Shamrocks Celebrate 2008-2009 Season
Nearly 250 wrestlers, family members, alumni, and fans packed into the Catholic Central Auxiliary Gym this past Friday to celebrate the wrestling teams 2008-2009 season. Among those in attendance were CC's President Father Richard Elmer, retired legendary coach, Mike Rodriguez and his wife June and former CC Heavyweight great Casey Rogowski.
The 2008-2009 Season was a successful one that many will remember for years to come. The 44-19 assembly match victory over Brighton, the first win over Bedford since '88, the
"B" Teams 8-0 CHSL Championship season, another trip to Battle Creek and a undefeated freshman State Champion were some of the highlights that were celebrated on Friday.
Recognizing Success
Fabulous Freshman Award Recipient: Todd Melick 41-5 Record- 31 pins
Kent County Champ, CC Invite Champ, Oakland County Runner-up
Observerland Champ, District Champ, Regional Runner-up, 4th place at States
Super Sophmore Award Recipient: Justin Melick 38-10 Record
Oakland County Runner-up
CC Invite Runner-up
Observerland Champion
District Champ, Regional Runner up
6th place finish at States
Most Improved Award Recipient: Charlie "Choo Choo" Joseph 36-14 Record
CC Invite Runner-up
Observerland Champ
District Champ
3rd at Regionals- State Qualifier
Animal Award Recipients: Doug Eldridge and Mike Kinville
Eldridge - 41-12 Record
3rd at Kent County
3rd at Oakland County Tournament
Observerland Runner-up
Catholic League Champ
District Champ,
3rd at Regionals -4th at States
Kinville-
38-13 Record 4th at Kent Coutny
3rd at Oakland County
Observerland Champ
Catholic League Champ
District Champ,
Regional Runner up 7th at States.
Altruistic Award Recipient: Kevin Sullivan 18-12 Record This award was designed by Coach Rod to honor the Senior who is most giving of themselves. Kevin, despite being hurt throughtout the season, entered practice everyday on a mission to help somebody else get better and for that we honor him as our 2009 Altruistic Award Winner.
John Spolsky Award Recipient: Trevor O'Connor 47-11 
This award was designed by Coach Hancock to honor the young man who portrays the best image of our passed soilder Capt. John Spolsky. Spolsky was a man of commitment, dedication, and excellence who will always be remembered in the Shamrock Wrestling program. Spolsky was a heavyweight state champion for the Shamrocks in 1996.
O'Connor this years captain overcame adversity to earn All-State honors as a senior by placing 7th at the palace. He captured championships at the Kent County Classic, Observerland tournament, and District tournament. He finished runner-up at the Oakland County Tournament, CC Invitational, and Regional tournament.
Mike Rodriguez Award Recipient: Alec Mooradian 50-0
The Most Outstanding Wrestler Award was renamed this year to honor longtime 
Shamrock Wrestling Coach, Mike Rodriguez. Rodriguez who retired from CC as the all time winningest coach in high school wreslting history, dominated as a competitior as well. Rodriguez was a Natioanl High School Prep Champ, 3x Big Ten Champ, and a 2x NCAA-Runner Up. After finishing his college career, Rodriguez went on to win several AAU National Championships and retired from competiting as one of the most outstanding wrestlers this nation has seen.
This years recipient, Alec Mooradian, is just a freshman. Mooradian became only the second wrestler in school history to win the state title as a freshman, the first was Marty Moran in 1978.
Mooradian finished his freshman campaign with a perfect 50-0 record which included wins over 3x State Champion B.J. Suitor and 2x State Champion Victor Vittesse. Mooradian also led the team with 32 pins and an amazing 320 team points. The freshman won every tournamemt this year and won the most outstanding wrestler award at the Goodrich Tournament of Champions.
Thank you to everybody for attending and making this night special !
MSU Spartan Believes like a Shamrock!
ST. LOUIS, Mo., 03/22/09 - Top seed Franklin Gomez defeated No. 2 seed Reece Humphrey of Ohio State, 5-4, to become the 2009 National Champion at 133 pounds Saturday (March 21) evening at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Gomez is the 19th MSU wrestler to win a national championship and the first since Kelvin Jackson won the title at 118 pounds in 1995. Overall, it marks the 25th time a Spartan has claimed an individual national title.
The Spartan National Champ, when interviewd by flowrestling, gave credit to his belief in Jesus Christ. " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", was the verse the National Champ used to guide him the grueling tournament.
Philippians 4:13, which was painted in the CC Wrestling Room by Coach Rodriguez, has become the benchmark for the Shamrock program. Coach Hancock had this to say about Gomez and the verse that the Shamrocks live by. "You got to believe in the Man Upstairs. If you believe in him and live your life through him, you can accomplish anything, and Franklin Gomez proved that. He is a believer and role model for us all, especially our youth. I hope our guys watch this interview and believe like Gomez!"
