Detroit Catholic Central wrestling coach Mitch Hancock is one of the most successful coaches in Michigan high school sports history. Having won seven of the last 10 Division 1 team titles along with coaching countless individual champions, Hancock is more than eager to chase his eighth championship this winter.
However, when he arrives at practice each day to coach his athletes, the Shamrocks’ practices look more like an intramural sports class.
“We’re playing floor hockey,” Hancock said. “We’re breaking out hockey sticks from middle school. We’re weightlifting. We’re shooting on football dummies. We’re doing things that you teach elementary students how to do.”
No, the unconventional practices are not a part of some secret to success that has propelled Catholic Central to be a juggernaut over the last decade.
Instead, the unique practices are a last resort.
With the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services not allowing contact winter sports to commence competition until Feb. 21, wrestling teams are restricted from having contact during practice in the meantime. The situation has put coaches and athletes in a very strange limbo of not being able to practice some of the simplest ways to compete.
“In one way, it’s fun and it’s a little bit different, but in another way, it’s like what are we really doing?” Hancock said. “What are we really accomplishing? Especially in the sport of wrestling.”
To put things into perspective, the team wrestling championships were supposed the take place on Feb. 26 and 27 if the winter season proceed as normal, which is now the same week full practices and competition will be cleared to start. The individual finals were supposed to wrap up the season on March 5 and 6. Now, wrestling teams will look to start their competitive seasons at that time.
“We just continue to drag these winter sport athletes on and on and on,” Hancock said.
Hancock walks through the Catholic Central gym often and notices the school’s boys basketball team practicing as well. Although boys and girls basketball face the same no-contact restrictions as wrestling through Feb. 21, Hancock notices how the basketball team can still work on offensive and defensive sets and drills, dribbling drills and shooting mechanics. As Hancock pointed out, players on basketball and hockey teams can still work on the fundamental ways to compete and score. In wrestling, that is nonexistent.
“They’re pulling up jump shots and it’s all relative to their sport,” Hancock said. “What we’re doing is just all strength and conditioning. Like I said, our guys should join a hockey program.”
The frustration felt by Hancock is shared by many wrestling coaches throughout the state, who just want a chance for their athletes to work on their craft and to be able to compete.
“I worry about the kids,” Hancock said. “That’s the biggest thing.”
Lowell Head Coach R. J. Boudro yells instructions to sophomore Jacob Lee during his match at the 2019 MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Lowell defeated Goodrich to claim the Division 2 MHSAA team wrestling title.Emil Lippe | MLive.com
Find A Path Back
Up until the morning of Jan. 22, contact winter sports were scheduled to return to full participation and competition on Feb. 1. However, the MDHHS’s decision to push back the start date for all contact winter sports until Feb. 21 has fueled anger and led coaches and athletes to feel like they have been toyed with.
“They’re being told they have to start Feb. 1 then, wait a minute, we’re going to start Feb. 21,” Hancock said. “That’s not good… We’re adults. We preach to our kids all the time that if you’re going to say something and do something, we’re going to hold you accountable to saying and doing that thing. So let’s do the same things as adults.”
When the announcement was made, the Michigan High School Athletic Association said it was surprised by the news as well, which only frustrated Hancock further.
“You just wish the MHSAA had a seat at the table,” Hancock said. “That’s where I guess everyone is confused. How can the MDHHS make these decisions without correspondence with an agency that impacts the lives of so many different children across the state?”
One of the main movements fighting the current shutdown of contact sports is the Let Them Play campaign. It lobbied heavily for the return of football back in the fall when it was initially announced in August that the sport would be moved to the spring. After marches and rallies at the state Capitol, football did eventually get the all clear to play in September.
Now, the state associations for wrestling, basketball, hockey and competitive cheer have joined forces with the Let Them Play movement to try and reinstate winter contact sports as soon as possible.
Lowell coach R.J. Boudro coached the last six of the seven-straight Division 2 championships heading into this season. As the president of the Michigan Wrestling Association, Boudro is doing everything he can to make sure his wrestlers have a fair chance to compete for an eighth-straight title this season.
“We put out an action plan to every coach in the state to have parents write letters and their community members write letters and send them to our governor, department of health and local government officials,” Boudro said.
At Lowell’s practice on Monday, Boudro said he had all his wrestlers take the time to write their own letters as well, emailing them same day. While Boudro said there has been some response to the letters, the push needs to come from as many teams and communities as possible to get the answers and dialogue they are seeking.
“It’s just hard because of all the delays,” Boudro said. “It’s been very difficult. I support the MHSAA and everything they are doing. I understand it’s not them. It’s our government that is kind of doing this. For my kids, we’re going to have to start looking at other opportunities if they keep on delaying because I want them to be able to wrestle.”
