Eisenhower, Ford Wrestlers Qualify for State Finals

HARRISON TOWNSHIP – Eisenhower junior Charlie Myers had his sights on a regional title. He wasn’t going to go home empty-handed. 

Myers battled Rochester senior Cody DeVoe in the 171-pound finals on Saturday at the individual wrestling regionals at L’Anse Creuse. Their match went into the fourth tie-breaker period, where Myers escaped to neutral to win the decision 3-2.

“There was no way I was going to be held down,” Myers said. “In my head, I said all you got to do is get out of here.”

The intensity grew with each overtime period, and each of the two wrestlers was mindful not to make mistakes in the early rounds. The two had wrestled earlier this season, with DeVoe coming out on top.

This time, Myers didn’t let DeVoe hit any offense.

“(A close match) is all a head game,” Myers said. “You have to keep going and believe you can win.”

Myers kept going all the way to a title. He’ll head to The Palace of Auburn Hills in two weeks for the state finals. The top four wrestlers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament.

Teammate Connor McDill is also headed to The Palace. He was the runner-up in the 103-pound weight class. He lost a 9-3 decision to Rochester junior Justin Kim.

Utica Ford qualified two wrestlers for the finals. Senior David Skochelak (189) and sophomore Tevin Machart (130) each made it into the top four. Skochelak lost in the finals to Rochester senior Shwan Shadaia.

There was a scary moment in the match when Shadaia nearly choked himself out in the trying to escape a side headlock.

In the third round, Skochelak had the move locked in. Shadaia had no choice, but to try and turn over while in the hold. As he moved the pressure increased and all of a sudden he was tapping out.

“He actually choked himself out getting out,” Lafferty said. “Most kids can’t take it, it was getting tighter and tighter, it was all legal, but he had it worse trying to escape. In order to get out he had to do it.”

Skochelak earned three points for the tap-out. It gave him a 10-7 lead with a minute to go. Shadaia didn’t waste anytime trying to make up for the mistake. He grabbed Skochelak’s leg and whipped him to the mat with 20 seconds on the clock to even the score 10-10.

In overtime, Shadaia scored another takedown to win 12-10. 

Romeo was also in the L’Anse Creuse regional. It qualified four wrestlers last week at districts and all four qualified for the state finals.

Junior Alex Christofis (152), senior Tayron Womble (112) and junior Evan Richardson (130) all lost in their regional final matches. Junior Larry Rekar (189) won his match in the consolation bracket finals.

Tough Competition

The L’Anse Creuse regional wasn’t lacking in top competition.

“There’s not a bad wrestler here; this is a really tough site,” Rochester High School coach Frank Lafferty said. “It might be one of the toughest (sites) in the state.”

It makes what his team and Oxford accomplished all the more impressive. The schools won more than half of the regional titles up for grabs on Saturday.

All six Falcons wrestlers made it to the regional finals in their respective weight classes. Rochester was only a takedown away from bringing home six regional championships. 

Kaelan Richards (135), Dean Vettesse (140), Aaron Morgan (145), Justin Kim (103) and Shwan Shadaia (189) all won regional titles.

Myers handed Rochester its only loss in the finals by beating DeVoe.

“Great day, great day, better than we expected,” Lafferty said.  “Best we’ve ever done.”

Oxford brought 11 wrestlers to the Division 1 regional and all of them are headed to the state finals. It won four regional championships.

The two undefeated wrestlers in the regional stayed that way. Oxford senior Prescott Line (42-0) won the 215-pound bracket and Stoney Creek senior Nick Gajdzik won the heavyweight division (285).

Last year in the state finals, Line and Gajdzik wrestled for the championship in 215-pound bracket.

Gajdzik moved up a weight class this year and they avoided each other in the regionals. Gajdzik’s teammate Serge Andreou wasn’t so lucky. Line pinned Andreou (1:47) in the regional finals.

Wrestling Regionals Coverage

• Four Anchor Bay Wrestlers Qualify For State Finals
• Berkley Eliminated From State Individual Wrestling Regionals
• Grosse Pointe North’s Patrick Salazar Wins Wrestling Regional Title
• No Luck For Groves Wrestlers At Individual Wrestling Regionals
• Lakeview’s Aaron Roach Eliminated At Individual Wrestling Regionals
• Lake Orion Wrestler Charlie Highlen Headed To State Finals
• Macomb Dakota and Chippewa Valley Wrestlers Qualify For State Finals
• Banner Day For Rochester At Individual Wrestling Regionals
• Royal Oak Wrestlers' Season Ends at Individual Regionals