Wrestlers from Davison and Walled Lake Central grapple in the MHSAA individual finals on March 7, 2015, at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
When Novi Detroit Catholic Central takes on Davison on Thursday night, it will be a meeting between the state’s top-ranked Division 1 wrestling teams.
“I’ll bet there will be 1,000 people, and it’ll be loud,” Davison coach Roy Hall said. “It’s a good wrestling gym. It’s loud and tight quarters. It’ll be cool.”
The dual meet will take place at 6 p.m. and will be held at Davison Middle School because of a scheduling conflict with a basketball game at Davison High.
“We’re really excited to wrestle Davison, especially if you look at the last 10 years of this rivalry,” said Mitch Hancock, coach of No. 1 Catholic Central. “I don’t think there’s a rivalry in wrestling that’s as intense as this rivalry. The last three years, they’ve gotten the better of us: two (losses) at the state tournament and one in the regular season.
“But we had some significant wins over them in the state finals, as well. So any time you wrestle Davison and a Roy Hall team, you know you’re going to be in for a battle. So our guys are excited.”
The match will feature seven state champions, including five from Catholic Central.
“Five returning state champs?” Hall said. “That’s pretty doggone impressive.
“However, we beat them last year in the state semifinals and we just remind our kids that those same state champions are the same guys that we beat in a dual meet last year. And we feel we’re better than we were last year.”
Even Hancock is in a bit of disbelief about his squad’s five state champs.
“Yeah, it’s just incredible,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t think we expected that. But those champs are hammers and those guys wrestle hard and score bonus points, and that’s what you need to win a big dual. So hopefully, those guys are ready to go and score some falls for us.”
According to michigangrappler.com’s rankings, five of the 14 wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their weight classes in Division 1 will be competing Thursday. Three come from Catholic Central: Kevon Davenport (135 pounds), Tyler Morland (171) and Nick Jenkins (285). Davison’s top-ranked wrestlers are A.J. Facundo (125) and Brenden McRill (189).
Hall said it’s possible that two of the top seniors — McRill, who is committed to West Virginia, and Morland, a Northwestern commit — could go against each other. He also is eager to see a showdown at 103 between his stocky, fifth-ranked freshman, Andrew Chambal, and Catholic Central’s lengthy junior, No. 2 Devon Johnsen.
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Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.