Saturday proved to be a tightly-contested battle between the Southgate Anderson and Gibraltar Carlson, who placed first and second, respectively, in the dual meet portion of the league schedule during the regular season.

After around five hours of competition, it was the Titans of Anderson outlasting Carlson once more, finishing first overall to claim the outright DRL championship.

It’s the second league title in as many years for Anderson, who prior to their 2025 crown had not won a conference crown in the sport in nearly a decade. The outright honors comes after the Titans went undefeated in the league duals, including a 59-15 team victory over Carlson in a league quad back on Jan 14.

Similar to last year’s end-of-season meet, Saturday proved to be another neck-and-neck race between the two programs.

Anderson capped the day with 275.5 team points, narrowly beating out runner-up Carlson (266) by a smaller gap than the margin between the two teams a year ago. Both the Titans and Marauders combined to house nine of the 14 individual champions by day’s end.

Anderson saw five wrestlers end their respective days in the first-place match, tied with Allen Park for the second-most among any school behind only Carlson’s six. The Titans, however, saw all five emerge victorious in said matches, where the Marauders cashed in on four of their six such tries.

Each team also had four more matmen salvage third-place honors. Anderson also had two additional wrestlers turn in fourth-place finishes.

Allen Park (184.5) finished third overall in the final team standings, followed by Brownstown Woodhaven (180.5), Wyandotte Roosevelt (158.5), Trenton (126), Lincoln Park (120), Edsel Ford (69), and Taylor (26) to round things out.

Despite clogging up nearly half of the first-place match representatives, Anderson and Carlson only clashed in one such match on Saturday. That came in the form of the Titans’ Johnny Pardo besting the Marauders’ Matthew Beach by a 4-2 decision.

A rematch of the 285-pound league finals a year ago, which was won then by Beach, Saturday’s bout marked the fourth head-to-head battle between Pardo and Beach this season. The two seniors have now split those meetings, with all four matches being decided by four points or fewer.

Pardo and Beach now have a combined 76 wins on the season heading into the state postseason.

In addition to their heavyweight standout, Anderson on Saturday saw Devin Sears (113), Sam Wilhelm (120), Nathan King (157), and Liam McMillen (175) all take home individual league titles.

Sears and Wilhelm each wrestled in three matches, winning all three by fall. The former has now won each of his last nine matches, including a pin of Allen Park’s Deacon Ashmore in the finals. The latter meanwhile tallied three first-period pins on Saturday, the last of which was Roosevelt’s Gage Ball.

King, who finished third at 144 pounds a season ago, will carry a 10-match win streak into the state tournament thanks to three more victories on Saturday. The senior ended his day with a slim 6-2 decision over Roosevelt’s Nolan Allman in the finals.

As for McMillen, he continued what is a very strong first season of high school wrestling. After opening the day with three pins, the freshman for Anderson then dethroned Woodhaven’s Tahj Ferguson with an impressive 16-6 major decision victory in the 175-pound finals.

McMillen on the season now has 43 victories, second on the team only to Pardo (44).

Elsewhere for Anderson, Jaiden Rivera-Pepper (106), Christian Carlson (132), Chase Luevanos (190), and Cameron Muszynski (215) all salvaged third-place finishes. Carlson was a league title winner at 113 pounds a year ago, while Muszynski improved on his fourth-place showing from 2025.

Beach’s tough close loss aside, Carlson still walked away with four individual league champions. That includes a pair of first-timers in Abram McCall (106) and Jacob Morris (190), as well as some familiar faces in Wally Sindone (126) and Michael Skowronski (138).

McCall ended up only wrestling once on Saturday, as the 106-pound class only had three placeholders by day’s end. The freshman in the finals took care of Woodhaven’s Anthony Muti by first-period fall. Another freshman, Morris in three wins had one by technical fall as well as two pins, the second of which was in the waning seconds of the first period vs Allen Park’s Samson Vukson.