Recognition Banquet Set for Friday, April 3rd, 5:00pm
2008-2009 Year End Recognition Banquet
It is hard to believe that another wrestling season has come to pass. The end always seems so far away at the start of the season. It is now time to reflect and congratulate the wrestlers for their many accomplishments. The 2008-2009 Wrestling Shamrocks would like to invite you to our recognition and awards banquet set for Friday, April 3, 2009. The banquet will take place at 5:00pm in the Catholic Central High School Auxiliary Gymnasium.
The Catholic Central Wrestling Banquet always seems to be a favorite amongst attendees, the reason being? The cost is FREE, the food is great and the atmosphere is second to none.
We ask all families to bring a dish to feed 15 or more:
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Freshman and Seniors are asked to bring desserts
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Sophomores and Juniors are asked to bring Entrée’s
All wrestlers are asked to attend and wear the following dress attire:
Stewart Leads Chippewas into St. Louis
Lucky #8
Senior Trevor Stewart will lead 7 of his fellow Chippewa teammates into St. Louis, Missouri this weekend for the 79th annual NCAA Wrestling Championships being held at the Scottrade Center on March 19-21. Action gets underway on Thursday at 11:00am. Stewart(23-8) heads into the first round of the tournament as the 11 seed and will meet Rutger's Matt Pletcher (33-11) who earned a wild-card after finishing 4th at the EIWAs. If everything goes right for the Chippewa's captain in the first round, he should meet up with 6th seed from Ohio State, Colt Sponseller, in the second round.
Stewart will be making his last trip to the promised land. After qualifying last year as a junior, Stewart was defeated by former Davison standout and current Iowa State Cyclone Jonathan Reader, in the round of 12. Look for Stewart to make an impressive run as his draw looks promising.
Can't make the trip?
ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will combine for expanded live coverage of the 79th annual NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. For the first time, all 11 hours of coverage on ESPNU, ESPN and ESPN2 will be presented in high definition.
Friday, March 20
11 a.m. Quarterfinals – Live ESPNU HD / ESPN360.com
7 p.m. Semifinals – Live ESPNU HD / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com
Saturday, March 21
10:30 a.m. Championship Medal Round - Live ESPNU HD / ESPN360.com
6:30 p.m. Finals – Live ESPN HD / ESPN360.com
Mooradian Wins Title as Freshman
Freshman Alec Mooradian found the top of the 112lb podium at the palace this weekend, as he became the second freshman in Shamrock Wrestling History to win an Individual State Championship. The first was Marty Moran who captured the state title in 1978. Mooradian capped off a perfect 50-0 season by defeating Holt's Ben Matthiesen 2-0 on a last second reversal in the third period. Mooradian defeated Grandville's Jacob Scholten in the semi's 3-2, and Port Huron's Camden Sebring 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Coach Hancock had this to say about Mooradian's freshman season.
"I am very happy for Alec and his family. What people don't know about Alec is that he trains harder behind the scenes than anybody in the state. When other guys are taking Sundays off to rest and heal, he is traveling around the state and country to practice, and thats why he wins big matches. There is no off season for Alec. He joins a very elite group at CC and I am happy for him. With that being said, we have a lot of work to do this spring and summer to get him ready for the Nationals."
Shamrocks Shine at Palace
7 Shamrock grapplers took to the mats this past weekend at the Palace of Auburn Hills, in hopes of earning State Championship honors. Of those 7, 1 walked away a state champion and 5 others earned all state honors.
