My City January 2022

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M iller also quali ed for the state tourney as a junior and nished with a 113-59 record. Kemper, Miller’s former high school teammate, ultimately convinced him otherwise. “When my trade school plan didn’t pan out, I thought I would just take classes at Mott, but Brody said the wrestling team could probably use me and that I should come to a few practices,” he says. “I was impressed and when the coaches told me a scholarship was still possible, that was it.” Rodney Richards experienced what Mott ’s program is like while still in high school. He wrestled at Kearsley High School under coach Darnell Ruˆn,Winston’s cousin. EveryŠursday during the season, Richards, another teammate and his coach attended Mott’s practice and joined in. “It was a pretty fun experience and I loved how much work everybody was get- ting in,”Richards says. “Šey were grind- ing all day, going at each other nonstop. After practice, they were like family, sitting around, joking with each other, just chilling and hanging. I had to be part of that.” Richards joined the Bears after quali- fying for the Division 2 state tournament

MOTT WRESTLING TEAM (L-R) BACK: MANDO GUITERREZ, GAVIN COTTERMAN, MIGUEL GUITERREZ, LA’RON RUFFIN, GABE FIELDER, WILL MILLER, AARON WARD. FRONT: RODNEY RICHARDS, BRODY KEMPER, NATE YOUNG.

twice during high school, including placing fth in the state as a senior. He nished with a 112-36 high school record and is o‘ to a 7-3 college start. “It’s going pretty good, but I know I need to do more running outside of practice to build my stamina,” says Richards, who weighs less than 150 pounds, but has wrestled as high as the 165-pound weight class to help ll out the MCC lineup. “Še guys are certain- ly more skilled in college. You’re always going to face a quality opponent.” As for Ward, he began laying the foundation for a coaching career while wrestling under two of the top high school coaches in state history. He start- ed at Stevensville Lakeshore under the tutelage of Bruce Bittenbender, Michi- gan’s all-time winningest coach with 958 victories heading into this season. Ward then transferred to Lowell for his senior year, helping the Red Arrows to their second straight Division 2

team state title and rst under rst- year coach R.J. Boudro, who has won six more in a row since. Individually,Ward nished sixth in the state at 125 pounds and continued his ca- reer at NCAA Division 3 Adrian College. “I was very fortunate to learn so much about coaching the right way from coaches like Bruce and R.J.,” Ward says. “At Mott, I apply things I picked up from them because they both know what works as far as run- ning a quality program.” After less than two seasons at Adrian, Ward returned to his native Dowagiac on the state’s southwest side and landed his rst coaching gig as an assistant on the high school sta‘ for the 2017-18 season. Ward helped Dowagiac to its rst team state quarter nal berth in 14 years. At the same time, he began feeling he was not done wrestling competitively. During that season, Ward also found out he and girlfriend Autumn Chapman,

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