Davison holds off Catholic Central to win D1 state title
KALAMAZOO » The Detroit Catholic Central wrestling team was in the unfamiliar position of underdog heading into Tuesday’s Division 1 wrestling state final.
Seeded second, the Shamrocks met up with top-seeded Davison in a rematch of a controversial 2020 state final.
On March 13, Catholic Central was soundly beaten by the unbeaten Cardinals 36-9 for their lone loss of the season.
In Tuesday’s rematch, the Shamrocks brought their championship pedigree to the mat and nearly pulled off the upset. In the end, Davison found a way to come out with a 29-24 victory to earn their first championship since 2006.
“That’s just a tough and resilient bunch of guys,” Catholic Central coach Mitch Hancock said of his team. “We lost to that team by 27 just a few weeks ago. To put the game plan together, and for the guys to execute the way they did, I am really proud of them. We had guys up in weight classes, we had guys down in weight classes. We flipped a lot of matches from a few weeks ago. Just really proud of our guys and the effort and toughness they gave.”
In the 2020 final, Davison pow
erhouse Alex Facundo and Catholic Central standout Manuel Rojas met in the decisive 189-pound bout. Facundo was leading the match 5-1 when he was ruled to have slammed Rojas to the mat during a double-leg takedown. The match was stopped and Rojas was evaluated by a doctor and unable to continue.
Catholic Central was given six points by the DQ, turning the tide in the finals match. The Shamrocks eventually won 34-23, but the DQ was anywhere from a 9-to-12-point turnaround. That loss motivated Davison throughout the 2021 season to a perfect 19-0 record.
“That’s something for the last 13 months we have never forgotten,” Davison coach Zac Hall said of the 2020 finish. “That secondplace trophy, it’s the first thing you see when you walk into our wrestling room. Kids touched it every day. That’s been our motivation all season. We knew (Catholic Central) was going to wrestle us tough. They are tough and well-coached. We were just a little bit better (Tuesday).”
The match was decided at 130 pounds. Davison led 2621 with two weights remaining. Catholic Central junior Anthony Walker was moving up in weight to face Davison junior Cameron Freeman, who was also up a weight class.
Freeman established a 3-0 lead through the first two periods, but Walker fought his way back in the third and got the score to 3-2. In the closing seconds of the match, Walker was scrambling for a takedown, with the Catholic Central bench imploring for the referees to reward it, but time expired and Freeman was able to hang on for the victory, securing the championship for Davison with one bout remaining.
“You know what I am going to say,” Hancock said with a laugh when asked if he felt Walker deserved a takedown. “He wrestled hard and that’s what I’m most worried about. The guy was on a hip and (Walker) had the outside. It was really close, but the officials did a fantastic job all weekend. It’s a tough environment to officiate. That match wasn’t decided on that one call.”
The championship bout was quite even, as each team won seven of the 14 weight classes.
Sophomore Tatum Bunn got CC out to a great start, as he overcame a 4-0 deficit to secure a pinfall at 140 pounds.
Camden Trupp followed it up with a 10-3 decision at 145 to give the Shamrocks a quick 9-0 lead.
Davison won the next three weights, including a 26-10 tech fall victory for Facundo at 171. He didn’t get his rematch with Rojas, as the junior moved up to wrestle at 215.
With Davison up 14-9, both Rojas (215) and John Browning (189) scored decision wins to get CC ahead 15-14.
Davison answered with wins at 103 and 112 to regain the lead at 22-15. The Cardinals wouldn’t trail again.
Drew Heethuis (112) picked up a 4-1 decision win, while freshman Cory Thomas (125) won 6-0, and Dylan Gilcher (135) ended the match with a 5-2 victory.
Catholic Central (21-2) sees its run of four consecutive state championships come to an end, but the Shamrocks still have 14 individual finals qualifiers that will compete on Saturday.
“It’s definitely not as easy as some people think it is,” Hancock said of winning state titles. “Our guys made a good run at it this year. We are going to recover and get ready for Saturday, but we will learn from this experience. We are a relatively young team, so we will be back with a vengeance next year.”
In the semifinals, the Shamrocks met thirdseeded Hartland. Catholic Central won the first five weights to establish a 24-0 lead on the Eagles. CC would score four pins and three tech falls in the match to secure a 55-18 victory.
Catholic Central rolled to a 67-3 win over Wyandotte Roosevelt in the quarterfinal to open the day. The Shamrocks dropped just one weight class while scoring five pinfall victories and three tech falls.
Sixth-seeded Clarkston was overwhelmed by Hartland in the quarterfinal, suffering a 64-10 loss.
The Wolves got a pinfall victory from Ashton Anderson at 130 pounds to start the match, but would only secure one more win. That win was Grady Castle at 152 pounds in a 15-1 decision.
Clarkston ends its team season with a record of 16-8.