McCall and Morris have been arguably Carlson’s top two matmen this winter with each combining for nearly 90 wins. Right up there for the Marauders as well is the aforementioned Wally Sindone, who successfully defended his 126-pound title from a year prior.

Sindone on Saturday wrestled five times. After winning each of the first four by four — three of which were in the first period — the junior cruised to a 17-3 major victory over Edsel Ford’s Hammam Salim in the finals.

As for Skowronski, it is the second time in three years that he found himself in the first-place match at the league meet. A runner-up finisher in 2024 and a third-place finisher last year, the junior ended his three-win day strong with a pin of Allen Park freshman Marcus Tuccini in the finals.

Carlson’s other first-place match competitor on Saturday, Luke Guffey (165), had to settle for runner-up honors. After winning his first match of the day via fall, the senior then fell in a 14-4 major decision to Lincoln Park’s Sa`Darion Holloway in the title bout.

The Marauders elsewhere got third-place honors from a quartet of Orlando Ehause (113), Elijah Wurts (120), Peyton Brown (144), and Gunnar Adams (175). It’s the second straight year that both Ehause and Adams each end their respective league runs on the third-place mat, the latter matching his placing from the 2025 meet.

Both Trenton and the hosts from Lincoln Park each left Saturday’s meet with two individual league champions.

Trenton got yet another dominating showing from Brock Culpepper, who renewed his title at 215 pounds for a second straight season. Few wrestlers in the league, if any, have been better than Culpepper, who now sits at a perfect 42-0 on the season following three more pins on Saturday, including one of Allen Park’s Zachary VanEtten in the finals.

The Trojans’ other first-place finish came courtesy of Blake Scrimenti (144), whose third of three wins on the day was a pin of Woodhaven’s Collin Dodd in the finals. Brother and junior Cole Scrimenti (132), who finished third at 120 pounds a year ago, settled for runner-up honors on Saturday after losing in a 7-3 decision to Edsel Ford’s Hassan Awada in the finals.

Trenton had two others finish up their respective days in the third-place match. Senior James Harrison (138) improved on his fourth-place effort in 2025 by salvaging third in the same weight class, while freshman Ryder Robinson settled for fourth place at 120 pounds.

With his finals win over Carlson’s Guffey on Saturday, the aforementioned Sa`Darion Holloway now paces Lincoln Park with 42 victories on the season. The junior was one of two newly-crowned league champions for the Railsplitters, who had one such honor over the previous three seasons combined.

A few matches before Holloway, Lincoln Park also saw Diego Buendia (150) finish his perfect 4-0 day, all by fall, with a pin of Allen Park’s Jason Mifsud in the finals.

The meet hosts elsewhere on Saturday had two other wrestlers compete in the third-place match. Jacob Spratt (157) finished the day on a high note with a win, while Jaysean DeJesus (144) had to settle for fourth-place honors.

Despite losing his final two matches of the day, DeJesus still sits at 38 wins on the year, second on the team only to Holloway.

In addition to their five runner-up placeholders, Allen Park had three others end their respective days in the third-place matches. Their eight top-4 finishers tied Woodhaven for the third-most among any school on Saturday.

Salvaging third-place honors for the Jags included Connor Collinson (165) and Zackary Helvey (285). The latter two years ago finished fourth in the heavyweight class. And Kyle Craft (157) added a fourth-place finish as well.

Only one of Woodhaven’s five wrestlers that competed in the third-place match picked up a win. That came in the form of Maxwell Dominguez (150), whose only loss of the day was to Lincoln Park’s Buendia in pool play.

Four other Warriors — Nico Hernandez (113), Braylon Wallace (126), Jace Mrkich (138), and Bryton Serda (190) all settled for fourth-place finishes.

In addition to the runner-up placings from both Ball and Allman, Roosevelt had another four matmen end their respective league runs in the third-place bout on Saturday.

Blake Schroeder (126) salvaged third place for the Bears, one year after he finished runner-up to Carlson’s Sindone. A trio of Rocket Sladovink (132), Donavan Stone (175), and Ben Demmer (215) all tallied fourth-place honors. Both Stone and Demmer were runner-up finishers at the 2025 league meet.

