl next to you. The final piece of our success has been my coaching staff. They are tireless workers who enjoy the game so much, but more than that, they enjoy teaching the game to our players. Without their game planning, help at practice, and day-to-day analysis, we wouldn’t have the success we’ve had the last few years.”

Of special importance for the Bobcats was winning the NEMC title, the first conference championship for the John Glenn girls’ program in several years and just the fourth in school history.

“We are certainly headed in the right direction, and winning the NEMC this year is just another stepping stone to get us where we want to be ultimately,” Snider said.

The coach pointed out Jenai LaPorte, a sophomore guard who averages 20.2 points per game; Kalle Martinez, a freshman guard with an 18.7 average; Sydney Thelen, a three-year varsity player; Jamie Brisson, another sophomore; Kennedy Clyde, a freshman post player; and Jessica Hegenaur, a three-year varsity player, as his top players.

“LaPorte is a very good rebounder for a guard and affects the game in a variety of ways,” Snider said. “Martinez is one of the best players I’ve ever seen at getting to the basket. Thelen is the best defender I’ve ever coached. Brisson has one of the highest basketball IQs I’ve seen. Clyde, in the five months I’ve coached her, I’ve yet to see her miss a box-out. Hegenauer is a superb athlete who can run the floor and finish in transition as well as step out and shoot.”

Even with standout players, the coach admits that they all have to come together to make an impact.

“We’ve been blessed with some outstanding and tireless workers,” Snider said. “They are an outstanding group of girls who enjoy playing the game for the name on the front of the jersey instead of the name on the back.”

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So far so good for the Powers Catholic girls basketball team. As of March 3, the Chargers have clipped to a 20-2 record, won the Saginaw Valley League South, and picked up wins over Caro, Mt. Morris, and Frankenmuth to win the district title.

“Our defensive and transition parts of our game stand out as team identity, but our ability to have a balanced attack from multiple players makes us hard to defend,” third-year head coach Thom Staudacher said.

After finishing as class B runner-up a season ago, the Chargers dropped an early season game to Farmington Hills Mercy and then won 14 games in a row before a loss to Nouvel Catholic Central on Feb. 17. They went a perfect 10-0 in SVL South play.

It’s the balanced attack that Staudacher credits with a large part of his team’s success. Seniors Ally Haran and Mick Coury (Lake Superior State University commit) both average over 11 points a game, fellow senior Sara Ruhstorfer averages 9.6, Francesca Coury has added 8.1 points a game as a sophomore, and freshman Rachel Phillpotts has averaged 4.7.

“Haran is our best all-around athlete who is sometimes overlooked with basketball award recognitions,” Staudacher said. “She is one of our MVPs, and she is critical to our success. Mick Coury is a standout post player, and I would consider her one of the best in the state. Ruhstorfer is clutch when we need it, both on offense and defense. She has a basketball mind like no other.

“Francesca Coury’s high school career is just starting to get rolling as a sophomore,” Staudacher continued. “While versatile in many positions, her ability to create shots off the dribble or controlling the offense are areas she continues to improve on. Phillpotts is our most improved player, even as a freshman. She has been providing consistent defense when we need it while providing offense when we expect her to. It didn’t take long to understand she will be a special player for years to come.”

Although the Chargers run to the state title game last year may not have much to do with this season’s campaign, the coach is hoping to draw upon the experience.

“The two seasons don’t really compare,” Staudacher said. “Last year, early on we tried to find our identify, and it didn’t happen until the Midland game in January… This year, we know our identity but sometimes lose focus because we are worried about our personal performance, or we are looking too far ahead. We need to make certain we only focus on one game at a time.”

With its balanced attack and its one-game-at-a-time vision, Powers could be well on its way to another deep run this month, and Staudacher is hoping to get over the hump and win the state championship.

“We need a little bit of luck, focus on one game at a time, and we need to play together as a team,” he said. “One of our team goals is to win the state championship, but we have to go through a lot of great teams, players, and coaches. The best part of this game is that it’s one-and-done type format, so anything can happen.”

