Finals

This winter in Michigan will be remembered by some as lasting seemingly forever. But at least we had plenty to enjoy over the five weeks from the end of February through March.  Read on for 10 stories from this winter's Finals we're likely to recall for years to c...

There is plenty of opportunity for high school skiers to sharpen their skills in Emmet County with such facilities as Nub’s Nob and Boyne Mountain nearby. It appears the Petoskey and Harbor Springs girls are taking advantage as they occupied the top two spots for...

The Petoskey boys were nearly in top form Monday, earning their third straight MHSAA Division 2 ski title at Marquette Mountain with 39 points.

Traverse City Central coach Jerry Stanek just smiled when he was congratulated after his girls ski team won the MHSAA Division 1 championship Monday at Boyne Mountain. After five straight second-place finishes at Finals, the Trojans hoisted the championship trophy for ...

Marquette is back as MHSAA Division I Boys Skiing champions after the Upper Peninsula school ended competition Monday with a combined score of 57 points to finish ahead of defending champion Clarkston’s 74 at Boyne Mountain. The championship was the Redmen’...

A few minutes after winning the MHSAA Division 3 championship on Saturday, some members of the Dundee wrestling team picked up Sean Kelitz and put him on their shoulders. Was Kelitz an unlikely hero? Certainly. A junior, he came into his match at 119 pounds with an 18-...

Rematches are always fun. But they don’t get any better than when they are between the top two teams, and in the MHSAA Finals.

Since 2009, Battle Creek has been like a second home to Hudson High School wrestling coach Scott Marry. His Tigers know the city well, as Hudson had bused back north holding the MHSAA Division 4 championship trophy every season over the last four. But on Saturday, they...

St. Johns’ seniors heard most of it and read the rest over the last year. Those last three MHSAA team wrestling championships simply were "a fluke," or if nothing more the product of seniors who graduated last spring. But these seniors – including five who ...

When Denise Mayer began her duties as co-head swimming coach at Sault Ste. Marie High School last fall, she didn’t really know what to expect from the Blue Devils. “We started with just a handful of swimmers,” she said. “We had lost a lot of s...

Many of the Houghton High School girls may be too young to remember when the Gremlins had last earned an Upper Peninsula swimming title. The Gremlins, however, created their own memories on Saturday as they gained their first title in 12 years with 339 points. They wer...

Champions representing five regions of our state. The fifth to win three-straight MHSAA titles. Two more repeat champions, and three teams that hoisted trophies for the first time. Plus four games decided by a touchdown or less, including a Final won on an overtime...

A funny thing happened on Drake Harris’ way to hoops stardom. He discovered he’s even greater on the gridiron. The junior wide receiver didn’t intend to play high school football at Grand Rapids Christian, but now figures that’s his meal ticket ...

Half of Portland’s division of the Capital Area Activities Conference has made it to the MHSAA Finals over the last three seasons. So before bringing the Raiders to Ford Field this week, coach John Novara spoke with a number of coaches who had occupied the spot h...

Thomas Wilcher is a former Detroit Public School League football star who has become one of the most successful coaches in the state.  Perhaps such a future awaits the city’s brightest current star, Detroit Cass Tech quarterback Jayru Campbell. 

When Ishpeming coach Jeff Olson watched film this week of Saturday opponent Detroit Loyola, he saw a team that continuously “demoralized” its opponents. By midway through the second quarter of the MHSAA Division 7 Final, his players understood what he meant...

The Grand Rapids South Christian community wouldn't allow Derek Woltjer to feel nervous or unsure of himself. As soon as it became apparent that he would start for injured star quarterback Jon Wassink in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game, Woltjer was bombarded w...

Logan Hessbrook started at quarterback for Ithaca’s junior varsity last season as a sophomore, and probably would start for a few hundred teams that don't have the luxury of all-state quarterbacks every season. But neither takes away from the fact that ...

Jason Alessi appeared to be running out of gas.  For someone who spent the day chasing Muskegon's speedy backs, who could blame him if fatigue was setting in? With a championship on the line, however, Alessi still had the dream of a lifetime within him.

Harbor Beach always has considered itself a football town. Beginning with its last run to an MHSAA championship game in 1991, the Pirates have amassed six seasons with at least 10 wins – including four over the last decade. But the 1,600 residents living along th...