As for Taylor, this is their third consecutive year of fielding a varsity wrestling program. Saturday was limited participation overall for the Griffins, who had just four grapplers compete in the varsity portion of the meet festivities.

Taylor’s only top-4 placeholder at leagues was a familiar name in Aiden Havener (285). A third-place finisher at last year’s league meet, the senior on Saturday settled for fourth place in the same weight class.

UP NEXT

The Michigan high school wrestling state tournament gets underway next week with team districts taking place on Feb 11-12.

The main one locally will be a Division 1 district at Allen Park, who will welcome in league foes Anderson, Lincoln Park, and Roosevelt. Elsewhere in D1 on Feb 12, Woodhaven will trek down to Monroe, while Taylor will join Edsel Ford for a meet at Dearborn Heights Crestwood.

Trenton meanwhile finds themselve situated in a D2 district at nearby New Boston Huron on Feb 11. That district also features local programs Riverview and Romulus.

Photo gallery of the 2026 Downriver League individual wrestling championships

Saturday proved to be a tightly-contested battle between the Southgate Anderson and Gibraltar Carlson, who placed first and second, respectively, in the dual meet portion of the league schedule during the regular season.

After around five hours of competition, it was the Titans of Anderson outlasting Carlson once more, finishing first overall to claim their second consecutive outright DRL championship.

Photo gallery is courtesy of Alexander Muller.

Carlson came in fresh off a thrilling 4-3 victory over Metro East Division foe and Division 3 No. 7-ranked Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett earlier in the week. Friday meanwhile was the first game in over a week for Riverview, who had scored a combined 25 goals during their current three-game win streak.

Guided by a fast start, the Marauders from Carlson continued their own late-season push as they cruised to a 5-1 win over RCU.

The result gives Carlson their fourth straight win overall, matching their longest such streak of the season from one they did back in early December. This recent win streak comes after dropped a season-worst seven straight games.

Unlike their most recent outing vs Liggett on Feb 4, the Marauders on Friday set the tone early with a big three-goal first period, including two in the span of 50 seconds. The third of those goals to begin the game came on the power play with 32 seconds to go before the intermission.

Midway through the second period, Riverview-Cabrini ended a bid for what would have been Carlson’s first shutout win since Jan 2 when senior Noah Worthy potted his seventh of the season. Carlson, though, was able to equalize that later in the frame with their second special teams score of the night, this one coming short-handed with 17 seconds to go.

The Marauders finished up the night’s scoring with one more in the third period. Each of the last three goals scored by the victors on Friday came courtesy of Caden Jones.

The big hero in their win over Liggett, Jones scored the game-winning goal with just two seconds to go in regulation, helping Carlson complete a wild comeback after trailing 3-0 earlier in the contest. The late-season surge by the Marauders also applies individually to Jones, who has doubled his season goal output (8) over the last two games alone.

Carlson also got single goals each from Jagger Whitten and Nathan Kastl. The latter was also one of six different Marauders to pick up at least one assist. A trio of Ben Peterson, Brayden Beaudette, and Chase Moore combined for seven assists on the night.

The goal by Worthy for RCU was assisted by both Maverick Markham and Trevor Kurkowski. The most prolific scoring duo in the local area this winter, the senior forwards have now combined for 200 points through the team’s 23 games played.

Carlson senior goaltender finished with 17 saves. On the other side, the Marauders peppered Riverview-Cabrini senior netminder Evan Schwartz with 37 shots on goal, a combined 29 of which came in the first and third periods.

UP NEXT

Carlson (13-11-1) has just two games left in its regular season before the state playoffs, which officially get underway later this month on Feb 16.

The Marauders will stay home at Kennedy for both final regular season tune-ups as well. It starts with hosting non-conference foe Livonia United on Feb 10 before welcoming in Metro East rival Jackson Lumen Christi on Feb 13.