Powers was scheduled to play Croswell-Lexington March 4. A win there would set up a rematch against Goodrich, the team that beat the Chargers in last year’s state final. Goodrich is led by all-everything guard Tania Davis and is looking to win its third consecutive Class B title this season.

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By BUTCH HARMON

For those who think that winning a state championship is easy, a conversation with New Lothrop senior Josh Wendling may change their minds.

As a returning state champion, many people around New Lothrop and in wrestling circles thought that a repeat state title for Wending was a given.

Not so fast, according to Wendling. “A lot of people thought that I would win the state title automatically,” he said. “Everyone thought I would win easy. It’s not that easy. I felt a lot of pressure. Winning another one is sweet. It was just a blast.”

Wendling needed to grind to win his title, as he defeated Mark Workman of Hesperia 13-7 to win the 160-pound title in Division 4.

Wendling finished his career at New Lothrop with a 202-24 overall record. This year, he turned in a 56-4 record.

Along with the expectation of winning a second state title, Wendling had another distraction that made winning the second title more difficult. The week leading up to the individual state title came on the heels of New Lothrop’s dramatic win over Hudson to take the Division 4 team state title. After helping New Lothrop win the team title, he had to deal with the post-championship celebrations around New Lothrop.

“I had to keep my mind right,” Wendling said. “Everyone was talking about the team state all week, and it was tough keeping my mind on the task at hand. I thought I was able to do that and keep myself at the top of my game.”

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By BUTCH HARMON

Although Swan Valley sophomore KJ Suitor finished second at the Division 3 individual state finals, the future appears bright for him and his teammates.

Suitor finished second in the 112-pound weight class and ended the season with a 54-3 record.

“I was very excited to make the state finals,” Suitor said. “A lot of people don’t get that chance. I just tried to go out and execute the game plan. It was just disappointing it didn’t go like I wanted it to.”

Suitor was not the only Swan Valley wrestler to earn all-state honors. Fellow sophomore Matt Santos placed fourth at 125 pounds and ended the season with a 58-2 record. Junior Collin Dole placed third at 135 pounds and ended the year with a 53-6 record, while junior Sam McLean placed seventh at 145 pounds and ended the year with a 60-5 mark.

“We had three other guys make all-state, and I’m very proud of how they wrestled,” Suitor said. “All of the guys placed, and every one battled.”

With those wrestlers all returning next season, Swan Valley has some high expectations. “We have a bright future ahead of us,” Suitor said.

Suitor plans to use this year’s second-place finish as motivation to improve next year. “I finished seventh last year, and I used it as motivation this year,” he said. “Now I’m going to use second place this year as motivation to win a state championship next year.”

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By BUTCH HARMON

Although the Laingsburg wrestling program is only four years old, it now has a state champion it can be proud of.

Lainsgburg sophomore Kevin Koenig became the first state champion in school history when he won the 215-pound title in Division 3. Koening turned in a dominating performance as he defeated Patrick Harbin, Jr. of Detroit Loyola 14-3.

“I knew I had him after the first takedown,” Koenig said. “He couldn’t stop it. I wanted to go for a pin, but he kept stalling on the bottom.”

Winning by a pin was important to Koening, who lost in the final round of last year’s state tournament.

“I would have liked to have pinned him, but it felt pretty good beating him by a bunch of points.”

With the win, Koenig finished the season with a 48-3 record.

After losing in the final by technical fall last year, Koenig was on a mission this season, and he didn’t let up until he captured the first MHSAA title in school history.

“I wanted to be the first state champion in school history,” Koenig said. “Ever since the eighth grade, I have been working for this.”

Koening believes that winning a state title will help the Laingsburg wrestling program continue to grow. “We’ve only had a wrestling team for four years,” he said. “I feel that by winning a state title, it will help get a bunch more kids to come out and see what wrestling is all about.”

