By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Wrestling: Zeerip Makes History
Wrestling had its big weekend at The Palace of Auburn Hills with the individual state finals.
Justin Zeerip of Hesperia won his fourth-straight Division 4 state wrestling championship when he pinned Nathan Kulas in 2:58.
He improved his career record to 260-0, becoming just the fourth wrestler in state history to finish unbeaten, and the 13th to win four state titles.
Zeerip's victory Saturday came in the 160-pound weight class. His previous titles came in the 125, 145, and 152-pound weight classes.
And Zeerip isn't just perfect on the mat. The University of Michigan-bound senior also sports a 4.0 grade point average.
Basketball: Houghton Not Just a Hockey School
Houghton has been a power in hockey in past years. But the western Upper Peninsula high school has enjoyed a strong season in boys basketball and advances to the regionals this weekend with a 20-2 record. One of the two losses for the Class C school was to Class A Escanaba.
"We've had some success," Houghton coach Jason Carter said. "This is the best any of our teams have done since 1988. We made it to the regional finals in 2004."
Carter said he purposely strengthened the schedule so the team would be battle-tested for the playoffs.
"The two games we lost were close games and we learned from them," Carter said.
Greg Peterson, a senior, is averaging 15.5 points per game and was named Player of the Year in the Upper Peninsula. Matt Zesatz is averaging 11 points and 8.5 rebounds and 11 per game.
"Everyone is prepared," Carter said. "Our speed is tough to get through. We play 10 players deep. Hopefully, we can tire the other team out."
Hockey
Grosse Pointe South, a Detroit-area school, was among the three state hockey champions crowned in Michigan last weekend.
GPS did it the exciting way, in overtime, 4-3 against Muskegon Mona Shores.
There have been state hockey tournaments for high schools since the mid 1970's, but GPS's victory marked only the fourth time a state title game has gone to overtime.
Grosse Pointe South ended the season at 24-4-1, while Mona Shores finished 20-9.
Tim Shield scored at the 6:46 mark of overtime. Among the most dramatic goals was by Taylor Flaska for GPS with less than a second to play in the first period.
"We know how to win in overtime," GPS coach Robert Bopp said after improving his career record to 242-120-21, including 7-1-1 in extra sessions this year. "We're well practiced in that. We had a mission here and that was to win. Our goal was to win no matter what it took.
"From the first period on we were a confident team. We felt that the game is ours. We've had depth all year."
"When they scored with less than a second left in the second period, there were no breakdowns," Mona Shores coach Shawn Zimmerman said. "We talked in the lockerroom about momentum. Our guys got fired up and took it to them in the third period."
Orchard Lake St. Mary won the state title in Division 1, while Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood came out on top in Division 3.
Volleyball
It's state championship weekend for Michigan volleyball with teams converging on University Arena at Western Michigan University for the state title in four divisions.
Among the teams bidding for a title in Class A is North Branch.
Other state semifinalists include East Kenwood, Livonia Churchill and Fraser in Class A, Grand Rapids South Christian, Lake Odessa Lakewood, Carlton Airport and Mason County Central in Class B; Iron Mountain, North Muskegon, Union City and Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in Class C and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Battle Creek St. Phillip, Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian and Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian in Class D.
North Branch outlasted Birmingham Marion 26-24, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22 in the Class A state quarterfinal at Holly, clinching its first semifinal appearance since 1994.
