Thirty-eight Observerland wrestlers made the trip to The Palace as state qualifiers, and 22 earned all-state honors by placing in the top 8.  Leading the way were the wrestlers from Detroit Catholic Central.  Ten of 14 Shamrocks placed.

  Sophomore Alec Mooradian (119 pounds) won his second state championship.  His first two victories were rather comfortable; a fall over Thomas Hilton of Flushing and a major decision over Dominic Trevino of Holt.  In his semi-final match, Mooradian won a very tense 3-2 decision in overtime over Rockford’s Jake Sholten.  In the championship match, Mooradian scored a first period takedown and basically controlled the match against Brandon Shuart of Davison, winning 3-1.

  Junior Justin Melick (135) won his first state championship after placing sixth last year.  He started his run with a fall over Rockford’s Austin Scogg and a 6-1 decision over Larry Rybarz of Anchor Bay.  Justin’s closest match came in the semi-finals against second-ranked Andy Jones of Grand Ledge.  Melick scored an early takedown with nearfall points and held on for a 5-2 decision.  He controlled his finals match against Caledonia’s Tanner Zych from start to finish, winning 7-0.

  Senior team captain Doug Eldridge (145) won his first state championship after qualifying in 2008 and placing fourth in 2009.  Doug scored a technical fall in his opening bout against Chad Hughes of Port Huron Northern, and followed up with a 7-2 decision over Augie Mata of Holland West Ottawa.  A 9-4 victory over Anchor Bay’s Steve Sattler put him in the finals against the pre-tournament favorite Andrew Morse of Lowell.  Eldridge hit a five-point move early on and held off a strong charge by Morse to win 6-5.

  Sophomore Todd Melick (112) was the fourth Shamrock finalist.  He started out on a tear, pinning Alek Zanchetta of Chippewa Valley, Alex Calandrino of Howell, and Zac Roberson of Clarkston.  The latter two wrestlers had beaten Todd last year at 103 pounds in the state tournament.  Todd’s reward was going up against last year’s 103-pound champion Freddie Rodriguez of Holt.  Freddie was phenomenal on his feet, scoring numerous take downs en route to a 20-7 major decision.

  Freshman Kenny Bade (103) and senior captain Mike Kinville placed third and sophomores Nick Mason (130) and T. J. Fagan (103) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.  Rounding out the medalists were junior Miles Trealout, seventh at 189, and senior Charlie Joseph, eighth at 125.

  Canton sent six wrestlers to The Palace and four of them placed.  Brent Winekoff (152) was second, Donnie Watkins (140) was third, Anthony Abro (189) was fourth, and Keith Zech (160) was seventh.  All are seniors except for Abro, a junior.  Detailed stories on the Chief wrestlers are posted on the main page.

  John Glenn had three if its five state qualifiers place.  Senior Anthony Pavlich (130) recorded Glenn’s first state championship after finishing eighth at 125 pounds last year and third at 103 pounds in 2008.  He began his championship run with a 15-0 technical fall over Gary Cicotte of Lanse Creuse North, then a 10-3 decision over Lowell’s Jake Fillingham.  In the semi-finals match, Pavlich beat Jeremy Stoian of Troy Athens 5-1.  The championship match with Hartland’s Jeff Lopez was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, but Pavlich started the first overtime period aggressively and scored a quick take down to win 4-2.

  “Anthony will cherish the feeling of being a state champion forever!  I am very happy that we are letting him leave with a title in his hands” stated Coach Bill Polk.

  Seniors Dustin Gajowiak (285) and Josh Austin (119) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, improving upon what they accomplished last year at the state tournament.  Polk added, “I am proud of the way our guys competed at the state meet.  Our guys were humble and accepted victory or defeat like young men and left their hearts on the mat“.

  Belleville junior Brendan Papin (119) had a rough regular season, recovering from a severe elbow injury last year, a different injury at the beginning of this season, and illness.  However, he finally got healthy for the post-season and surprised a lot of people by placing fourth.  His teammate, senior Forrest Sampson (215), fought back from a first round loss to two-time state champion Nick McDiarmid to finish fifth.

  Laith Francis (125) had an outstanding tournament, finishing third.  The Lutheran Westland senior captain finished the year with a 52-7 record.

  Livonia Franklin’s Steve Tuyo was another wrestler who was under the radar all season. His only loss on the mat was to two-time state champion Freddie Rodriguez.  An injury suffered in his win over Josh Austin forced him to settle for sixth place.  Head coach Dave Chiola couldn’t have been happier. 

  “Steve had a great season, not just on the mat but as a team leader.  He wrestled up pretty high in the line-up all year to make the team better and it paid off in the end.  Steve gets straight A's and is just a great kid overall.  We're glad we have him back another year and hope our younger wrestlers pattern themselves after him.”

  Kevin Beazley (160) was Farmington Hills Harrison’s first all-state wrestler in many years.  Kevin finished seventh in a very deep weight class.

Canton's Brent Winekoff (right) needed an escape in the final seconds to send the 152-pound final against Deshawn Nelson into overtime, but he couldn't break Nelson's grasp. (photo courtsey of PlymouthPictures.com)