The Ile Camera
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Three area wrestlers are champions
France, Novack and Shaw win MHSAA indiviudal titles
By Scott Held, The News-Herald
PUBLISHED: March 16, 2007
Marc Shaw never forgot how much it hurt to lose a state title by a point.
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West Bloomfield's Zoran Lazar saw what such memories can do Saturday.
The Lincoln Park senior allowed him just one legitimate point as he scored an 8-5 decision in the 189-pound state championship match at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Four of Lazar's points were conceded escapes.
"Last year was the worst feeling in the world," said Shaw (41-2), whose stalling penalty was the difference in last season's 215-pound final.
"I just remembered how much I hated losing."
His title is just the second in school history. Ian Santiago was the 119-pound Class A champion in 1991.
Shaw conceded the match's first point but took a lead he'd never lose with a takedown in the second period. Another takedown, this one in the third, gave him a 6-2 advantage and Lazar never threatened again.
"I felt really good when I got here this morning," added Shaw, who will be at the U.S. junior nationals in Virginia Beach, Va., on March 28. "I've had two of the best coaches in the world."
Lincoln Park Coach Don McKenzie said Shaw deserved it.
"We just reminded him how bad it hurt when he lost last year," he said. "He's just a great kid.
"You could call him to remind him to run two miles and he'll say 'coach, I already ran three.'"
Assistant Tommy Nuttall hoisted the 6-foot-2 Shaw onto his 5-4, 126-pound frame after the match ended.
"This was definitely his day," said Nuttall, who joked he'd been working out to prepare for the victory hug. "We had a plan for this tournament for him and he followed it every step of the way.
"He's worked as hard as he can every day for the last two weeks."
Shaw scored a 16-6 decision over Rockford's Tom Felix in the first round and beat Lake Orion's Evan Gros 9-5 in the quarterfinals.
He got to the final by beating Tommy Ellsworth of Clarkston 7-4.
Shaw headlined a nine-man Downriver contingent in the Division 1 tournament. Three others from that group also took home medals.
Woodhaven 160-pounder Darin Tims won a narrow 1-0 decision in the third-place match to end the weekend on the stand.
He finished with season record of 47-5, which is a single season record for Woodhaven.
"He finished he career winning at The Palace," Woodhaven Coach Robin Kind said. "He wrestled very tough and his only loss was to the state champion Ben Bennett from Rockford."
His career win total for Woodhaven was 164, which is also a record at the school.
Roosevelt had two wrestlers lose in the third-place consolation finals on Saturday.
At 125 Christian Cullinan finished fourth, losing by default to Grant Ankney of Holt.
Cullinan went 3-2 on the day and finished his season at 50-6.
At 135 Jerry Boggess went 3-2 and lost to Matt Kessler of Battle Creek Western 4-1 in the third place final.
Boggess, ranked second in the state individually this year, finished his season 50-5.
"They both really wrestled well," Roosevelt Coach Brett Greene said. "Christian lost 3-2 in the semis to Livonia Franklin on a takedown in the last 30 seconds. Then in the third-place match they called an illegal slam.
"Jerry lost in overtime in the semifinals."
Two other wrestlers competed at states, but at 135 Richard Perez went 0-2 and at 152 Ricky Zepeda went 0-2.
Lincoln Park's Jorden Belous (130) and Anderson's Chris Gniewek (145) each went 1-1 in blood-round action, while Roosevelt's Richard Perez (135) and Enrique Zepeda (152), along with Lincoln Park heavyweight Sean Lathrup failed to win a match.
Lester France ended last year's state finals on his back.
He made sure to write a better ending to his senior season.
The 152-pounder scored a 7-4 decision over Richmond's Ryan Mack on Saturday to claim his second career Division 3 state championship at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The victory capped a 59-0 final season.
"How last year ended had a lot to do with this year," said France, who was pinned in the 145 final by Montrose's John Fulger a year ago.
"I lost to a good guy, but I still hate to lose."
France scored a takedown early in the match to take a lead he'd never lose. After Mack tied the match, France was awarded a reversal late in the first period.
Mack never got closer than two points.
"His attitude changed this year," Flat Rock Coach Jim Taraszkiewicz said of France, who won the 140 championship as a sophomore and finished his career 217-12.
"His grades were better and he was much more aggressive. He was a smarter wrestler this year."
