State wrestling team finals: Can Bedford, Jefferson, Dundee find inner peace?
Jefferson’s wrestling team added something new to its training regimen this season.
“We’ve been working all year on meditation and yoga,” Bears coach Ryan Nadeau said. “We started playing with it a little last year. The kids have been real receptive.
“The meditation is good. It lets the kids breathe a little bit. Then, the yoga came into play. I know our team benefits from it. You can look down the sidelines during a close meet and see the guys at peace.”
Jefferson, Bedford and Dundee will need all the peace they can muster this week as they climb onto the biggest wrestling stage in the state.
Those three schools will continue their quest for state championship at the Wings Events Center in Kalamazoo. The competition begins with quarterfinal matches on Friday. The semifinals and finals will be held on Saturday.
Division 1
Bedford got a rude surprise when pairings were announced Sunday.
“We’ve been ranked third (in the state) for the last month and a half, then all of a sudden we were seeded fifth,” Bedford coach Kevin Vogel said. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s just some people’s opinion.”
It does change Bedford’s path this weekend, however. They will open at 2:15 p.m. Friday against No. 4 seed Rockford. The teams' scheduled matchup in the regular season was cancelled.
“We’re expecting it to be an exciting dual meet,” Vogel said. “We are very similar teams. I knew they had a solid team last year. They’ve been qualifying (for state) the last few years.”
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The biggest drawback to dropping from third to fifth in the seedings is that Bedford now is on the same side of the bracket as overwhelming favorite Detroit Catholic Central.
If Bedford wins Friday, it likely will face CC in the semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
“We saw a few of their guys this weekend (at individual regionals),” Vogel said. “We split some matches. We won a couple and lost a couple. We just have to go out and compete.”
What are Bedford’s chances of winning at state title this season?
“It probably would have to be the perfect storm,” Vogel said. “Things would have to line up, but it’s not out of the possibilities.”
No matter what happens, this will be a valuable learning experience for Bedford’s young team.
“At the beginning of the year, I wouldn’t have thought we would be here,” Vogel said. “We graduated 14 seniors. But our kids battled all year. From the first day, they showed up and just wrestled."
Division 2
More: Jefferson headed back to quarterfinals after regional triumph
Jefferson, ranked No. 5, opens at 6:45 p.m. Friday with No. 4 Mason, which had been ranked third for most of the season, but slipped a bit in the seedings.
“We don’t know a lot about them, but it looks like a pretty even match,” Nadeau said. “We both have three regional champions and the same number of (state) qualifiers. We’re like mirror images of each other.”
With two teams are so evenly matched, little things will make the difference.
“It will come down to who gives the best effort – who gets bonus points and who doesn’t give up bonus points,” Nadeau said.
If the Bears get past Mason, they will likely face 10-time defending champion Lowell in the semifinals at noon Saturday.
“We would love that,” he said of a potential clash with Lowell. “We don’t change what we do according to the opponent. Our guys will be hard nosed and tough.”
Nadeau sees Fremont and Three Rivers as the most likely teams from the other side of the bracket to reach the finals at 3:45 p.m. Saturday.
Division 3
Dundee arrives in Kalamazoo seeking its seventh straight state title and 10th in 12 years.
The Vikings are only a few points from owning 11 straight state titles. The lost the final in 2017 when they tied Richmond 28-28 in regulation then fell to the same team 27-25 in the 2015 final.
Dundee is ranked No. 1 again. It will take on No. 8 Lake Odessa Lakewood in the quarterfinals at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
“Lake Odessa has a couple of ranked guys, three or four through the lineup,” said Dundee co-coach Nate Hall. “Anyone who has made it this far is a formidable opponent.”
If the Vikings make it through the quarterfinals, they will face Constantine or Hart in the semifinals at noon Saturday.
“That’s a really good matchup,” Hall said of Constantine and Hart. “They are comparable. I am not sure who comes out of that. It depends on who handles the situation and the environment better that day.”
Hall says Clinton, Yale and Whitehall all have a good chance to reach the finals at 3:45 p.m. Saturday out of the other side of the bracket.
If Clinton makes it, the state finals could be a Lenawee County Athletic Association rematch. Dundee dominated the first meeting 65-6.
“Clinton didn’t wrestle a full lineup against us,” Hall said. “They have an opportunity to make changes that will make it closer.”
Hall would like to see the finals showcase two teams from the LCAA.
“We always root for the LCAA,” he said. “It shows what a hotbed for wrestling we have in Monroe and Lenawee counties. We take pride in that.”
Pride will be a key word for Dundee this weekend as it seeks to add to its string of state titles.
“Some people call it pressure. We carry it as pride,” he said. “For a lot of our guys, this is what their family has always done. Wearing that Block D carries a lot of pride.”
MHSAA Team Wrestling Tournament Schedule
Division 1
Quarterfinals, 2:15 p.m. Friday
BEDFORD vs. Rockford
Detroit Catholic Central vs. Warren Mott
Brighton vs. Davison
Hartland vs. Macomb Dakota
Semifinals, 9:30 a.m. Saturday
BEDFORD-Rockford winner vs. Detroit Catholic Central vs. Warren Mott winner
Brighton-Davison winner vs. Hartland-Macomb Dakota winner
Final
3:45 p.m. Saturday
Division 2
Quarterfinals, 6:45 p.m. Friday
JEFFERSON vs. Mason
Lowell vs. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice
Three Rivers vs. Greenville
Freeland vs. Lake Fenton
Semifinals, Noon Saturday
JEFFERSON-Mason winner vs. Lowell-Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice winner
Three Rivers-Greenville winner vs. Freeland-Lake Fenton winner
Final
3:45 p.m. Saturday
Division 3
Quarterfinals, 4:30 p.m. Friday
DUNDEE vs. Lake Odessa Lakewood
Constantine vs. Hart
Clinton vs. Yale
Whitehall vs. Gladstone
Semifinals, noon Saturday
DUNDEE-Lake Odessa Lakewood winner vs. Constantine-Hart winner
Clinton-Yale winner vs. Whitehall-Gladstone winner
Final
3:45 p.m. Saturday
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Lenawee County teams make MHSAA state wrestling finals