Senior Shows Character
Senior Captain Trevor O'Connor led the way for the Shamrocks by placing 7th at 152lbs. The battled tested O'Connor capped off his high school career with a 40-10 record and will find his picture on the wall amongst CC's finest wrestlers. O'Connor will graduate as one of CC's finest captains, leading his team to catholic league district, and regional championships. (Click Here to view the 152lb Bracket)
Eldridge Amongst Elite at 130lbs
Doug Eldridge used his conditioning and tenacity to outlast opponents this weekend as he finished his junior campaign with 39-12 record and a 4th place finish at what might have been one of the toughest weight classes in the tournament, 130lbs. Eldridge might have won one of the most intriguing matches of the tournament in the first round as he defeated East Kentwood's Bernie Vilker. Vilker knocked Eldridge out of last years state tourney. The Shamrock junior scored a takedown with 10 seconds left on the clock to force overtime and was declared the winner as Vilker ran out of injury time during his second timeout of the match. Eldridge and Vilker continued their rivalry in the consolation finals, however this time, Eldridge fell in overtime losing 6-4. The junior proved that he can compete with the states best, and will return next year as a serious title contender. (Click Here to view the 130lb Bracket)
Kinville Joins Brothers as All-Staters
This weekend, junior 189lber Mike Kinville joined his brothers John and Joe, by claiming all state wrestling honors for the Shamrocks. Mike placed 7th, at a senior loaded weight class, by defeating Mike Domanski of Grand Blanc 4-2 in overtime. Kinville caps off his junior year with a 36-13 record and is expected to anchor the Shamrocks upper weights next season. (Click Here to view the 189lb Bracket)
In it Together
Brothers Justin(pictured right) and Todd Melick made their presence known this weekend as they both wrestled to all-state honors in their first appearance at the Palace. Justin, a sophomore for the Shamrocks, placed 6th at 119lbs while his freshman brother Todd finished 4th at 103lbs. Coach Hancock had this to say about the Melick brothers and thier success this weekend. "I am so proud of these two young men. They feed off of each other. It was fun to watch them warm-up together and carry each other through the tournament. Their relationship is remarkable and I think these two young men are going to win state titles together in the very near future." (Click Here to view the 103lb Bracket), (Click Here to view the 119lb Bracket)
Joseph Jumps Levels
Junior 125lber Charlie "Choo Choo" Joseph had a stellar season as he qualified for the state tournament in his first post season appearance for the Shamrocks. Joseph, who didn't compete for the Shamrocks last year in the individuals, made a statement this year with his work ethic and determination as he qualified for the state tournament. Joseph was eliminated from the tournament but gained valuable experience for next season. Coach Hancock stated, "Charlie has made some huge jumps this year and I am extremely excited about his future. He worked hard last summer by attending several camps, and it showed this year. If he puts the same effort forward this summer, he will be a serious contender next year to win it all."
TEAM SHAMROCK
SCHOOL OF WRESTLING
Qualifies 21 for MMWA State Finals!
Mike Krause has once again showed why he is considered one of the best coaches in the country. Coach Kruase in his first year at the helm of Team Shamrock has qualified 21 of 26 wrestlers for the MMWA State Finals this coming Sunday at Clarkston High School. Since taking over the youth program Coach Krause has raised the expectations and has taken the CC youth program to the next level. We wish Coach Krause and Team Shamrock the best of luck this weekend at the State Championships!
Stewart Qualifies; Nadhir Plays Waiting Game
Trevor Stewart claimed his second straight MAC Championship title on Sunday as he brought the CMU faithful to their feet by pinning Kent State's Obie Simpson in the first period. With the win, Stewart has automatically qualifiied for the NCAA tournament which will be held in St. Louis Missouri, March 19-21. Stewart's 10th ranked Chippewa's walked away with their 8th straight team title by outscoring Kent State 111.5 to 82.5 points. CMU has automatically qualified 8 of 10 wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament under the new NCAA qualifying system. They have a chance of getting two more entries as the NCAA hands out the wildcard births on Wednesday, March 11th.
Andrew Nadhir got off to a quick start at the Big 10 tournament this past weekend by defeating U of M's Mark Beaudry in the opening round 12-7. In the quarterfinal round Nadhir used his conditioning to upset returning All-American and #3 seeded Lance Palmer of Ohio State 9-8 in overtime. Nadhir's impressive run however came to an end as he was narrowly defeated by Penn State's #2 ranked and returning NCAA finalist Bubba Jenkins 2-1. Nadhir than lost than lost his next two matches falling to 7th ranked Jake Patacsil of Purdue and 4th ranked Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin. Nadhir finished 6th in what could be the toughest weight class in the country. The sad thing is that the NCAA has only allocated 5 spots at the 149 weight class, which means Andrew is going to have to wait till Wednesday to find out if he will receive a wild card and wrestle in the NCAA Championships. Keep Andrew in your thoughts and prayers as this young man waits to keep his dream alive!
Shamrocks Fall in Quarterfinals
The Catholic Central Wrestling team saw its season come to an end Friday afternoon as they were beat 42-27 by Lake Orion in the quarterfinals of the MHSAA Team State Finals.
The Shamrocks found themselves in familiar territory as Todd Melick, Alec Mooradian, Justin Melick and Charlie Joseph, all came away with pins to put the Shamrocks up 27-5 going into 135. However, the tables turned as a motivated Lake Orion team rallied off 8 straight wins to give their long time coach, Doug Kline, a birth in the semi-finals. Doug Kline made it known earlier this year that he would be retiring after this season.
Coach Hancock had this to say about the Shamrocks performance in the quarterfinals. "I hurt for our guys right now. Our guys work extremely hard and they do everything we ask of them, and to see them fall short of their goal, really hurts. We had them by the throat and we let them slip away."
"It's hard to put a team away who wrestles that hard for their coach. That speaks volumes to what kind of coach Doug Kline is." In saying that, we have to learn how to keep emotions out of a dual, by not giving them a spark.
"I am extremely proud of our guys, especially our seniors. The seniors have faced a lot adversity this season, and yet still carried themselves like champions all year long. They are exceptional young men who are going to move on and be very successful in every aspect of life."