All three final regular season games for Riverview-Cabrini (11-12) will also take place at the friendly confines of Kennedy.

After hosting non-league foes Bishop Foley United and the North Oakland Eagles on Feb 7 and 9, respectively, RCU will conclude its winter campaign by hosting Metro West foe Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard on Feb 12.

Photo gallery of Gibraltar Carlson vs Riverview-Cabrini United in a Metro League ice hockey battle

Carlson came in fresh off a thrilling 4-3 victory over Metro East Division foe and Division 3 No. 7-ranked Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett earlier in the week. Friday meanwhile was the first game in over a week for Riverview, who had scored a combined 25 goals during their current three-game win streak.

Guided by a fast start, the Marauders from Carlson continued their own late-season push as they cruised to a 5-1 win over RCU.

Photo gallery is courtesy of Constance York.

Girls Basketball

CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE

Allen Park Cabrini 60, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 52

Clarkston Everest Collegiate 60, Ann Arbor Greenhills 52

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 38, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 26

Jackson Lumen Christi 55, Farmington Hills Mercy 49

Marine City Cardinal Mooney 46, Chesterfield Austin Catholic 35

Riverview Gabriel Richard 34, Southfield Christian 21

CENTRAL STATE ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

Chippewa Hills 53, Grant 46

CHARTER SCHOOL CONFERENCE

Detroit Crocket Midtown Science & Medicine at Melvindale AB&T

DOWNRIVER LEAGUE

Allen Park 27, Lincoln Park 20

Gibraltar Carlson 48, Trenton 39

Taylor 33, Southgate Anderson 21

Woodhaven 57, Dearborn Edsel Ford 33

FLINT METRO LEAGUE

Corunna 57, Ortonville Brandon 30

Flint Kearsley 50, Holly 12

HIGHLAND CONFERENCE

Roscommon 61, Beal City 25

HURON LEAGUE

Riverview 69, Monroe Jefferson 40

INDEPENDENT

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 53, Brighton Charyl Stockwell 9

JACK PINE CONFERENCE

Beaverton 69, Farwell 23

Ogemaw Heights 35, Shepherd 27

St. Louis 37, Harrison 21

Bullock Creek at Clare

LAKES VALLEY CONFERENCE

Milford 29, South Lyon 15

South Lyon East 45, Lakeland 40

Walled Lake Western 46, Walled Lake Central 21

Waterford Kettering 2, Oak Park 0 (forfeit)

MACOMB AREA CONFERENCE

Anchor Bay 44, Romeo 38

Chippewa Valley 69, St. Clair Shores South Lake 24

Clawson 59, Center Line 22

Fraser 57, Port Huron Northern 40

Hazel Park 64, New Haven 23

St. Clair Shores Lakeview 38, L’Anse Creuse North 25

Roseville 40, L’Anse Creuse 34

Utica 45, Warren Cousino 40

Utica Eisenhower 72, Grosse Pointe South 41

Utica Ford 53, Macomb Dakota 47

Warren Fitzgerald 41, St. Clair Shores Lake Shore 26

Warren Lincoln 58, Clintondale 30

Eastpointe at Madison Heights Madison

Sterling Heights at Madison Heights Lamphere

MICHIGAN INDEPENDENT ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Livonia Clarenceville 38, Novi Christian Academy 34

Plymouth Christian Academy 57, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian 11

Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 71, Lutheran Westland 40

Riverview Gabriel Richard 34, Southfield Christian 21

MID-STATE ACTIVITIES CONFERENCE

Coleman 48, Baldwin 37

Indian River Inland Lake 62, Montabella 32

OAKLAND ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

Berkley 56, Birminhgam Seaholm 27

Birmingham Groves 73, Royal Oak 43

Bloomfield Hills 54, Auburn Hills Avondale 44

Clarkston 52, Stoney Creek 45

North Farmington 66, Ferndale University 30

Pontiac at Farmington (0-0 forfeit)