France, who will be in Virginia Beach, Va., on March 28 for the U.S. junior nationals, agreed.
"I took a lot of stupid shots last year instead of being patient," he said. "This year, I tried to make sure I was more focused.
"I never really worried about streaks or records. Everyone is so nice to me. I've got a great family and teammates and coaches. Everything I do is for them."
His parents and siblings were waiting near the press area with a banner heralding his title.
He pinned Crosswell Lexington's Zach Fabian in his first match and scored a 7-3 decision over Trevor Tyler of Rosscommon in the quarterfinals.
Corunna's Cody Rozell was a 3-2 victim in the semifinals.
France was one of three Rams at the Palace and teammate Keith Thompson also ended the weekend on the medal stand.
He scored a 7-1 decision over Dowagiac's Drew Staley in the seventh-place match after going 2-1 through the blood round.
Brennan Phelan won his first match at 140 but fell out of contention when he dropped his next two.
The calendar most certainly said 2007 on Saturday, but there was a whole lot going on to make Huron's Andrew Novak think he was back in his junior season.
That's when a controversial final call cost him his second straight state title.
Saturday featured a tight match and two less-than-pleased Lowell coaches, but the outcome was much more to Novak's liking.
He was awarded a takedown in overtime to top Jackson Morse for the Division 2 state championship at 125 pounds.
Morse's coaches vehemently protested the call, claiming one of Novak's feet was out of the ring when the call was made. A smattering of boos came as an official declared the Huron senior the champ.
"It was the right call," said Huron Coach Jake Shulaw, who was furious last season when Corunna's Kyle Rosser was awarded a late reversal last season in the Division 3 125 match.
"This is the second time he's won a state championship in overtime.
"I think he's trying to kill me."
Novak, the Division 112-pound champion in 2005, led after a first-period takedown but Morse tied the match with a pair of escapes.
He said he was tired in the extra period, but still controlled the action.
"Our coaches always have us go hard at the end of practices," he said. "That helped."
The victory capped 57-0 season, his first perfect run.
"The first time I won was in my mind," he added. "It's my senior year and I wanted to go out with a win."
Shulaw said he'll miss Novak, who lost just six matches in his final three seasons.
"It's everything about him," he said. "He's got a great work ethic and great drive. He's just a great kid to be around.
"He chased some really good guys this season and beat them all. This is a great way for him to go out."
Novak will wrestle at Eastern Michigan University this fall.
Teammate Jeremy Szekely made the 119-pound final but fell 7-6 to Swartz Creek's Dave Priest.
The senior had a 6-5 lead after a third-period takedown, but Priest came back with a reversal and controlled the rest of the match to hang on for the title.
"That kid is a hell of a rider and Jeremy just couldn't get out of it," Shulaw said.
Szekely, who made a great run in the last month of the season, ended the year 53-5.
Two other Downriver wrestlers secured medals Saturday, including Trenton's Max Sall, who lost by technical fall in the third-place match at 171.
Melvindale's Bryan Boulware took home a fifth-place medal after scoring an 11-2 major decision over Lake Odessa Lakewood's Holden Hummel in his final match.
The Division 2 field had the most Downriver wrestlers, but most of them failed to advance through the blood round.
Trenton Junior Max Sall (171), though, was a placer. He took fourth and finished with a season record of 43-9.
Melvindale wrestler Bryan Boulware (103) also placed, finishing fifth. The sophomore's season record was 40-11.
Melvindale's senior Jimmy McGuckin (215) finished eighth. His record for his final year was 44-11.
Riverview's Justin Walls (112) and Giovanni Luciani (130), Huron's Jimmy Mann (125) and Allen Park's Larry Cervantes (160) each won their first blood-round matches before dropping their final bout.
Huron's Chad Koch (145), Riverview's Zack Ronan (160) and Huron heavyweight Kyle McCormick all were finished after consecutive defeats.
Staff writer Dave Merchant contributed to this report.
Division 4
Summit Academy's two-man contingent produced a top-eight finish as Raymond Nelson took seventh at 171.
He lost a 3-2 decision in his second blood-round match but came back to beat Decatur's Matt Johnson 5-2 in the seventh-place match. He finished the season at 37-6.
Teammate Michael Winterhaler dropped his first two matches at 215.
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