The guys returning, I'm sure are going to use this as a motivational tool to get back to work, and get better for next year. We'll be back!"
Stewart and Nadhir look to Qualify for NCAA's
Stewart looks to repeat as MAC Champion
Trevor Stewart will enter this weekends MAC Tournament held at Eastern Michigan University as the #1 seed at 165lbs. Stewart won his the MAC Tournament last season as a junior defeating Kent States Kurt Gross in overtime. The former 3x State Champion for the Shamrocks, looks to make his second appearance at the NCAA's. The senior lost last year in the round of 12 to former Davison stand-out, and current Iowa State Cyclone, Jonathan Reader. Stewart is currently ranked 10th in the country and enters this weekends tournament with a 21-8 record, 4-0 in MAC competition. The tournament will be held on Saturday and Sunday at EMU's Covocation Center. Saturday’s action begins at 1 p.m. while Sunday’s events get underway at 11 a.m.
Nadhir seeded 6th at Big Tens
Andrew Nadhir will enter this weekends Big Ten Wrestling tournament most likely as the 6th seed. Nadhir a sophmore at Northwestern enters the conference tournament with a strong 6-2 Big Ten dual meet record. Overall, seven Wildcat wrestlers have earned pre-seeds in the upcoming Big Ten Championships at Penn State, the conference announced on Monday, surpassing the six seeded wrestlers NU boasted each of the past two years. Pre-seeds are determined by the league’s head coaches after consideration of each wrestler’s head-to-head competition throughout the course of the season.
Shamrocks to Face Lake Orion in State Quarterfinals
The 15-4 Shamrocks will return to Battle Creek's Kellogg Arena this Friday to compete for the Division I state championship. Seeded fourth, the Shamrocks will face the Dragons of Lake Orion in the first round. The Shamrocks defeated Lake Orion back on January 14th 33-26. Lake Orion enters the quarterfinals with a 31-7 record. The dragons defeated Anchor Bay at the regionals 31-28.
The match is scheduled to start at 3:15pm on Friday, March 6. The winner will advance to the semifinals to face either Rockford or Roseville on Saturday at 9:30am, with the winner advancing to the state finals, which are at 4:00pm on Saturday.
Division 1
1-Rockford (23-2) vs. Roseville (31-7)
4-Detroit Catholic Central (15-4) vs. Lake Orion (31-7)
3-Hartland (30-3) vs. Westland John Glenn (27-7)
2-Holt (26-1) vs. Midland (30-5)
Mooradian Claims Regional Championship
Shamrocks Send 7 to the Palace
In what many consider one of the tougher Individual regionals in the state, the Shamrocks were able to send 7 of its 9 grapplers on to the next level. These 7 individuals have kept thier goals of being the states best wrestler, alive. Todd Melick, Alec Mooradian, Justin Melick, Charlie Joseph, Doug Eldridge, Trevor O'Connor, and Mike Kinville are all headed to the Palace of Auburn Hills for the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals on March 12-14th.
Coach Hancock had this to say about the Shamrocks performance. " I am excited that these seven have kept the ability to reach their goals alive. I am happy with the way our guys fought back in the consolation rounds. They wrestled extremely hard today, and yes the loses hurt, but we can fix those things. As a team we had trouble putting people away today, we had several opportunities where we could've put the match away and we didn't, we have to get better at that. Our guys are excited about the Team States and we believe that we're going to make some great things happen."
Results
103- Todd Melick 3rd
112- Alec Mooradian 1st
119- Justin Melick 2nd
125-Charlie Joseph 3rd
130- Doug Eldridge 3rd
152-Trevor O'Connor 2nd
189-Mike Kinville 2nd
Congrats to Matt Thompson and Gerid Gee on a phenominal year!
O'Connor and Crew ready for Regionals
Senior Captain Trevor O'Connor and teammates: Todd Melick, Alec Mooradian, Matt Thompson, Justin Melick, Doug Eldridge, Gerid Gee and Mike Kinville will wrestle Saturday at Woodhaven High School in hopes of keeping their individual state championship quest alive. O'Connor, who was named Oakland Press athlete of the week, along with 6 of his teammates will enter as the #1 seeds from the Livonia Stevenson district. Thompson and Gee will be entering as 4 seeds. The other individual district merging will be the Temperance Bedford district, which should provide for some entertaining wrestling. Action gets underway at 9:30am with the top 4 finishers advancing to the MHSAA Individual Finals held at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Team State Apparel
All wrestlers, families, friends and alumni are now able to purchase Team State t-shirts and sweatshirts to wear in Battle Creek next weekend. The shirts list all of the teams in the top 8 in Division 1 and will also list the wrestlers' names and weight classes on the back. Wrestlers are responsible to
