HOWELL — High school wrestlers’ reputations are based on how they fare at state tournaments, but some appreciation needs to be shown for those who have been dominant in their own conference over the course of a four-year career.
If winning four conference titles was such a run-of-the-mill accomplishment, there would be more than just two four-time champions in the 18-year history of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.
Hartland senior Dallas Korponic became the second member of a very exclusive club Saturday, Feb. 7 in the KLAA individual tournament at Howell High School. Korponic, ranked No. 1 in Division 1 at 157 pounds, beat sixth-ranked Xander Courneya of Brighton 13-3 to capture his fourth KLAA title.
One needs to look no further than inside the current Hartland wrestling room to realize the pitfalls that can arise when a wrestler is chasing four conference championships.
Korponic’s teammate Bodie Abbey looked like a lock to join him as a four-time KLAA champion, but was held out of the meet because of an illness. Junior Braydon Tougas won as a freshman and again Saturday, but an injury kept him from wrestling last season.
The only four-time KLAA champ before Saturday was Westland John Glenn’s Michael Mars, who won his titles from 2015-18. Mars was a three-time state champion, a feat that is next up on the to-do list for Korponic and Abbey now that the regular season has concluded.
The KLAA has four teams ranked in the top 10 in Division 1 and 55 state-ranked individuals, with at least one in every weight class.
“I definitely think this is one of the toughest conferences,” Korponic said. “We’re grateful to have this competition. That’s what we wrestle for is the competition; we love to compete. It’s great to have those teams surrounding us. It’s so close that we don’t have to travel far to get good competition.”
RELATED: See full results of placement matches from KLAA wrestling tournament
Big fellas decide it
The final match of the day decided the team championship, with Brighton and Hartland each having a wrestler in the heavyweight title bout.
Brighton senior Alex Salmon, ranked sixth at 285, pinned Hartland junior Matthew Hatfield in 3:07 to clinch the team title for the Bulldogs.
Third-ranked Brighton scored 281.5 points to beat second-ranked Hartland, which had 273. Seventh-ranked John Glenn was third with 172.5 and 10th-ranked Howell was fourth with 152.
Brighton won three of four head-to-head matches against Hartland in the finals. Bronson Shinkonis (126), Ethan Smith (132), Beck Yurkunas (138), Kaden Tindall (150), Dom Nauss (190) and Salmon won championships for Brighton.
Jameson Wood (120), Courneya and Mason Gardner (175) had second-place finishes.
“Winning this tournament is a complete team effort,” Brighton coach Matt Wisniewski said. “A lot of them stepped up. Some of our guys are starting to peak at the right time. Others still performed, but we’re back to the drawing board making sure we’re doing what’s best for them to peak in the postseason.”
Eagle vs. Eagle
Kyle Summerfield looked bored.
The Hartland coach sat silently in a mat-side chair and didn’t register any emotion as Hartland teammates Tougas and Ashton Jewell met for the 144-pound championship.
Protocol in such instances is for coaches to not offer any advice to either wrestler.
“It’s like an unwritten agreement,” Summerfield said. “It’s just like a wrestle-off in the room. We don’t say a word. They dictate their own match. We’re just spectators at that point.”
Tougas, ranked No. 13 at 144, won a 3-2 decision over the fifth-ranked Jewell. There is a good chance they’ll compete in the same weight class for the individual state tournament, which begins with districts Saturday, Feb. 14.
“I didn’t like it personally, but it is what it is,” Tougas said. “It’s something you can’t really do anything about. I love Ashton. He’s my teammates, he’s my drill partner in the practice room.”
Hartland’s other champions were Jase Sensor (113) and Korponic. Michael Abbey (126), James Kosza (150), James Cappellano (165), Lucas Bates (215) and Hatfield finished second.
Girl power
While girls wrestling is growing quickly in Michigan, Howell is ahead of the curve in the KLAA with a large and talented squad.
The Highlanders have won the first two team championships for KLAA girls wrestling. They scored 91 points Saturday to beat runner-up Novi by 9.5 points. Ten teams scored points.
Howell now hopes to add district and regional trophies, which are available for the first time in girls wrestling.
“I’m just super proud of the work the girls have put in this year and the fact they get recognition just like the varsity boys,” Howell coach Paige Rife said. “For them to have that, then to be able to build on it going into districts and regionals and states, I’m excited to see how the sport continues to grow for them. It adds a little bit more competition to the sport for the girls, which they didn’t have before. It builds camaraderie, too, because they get into the team aspect of it.”
Olive DiMassa (105) and Hadley Salvatore (135-140) won championships for Howell.
Brighton had three champions in Emme Delisle (125-130), Rayna Richardson (130) and Alexis Lazar (145-155).
Hartland’s Emma Kosza won the title at 110-115.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland’s Dallas Korponic makes history in KLAA wrestling tournament
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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