Rochester 30, Lake Orion 23

Southfield A&T 56, Troy 55

Troy Athens 43, Rochester Adams 33

Waterford Kettering 2, Oak Park 0 (forfeit)

West Bloomfield 44, Oxford 41

Ferndale at Harper Woods

SAGINAW VALLEY LEAGUE

Mt. Pleasant 36, Midland Dow 35

TRI-VALLEY CONFERENCE

Bay City John Glenn 49, Alma 33

Hemlock 62, Ithaca 36

WESTERN WAYNE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Melvindale at Romulus

——————————

Boys basketball

BLUE WATER AREA CONFERENCE

Croswell-Lexington 59, Armada 41

North Branch 64, Richmond 43

CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE

Allen Park Cabrini 70, Clarkston Everest Collegiate 60

Marine City Cardinal Mooney 47, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 40

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes 64, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 50

CENTRAL STATE ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

Grant 64, Chippewa Hills 42

CHARTER SCHOOL CONFERENCE

Warren Michigan Math & Science 47, Mt. Clemens 31

DOWNRIVER LEAGUE

Gibraltar Carlson 77, Trenton 51

Lincoln Park 66, Allen Park 44

Monroe Jefferson 55, Riverview 48

Dearborn Edsel Ford at Woodhaven

Taylor at Southgate Anderson

FLINT METRO LEAGUE

Flint Kearsley 61, Holly 48

Corunna at Ortonville Brandon

HIGHLAND CONFERENCE

Beal City at Roscommon

HURON LEAGUE

Carleton Airport 55, Grosse Ile 54

Flat Rock 59, Milan 38

New Boston Huron 61, Monroe St. Mary CC 47

INDEPENDENT

Center Line Prep Academy 77, Detroit Lincoln-King 64

KENSINGTON LAKES ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

Salem 57, Novi 49

LAKES VALLEY CONFERENCE

Milford 58, South Lyon 26

South Lyon East 52, Lakeland 47

Walled Lake Western 68, Walled Lake Central 49

Walled Lake Northern at Ypsilanti Arbor Prep

MICHIGAN INDEPENDENT ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Bloomfield Hills Roeper 43, Waterford Oakside Prep 24

Novi Christian Academy 57, Livonia Clarenceville 48

Plymouth Christian 63, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian 51

Southfield Christian 61, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 36

Sterling Heights Parkway Christian 68, Brighton Charyl Stockwell 65

MID-STATE ACTIVITIES CONFERENCE

Breckenridge 67, Carson City-Crystal 28

Fulton 58, Merrill 42

Montabella 67, Ashley 25

Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart 63, St. Charles 46

Vestaburg 73, Coleman 37

OAKLAND ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

Bloomfield Hills 73, Troy 58

Clarkston 57, West Bloomfield 41

Stoney Creek 5,7 Oxford 55

SAGINAW VALLEY LEAGUE

Mt. Pleasant 72, Midland Dow 63

TRI-VALLEY CONFERENCE

Bay City John Glenn 57, Alma 29

Hemlock 63, Ithaca 35

WESTERN WAYNE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Romulus 62, Melvindale 47

Trenton won all three relays and in the diving well, while also adding another nine second and third-place finishes to help the night.

The Trojans had two swimmers each with four first-place finishes.

Zach Schoen won two solo events himself and was part of two winning relays for the hosts.

Individually, Schoen finished first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:13) as well as the 100-yard backstroke (58.39). The senior also helped his team to victories in the both 200-yard medley relay to begin the night, as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay to wrap up the meet.

Hunter Julian was another four-time first-place winner on Thursday for Trenton.

Julian finished first in both the 50-yard freestyle (23.13) and 100-yard freestyle (51.56) races. A classmate of Schoen, he was also a part of the winning medley relay and the 400 free relay events.

Another senior, Brandon Watkins finished strong with two second-place individual finishes in the 200 free (1:57) and the 100 fly (1:01) and was part of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay and 400 free relay races.

