CATHOLIC CENTRAL WINS FOURTH STRAIGHT D1 TITLE
KALAMAZOO » The Detroit Catholic Central wrestling team made history on Saturday, but it came under a bit of controversy.
The top-ranked Shamrocks collided with second-seeded Davison in the Division 1 championship match at Wings Event Center in a battle of two nationally-ranked programs. The Shamrocks came away with a 34-23 victory, but the Cardinals were left wondering what could have been.
In the 189-pound matchup, Davison’s Alex Facundo took on Catholic Central’s Manuel Rojas. Facundo is a two-time defending state champion and came into the final with a 34-1 record. Rojas, a sophomore, came with a 39-1 record.
Facundo was leading the match 5-1 in the second round when he took Rojas to the ground with a double leg. Rojas was deemed to be slammed by the refs, which stopped the bout. Doctors then checked on Rojas and evaluated him for a concussion. After five minutes of evaluation, they ruled he could not continue. Because of that, Facundo was disqualified and Catholic Central was awarded six points. That turned the team score from 18-17 for Davison to 23-18 for Catholic Central. Had Facundo won, he could have given Davison anywhere from 3 to 6 points, which would have made the final score anywhere from a 9-to-12-point difference.
“It’s not the way we wanted it, right? Our thoughts are with Manny at this point. You guys know I don’t take a slam. We had our (135)-pounder get up. Not the way we wanted it,” Catholic Central coach Mitch Hancock said of the DQ. “Without that, we still win the dual by two points. It’s unfortunate. Our thoughts and prayers are with Manny. We just hope he gets healthy really quick.”
The rest of the dual was littered with booing and jeers from the crowd after the decision, with most of it directed toward Hancock.
“The doctor evaluates him. Coaches have no decision in that. That’s why the booing and stuff is frustrating,” Hancock said. “I have no decision in any of that. The doctor came out and evaluated (Rojas) for a concussion. The doctor made the call, I didn’t make the call.”
Rojas was taken to the hospital following his match and wasn’t present for the awards presentation.
“I hope Manny is okay. I know Manny, I have trained Manny. He’s a really good kid,” Davison assistant Zac Hall, who was filling in for head coach Roy Hall, said. “I wish things would have worked out differently. I wish it could have been handled on the mat. I don’t like things going to that. I don’t think anybody did.”
Roy Hall was unable to coach this weekend due to a car accident, but Zac Hall said he is doing fine. Zac Hall gave his thoughts on the disqualification after the dual.
“From my point of view, we had a double, and honestly our kid’s head bounced off the mat. What upset us though was that (Rojas) popped right up to his feet, he’s going to wrestle, and their head coach comes up and says, ‘no, we need an injury time.’ You guys see the score, right? It changes the complexion of the whole dual,” he said. “You do the math, that’s a 1-point dual either way. It’s just disappointing for our guys, who wrestled their hearts out and have worked their (butts) off this year.”
Following the 189-pound bout, Catholic Central would put away the match when Brendin Yatooma scored a pinfall at 215 pounds in 4:56, and then heavyweight Steven Kolcheff recorded a pin in 90 seconds.
“I am very proud of the resiliency our guys showed,” Hancock said. “Really proud of how they stuck it out, especially our seniors up top.”
Kolcheff’s pin made the score 34-17 with two weights remaining, locking up the fourth consecutive championship for the Shamrocks, which is a first for the program.
“Closing everything out, there was a lot of things going through my head at that moment,” Kolcheff said. “To be part of the first Catholic Central team to get four straight was in my head. When I got the pin and looked up and saw everybody cheering, I saw my grandfather and my parents and it got really emotional for me. It really means the world to me.”
CC opened the final with a 6-5 win for Dylan Gilcher at 119 pounds. Davison would take the next two weights to establish a 9-3 lead, but the Shamrocks answered with a 25-10 win for Josh Edmond at 130 and a pinfall by Camden Trupp in 2:51 at 140 pounds to make it 14-9 in favor of Catholic Central.
Davison responded again, taking the next two weights to establish a 15-14 advantage. Derek Gilcher picked up a 5-1 decision win at 160 to make it 17-15, but Davison regained the lead at 18-17 at 171 pounds, which set up the 189-pound contest.
In order to reach the final, the Shamrocks bested fifthseeded Temperance Bedofrd in the semifinal, 68-6.
The Shamrocks got the dual started with a 2813 tech fall victory for Edmond, who secured 14 takedowns in under three minutes.
Gilcher (160), Rojas (171), Yatooma (215), Kolcheff (285), Drew Heethuis (103), Anthony Walker (112), TJ Bunn (125) and Trupp (135) each won by pinfall against the Kicking Mules.
Catholic Central now turns its attention to the individual state finals next weekend in Detroit. The Shamrocks have 14 wrestlers competing.