Who will win Division 1?
Jeff Chaney: Oxford is the defending champion. It beat 2010 champion Detroit Catholic Central in an exciting final that came down to the final weight class for the crown.
I feel that didn’t sit well with Detroit Catholic Central coach Mitch Hancock, and he has has had his Shamrocks working extremely hard all year to reclaim that championship.
Detroit Catholic Central is loaded and has been ranked number one in the Michigan Grappler rankings all season long, but other teams with talented lineups like Davison, Hartland, Bedford, and Brighton should have something to say about which team wins this year.
The division’s quarterfinals matchups Friday could be close, tight, and exciting, and they could lead to interesting semifinals Saturday morning.
With seasoned wrestlers like Logan Marcicki, Alec Mooradian, Ken Bade, and Kevin Beazley, it’s hard to bet against Detroit Catholic Central.
PREDICTION: Detroit Catholic Central over Davison in the finals
Randy Miniard: I start by looking at D1, where my former teammates at Michigan State (way back when), James Richardson (Grand Haven) and Roy Hall (Davison) will be representing their region in Battle Creek. Coach Hall has made all of us former Spartans very proud with the outstanding job he has done while at Davison.
Winning multiple state team titles and also having the impact for his boys to win NCAA titles is absolutely amazing and inspiring to all! Coach Richardson, on the other hand, has built a very respectable program and won his first regional title recently.
To win the regional, he outmaneuvered some very tough competition on the west side of the state, where his former coach and great wrestling person Jack Provential resides as AD. I’m happy for you guys!
Joining them will be one of my old wrestling foes who wrestled for U of M, Sam Amine, who has done an awesome job getting Brighton built into a perennial power! Bedford brings back memories of teammate Rick Deeb, while DCC wrestling dad Jim Mason was a former collegiate standout for Grady Penninger and Pat Milcovick back in the day. Mike Amine, another former Wolverine foe and brother to Sam, is also a wrestling dad for DCC, while coach Mitch Hancock and Assistant Dave Beazley are top shelf individuals and are great for the sport. Finally, Hartland and returning champ Oxford, along with Roseville, round out a very stout division.
PREDICTION: My heart wants to go with James or Roy, but my brain says DCC has too much.