While Boudro said he would consider taking his players out of state for more competition if nothing is done, he said he does not want to take his focus away from getting winter sports reinstated.
“It’s hard for me to talk about those things because I think we can get this done in the next week, but my seniors want to wrestle,” Boudro said. “There are tournaments going on in Ohio, Indiana, tons in Wisconsin and Tennessee. My athletes have traveled to get in wrestling, and they’ve been traveling the whole time. It’s not something we’ve been doing as a team, but I don’t blame them for it at all.”
Mendon coach Caleb Stephenson is less than 20 minutes away from the Indiana border and he is not at all surprised to see wrestlers from his team and others head out of state to find competition. Stephenson knows his athletes want to have the same opportunities to compete and grow in the sport as those just over 20 minutes away in Indiana.
“In Indiana, they just had their team state meet a couple weeks ago,” Stephenson said. “They’re wrestling. It’s just really hard for kids here. That’s the natural thought: How can I improve? How can I get myself ready? How can I make myself better? All of the above.”
The referee holds up two fingers for two points while Detroit Catholic Central's Josh Edmond competes against Davison's Evan Herriman in the 135-pound bout of the Division 1 team wrestling state championship at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. (Kendall Warner | Mlive.com) Kendall Warner | MLive.comKendall Warner | MLive.com
Safety First
Wrestling has been considered one of the highest-risk sports to participate in due to the close contact and indoor settings. However, the state’s wrestling coaches believe it can be done safely and offers more control than most other sports.
“I think one of the things wrestling does a really good job already is we have a lot of procedures in place for skin care,” Stephenson said. “We know exactly who our guys are in contact with because it’s on a bout sheet. You know you’re wrestling this person. You’re not in a football game where there are 22 guys on the field at the same time or whatever.
With no more than four teams allowed on a site, that means no wrestler would compete against more than three opponents, and those opponents are tracked on bout sheets. Although Stephenson there would be issues with mask requirements, he said coaches are willing to comply with almost anything to get the season rolling.
“I think we could do a pretty decent job at it. I thought that our wrestling coaches association had done a really good job with the MHSAA and kind of putting together a plan of attack where we would have only four teams at one site, so on and so forth. I was pretty excited about it, given the scenario that we’re all in together.
“But it’s just so frustrating when you put these plans together and you get schedules worked on and you get practices planned, and then the rug gets pulled out from under you.”
The Mental Marathon
Montague coach Kris Maddox was on his way home from work when one of his assistant coaches sent a video of his wrestlers making their plea to compete in practice in full capacity. Only a few players spoke and the message about wanting to play was short and clear. However, Maddox could not help but get a little emotional watching it.
“It really hit home because these kids want and strive for this need for physical, social activity. With the shutdowns, it’s not happening. You know, they’re struggling… We don’t have answers because we’re not getting answers from the state.”
Maddox said some of his wrestlers sought out help in managing their mental health because of the continuous letdowns and uncertainties they deal with daily.
“That made me start to wonder how bad this has impacted these kids, mentally,” Maddox said.
Back at Catholic Central, Hancock wonders if its even fair to expect runners to stay mentally ready to compete on Feb. 21.
“It’s getting more difficult and more difficult to preach control what you can control with the kids,” Hancock said. “You hear that cliché all the time. We’re sticking with that and it’s hard. You continue to focus on the road ahead. When you don’t see any daylight, it’s becoming more and more difficult.”
Boudro said the environment can get stale pretty quick when there is no promise of progression or competition.
“We’re lifting, we’re conditioning, we’re doing non-contact drills, but it gets pretty old pretty quick when you have nothing to train for,” Boudro said.
That makes some coaches wonder if it’s even worth attempting a season that starts on Feb. 21.
“I think we’re all doing the math in our head,” Stephenson said. “The state has been pretty adamant that spring sports are going to go. You can’t push those back indefinitely. There’s a little room but you don’t to push those back beyond the fourth of July and into the summer… It doesn’t make much sense. I don’t like thinking that but that’s what we’re all thinking.”
All along, Hancock’s main goal has been advocating on behalf of his athletes. Whether or not they have a season, Hancock believes they deserve to know as soon as possible.
“Let’s do what’s best for these kids, we’ve dragged them along enough,” Hancock said. “I understand we’re in the middle of a pandemic… but at some point, we have to move back to faith over fear. I would not like to say hope is fading. Hope is such a powerful word. At this point, I think hope is there, but I’m beginning to lose a little faith in those who are making decisions, I can tell you that.”
Stephenson said his wrestlers have been handling the adversity very well, but he also hopes people realize that continuing down this path of extending delays will only make things worse.
“Unfortunately, we’re at the point where we just want to see a decision happen one way or another, instead of this limbo,” Stephenson said. “Just make a decision and let us deal with it.”
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