Elsewhere for Trenton, Bryan Simon took first in the 500-yard freestyle (5:48) after kicking off the meet as part of the medley relay. The final first-place finish for the Trojans came from Tyler Clements in the diving well after he finished with 182.15 points. Teammate Simon Durbin was not too far behind in third place (169.25 points).

Other notable standouts for the Trojans on Thursday included Aiden Kayal, who twice finished runner-up as an individual. Kayal finished second only to his teammate Julian in both the 50 free (23.95) and 100 free (53.86) and was one leg for both the 200 free relay and 400 free relay events.

Sigmund Hevron rounded out the second-place finishes by doing so in the 500 free (6:00).

Gavin Diroff finished third in the 200 free (2:09) and was part of the 200 free relay, while Nicholas Lear finished third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00) and swam in the medley relay.

Tytus Kelly rounded out the top-three finishes for Trenton with his finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:13).

For Woodhaven, Noah Barringer and Matt Calvin led the way with each collecting a pair of top-two finishes.

Barringer swam to a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:55) before finishing runner-up in the backstroke (59.53). Calvin was the winner in the breaststroke (1:10) and placed second in the IM (2:23).

The Warriors’ other first-place finish on Thursday came from Aiden Dombrowski with his winning effort in the 100-yard butterfly (1:00).

Elsewhere for the visitors, Kyle Scamp was a second-place individual finisher in the breaststroke (1:12). Alex Vazquez finished third in both the IM (2:25) and the 100 free (55.39). In the diving well, Teygen Grossenheider-Albano finished second with 179.10 points.

Rounding out the third-place finishes were Jayce Goroni in the 50 free (25.03), Eric Walter in the butterfly (1:07) and Landen Zdyber in the 500 free (6:16).

UP NEXT

Trenton and Woodhaven each are slated to compete in the annual Wayne County Championships, which take place this weekend on Feb 6-7 right back at Trenton High School. Both teams will then revisit their league dual meet schedules next week.

The Trojans will stay home and look to stay undefeated vs Wyandotte Roosevelt, while the Warriors will return to its home pool and host Southgate Anderson.

Photo gallery of Brownstown Woodhaven vs Trenton in a Downriver League boys swim dual meet

Roosevelt came in having lost each of its last three conference meets, the most recent of which was a 79-51 defeat at the hands of Allen Park last week on Jan 29. Anderson meanwhile has endured similar struggles so far this winter when it comes to the league slate, winning just one of its five such meets coming into Thursday.

On a night where they recognized their seinors, the host Bears got a big bounce-back effortwith an 81-60 victory over the visiting Titans.

Photo gallery is courtesy of Constance York.

Trenton won all three relays and in the diving well, while also adding another nine second and third-place finishes to help the night.

Photo gallery is courtesy of Samantha Elliott.

Powell will be taking his talents to Northwood University. An all-region and first-team all-News-Herald recipient this past season, Powell led all local defensive linemen with 61 tackles, 10 of which were good for a loss of yards.

Dunson meanwhile will extend his football journey at Albion College next school year. A third-team all-area honoree, Dunson like Powell was a two-way player on the line. Ecorse head coach Larry Johnson described Dunson as the “heart and soul” of the team.

As far as other Raiders that will be playing at the next level, another two-way lineman in Aaron Collins will also stay in-state at Madonna University. Wide receiver and defensive back Michael Russ plans to stay local and play for Community Christian College in Detroit. And another wideout, Michael Putman Jr, will attend Culver-Stockton College in Missouri.

Evans has been a fixture on both sides of the line of scrimmage for the Riverview varsity program for all four of his high school years. A former two-time all-News-Herald honoree in both 2024 and 2025, he received second-team honors this past season after logging nearly 40 tackles as a defensive lineman, and was a starter on the offensive line for seven of the Pirates’ 10 games.

A multi-sport athlete, Evans has also wrestled and played hockey at the school. He was a regional qualifier in the former in his junior year. He also has played three years of the latter, having racked up 22 points in 20 games played as of the team’s most recent contest completed on Jan 28.