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Bay City Western girls and Ithaca boys earned runner-up finishes in the state bowling tournament Feb. 28-March 1 to highlight a successful weekend for area bowlers.

In addition, Alex Ouellette of John Glenn was state singles champion in Division 2, and Kyle Tuttle of St. Charles was champion in Division 4.

Western lost 1,267-1,120 to Kearsley in the final.

Final individual game scores for Western were Anna Kuehne 190, Claudia Gielda 173, Haley Delestowicz 137, Megan Rabideau/Taryn Butler 132, and Storm Butler/Kaylee Radwick 147.

Western defeated Tecumseh in the semifinals and Mason in the quarterfinals. Ionia and John Glenn were also in the quarterfinals.

Last season, Western finished third. “I guess we had a little improvement this year,” coach Rick Dodick said. “I knew I had a pretty good team. It’s a great group of girls this year that worked hard and practiced hard and set their goals high. I thought we could do well. We bowled in quite a few of the high school tournaments, [and] we won a couple of those. I knew we had a pretty decent team.”

At the state tournament, Western qualified in the fourth position. “We bowled pretty good that day,” Dodick said. “We bowled against Tecumseh, and we had bowled against Kearsley in a couple of tournaments early in the year. We kind of knew what we were going up against, and we were ready for them.”

Delestowicz and Storm Butler were among the top bowlers for Western this season along with Kuehne and Gielda.

In the Division 4 boys’ final, Ithaca lost to Jonesville 1,153-1,094.

“It was great, obviously one step short of our goal,” said Ithaca coach Wally Schneider. “We bowled well all day, up until the finals. We were dominant all day. We won the qualifying round by 186 pins. We beat the No.1-ranked team in the state and the defending state champions, all on our way to the finals. It was a great day overall.”

Final individual game scores for Ithaca were Blake Gulick 151, Jared Baublitz 156, Kaeden Greer 167, Donald Carl 137, and Joe Whittaker 172

“We just got to the finals and couldn’t buy a strike and didn’t get a break. In the end, it cost us a state title,” Schneider said. “All in all, it was a great day.

“Everybody on the team bowled well at different times,” he continued. “Blake Gulick, a sophomore, bowled well all day. He had several games at or around 200. I didn’t have anybody way off all day long. Blake led the team, but Joe Whittaker, Donald Carl, Kaeden Greer, and Jared Baublitz all bowled well.”

The Yellowjackets beat defending state champion Gabriel Richard Catholic in the semifinal and No. 1-ranked Bendle in the quarterfinal.

“This is the best we’ve done at the state tournament,” Schneider said. “In 2012, we were sixth, and in 2005 we were also sixth.”

DIVISION 1

The event was at Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling Heights.

Davison was girls champion, led in the title match by Kalee Johnson with 212, Taylor Brown with 201, Sydney Brown at 224, Taylor Davis at 247, and Brooklyn Green/Myranda Livingston at 223.

Josh Kukla of Grandville was individual champion for the boys. Derrick Norman of Heritage was a quarterfinalist. Emily Dietz of John Glenn was the girls’ champion. University of Detroit Jesuit was the boys’ team champion.

DIVISION 2

Kearsley won the boys’ team event at Century Lanes in Waterford. It defeated Mount Pleasant in the semifinals. John Glenn and Owosso were both quarterfinalists.

Alex Ouellette beat Alec Nunn of Warren Fitzgerald 479-410 in the final. He had bowled a 300 game in the morning qualifying blocks.

Cody Vincent of Owosso was a semifinalist. Destiny Kennedy of John Glenn was a quarterfinalist.

DIVISION 3

Sam Brandt of Fremont won the boys’ title. Chase Badalamenti of Garber was a quarterfinalist. For the girls, Hannah Chase of Alma was a finalist, losing 428-323 to Heather Bruci of Richmond for the state title. Brianna Cords of Perry was a quarterfinalist.

Fremont won the boys’ team event. Croswell-Lexington was the girls’ champ.

DIVISION 4

Vandercook Lake was girls’ team champion. The St. Louis boys were quarterfinalists in Division 4, failing to make it to the semifinal after losing to Sandusky by one pin 1,209-1,208.

For girls, Portland St. Patrick Catholic, Ithaca, and All Saints Central were among the qualifiers.

Kyle Tuttle brought home the Division 4 title by beating Zach Fenby of St. Louis 406-324. Fenby had beaten teammate Connor Pilmore in the quarterfinals 445-373. Josh Dubay of Valley Lutheran was also a quarterfinalist.

Melissa Sleda of Sandusky won the girls’ event.

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BY BUTCH HARMON

Greenville senior Alec Ward may have come up short in his bid to win an individual state championship at the Division 2 wrestling finals, but it took one of the best wrestlers in the history of Michigan high school wrestling to knock him out.

Ward made it to the championship match at 140 pounds before falling 12-2 to four-time state champion Zac Hall of St. Johns.

“I was just happy being in the finals,” Ward said. “I just went out there and tried everything I could.”

While Ward was unable to snag a state title, he did accomplish something that few high school wrestlers have done, as he placed at state for the third time. After placing fifth as a sophomore, Ward took seventh last year and was determined to finish higher this year.

“I was pretty upset last year,” he said. “I finished seventh after placing fifth as a sophomore. I worked real hard all summer to improve and finish higher. I was happy to get here.”

Ward hopes to wrestle in college and is still deciding where to continue his wrestling career and his academic studies.

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By BUTCH HARMON

A takedown with fewer than 10 seconds remaining in the 160-pound championship match proved to be the difference for Farwell senior Tristen Zienkiewicz, who brought home the state title.

The takedown proved to be the deciding points, and Zienkiewicz defeated Jared Elliott of Birch Run 4-3 to win the title in the Division 3 individual finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ ” Zienkiewicz said. “This was a dream come true. I just went out there and decided to go for it. I just decided to go for it at the end and whatever was there to take it.”

He used an inside trip to score the takedown to win the title.

Zienkiewicz finished sixth at last year’s state finals and trained all off-season to prepare for one final run at a championship.

“This is just awesome,” he said. “It has been a dream of mine to win state since I was six years old.”

Zienkiewicz finished the season with a 50-2 record and hopes to wrestle in college. “I want to wrestle Division I in college,” he said. “I don’t want to settle for anything less.”

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By BUTH HARMON

Meridian heavyweight wrestler Eric Fader responded with a big “oorah!” when asked to talk about the Division 3 state championship he had just won at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

That’s because he was not only stoked about winning a state title in overtime against an undefeated wrestler, but also because he will be leaving to become a United States Marine when school gets out this spring.

Fader, who ended his season with a 48-5 record, defeated Glenn Geurink of Allendale 7-6 in overtime in the 285-pound final. The loss was the first of the season for Geurink, who came in with a 46-0 record.

“I just wanted to go out and to do my best,” Fader said. “I had to grind it out, do some set ups, and hit my blast double.”

Fader did just that in a match that went back and forth and then went to overtime.

Fader received a boost of confidence from an assistant coach who told him that he had defeated Geurink the previous summer in a tournament match. “I just found out a few days ago that I had beaten him during the summer,” Fader said.

The win was a little bittersweet for Fader. “I felt bad at the end, because I knew this was going to be the last time I wrestled,” he said. “It’s been my whole life, being out on the mat and wrestling. I’m going into the Marines now.”

A big oorah to that!

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Midland High girls keep winning despite youth

John Glenn girls win NEMC championship, fall to Bullock Creek in district final

Flint Powers girls’ win districts, SVL South title

New Lothrop’s Josh Wendling repeats as state individual champion

Swan Valley’s KJ Suitor places second at individual state meet

Koenig wins first state title in young history of Laingsburg wrestling program

Area bowlers have success at state finals

Greenville’s Ward reaches championship match

Farwell wrestler wins state title

Sanford Meridian wrestlers brings home state title before going off to Marines