Page 14 — Thursday, April 8, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Ferris and Brumm reach championship goals
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
To be the best Caden Ferris, Hunter Belew
and Jesse Brumm had to wrestle the best.
Ferris, the junior heavyweight from Delton
Kellogg, and Brumm, the senior 130-pounder
from Maple Valley, defeated 2020 state cham-
pions Saturday inside Van Andel Arena in
Grand Rapids to capture their first state titles
at the Michigan High School Athletic
Association Division 4 Individual State
Finals.
Belew ran into a two-time state wrestling
champion in the 189-pound championship
final and came up just short of his ultimate
goal in the final varsity match of his senior
season.
Maple Valley had a second state medalist as
junior Matthew Slaght placed fourth at 112
pounds. It is the second all-state performance
for Slaght, Belew and Ferris and the fourth for
Brumm, who was a state runner-up as a fresh-
man and finally got back to the championship
final at the state finals.
Brumm ends his senior season with a
record of 32-2 after defeating Hudson junior
Bronson Marry by injury default in the 130-
pound championship Saturday. Brumm scored
a quick take down in the opening period
against the 2020 112-pound state champion,
and then pushed his advantage to 5-0 early in
the second period. It was soon after Brumm’s
second take down that the Hudson corner
began shouting “he’s out! He’s out!” and the
officials halted the match. Brumm made his
way through the medical staff to shake
Marry’s hand once his foe was in good
enough shape to do so, then raised his right
hand to the crowd before heading back to his
corner to hug his father, Lion coach Lane
Brumm, and coach Tony Wawiernia.
Ferris (33-2) had his dad, Rollie, looking
down from the stands and his uncle Bill
Ferris, a DK assistant coach, in his corner.
Rollie won the 275-pound championship in
Class B in 1992 and 1993. Bill took the 275-
pound championship in Division 3 in 2001.
New Lothrop senior Camden Orr (24-2)
was the 2020 215-pound champion in Division
4, and looked to be on his way to the 2021
championship early on. He picked Caden up
and put him on his back in the first period, and
had a 7-0 lead in the championship after an
early reversal in the second period. Cadenbattled all the way back to force an 11-11 tie
with a take down eight seconds before the
third period expired, and nearly got a two-
count in for the winning nearfall points before
the clock hit 0:00. It was just eight seconds
into the first sudden victory overtime period
when Caden took Orr down again for the
13-11 win.
Caden had the scouting report on Orr, who
he was disappointed he didn’t get to compete
against at individual regionals the weekend
before due to Orr suffering an ankle injury or
at 2020 regionals because Ferris was unable
to compete in the 2020 tournament. Caden
prepped for Orr’s favorite shots and to count-
er his fireman’s take down skills, but he also
spent time on dealing with a scenario just like
the one that played out.
“My coaches really just trained me to be
ready for the overtime,” Caden said, “to work
the extra mile. I went up to camps and stuff
three weeks before, every week before state,
and they really didn’t work on moves they just
killed me to death. I did 20 minutes continu-ous live with a college 197-pounder and then
I rode a fan bike for two minutes on and two
minutes ‘off’, and then for those two minutes
off I’d be wrestling that guy again.”
Caden said the best part about the victory is
that it gives him bragging rights over his big
brother Tyden Ferris who twice finished as the
state runner-up (2016, 2018). Tyden is now an
offensive lineman on the Central Michigan
University football team. Cayden currently
has plans to wrestle at Central Michigan after
his days are done at Delton Kellogg.
“[Tyden] has always been a great big broth-
er, always supporting me and always pushing
me,” Caden said. “We sometimes go up into
the room [although it has been a couple years]
and he has just pounded on me – never giving
up. Having his goals there helped me to reach
mine.”
Delton Kellogg head coach Brett Bissett
was shouting instructions to Belew as he
grappled with two-time state champion Logan
Badge, a junior from Clinton, in the 189-
pound championship match at the same time
as Caden was facing off with Orr – and before
long he couldn’t help but shout instructions to
Caden as well across the converted hockey
rink.
Badge took the Division 4 state champion-
ship at 189-pounds in 2020 as a sophomore
and won the D4 state title at 215 pounds in
2019 as a freshman. An escape and then a take
down in the second period proved all the
points Badge needed in a 3-1 victory over
Belew in the 2021 189-pound final. Badge
(31-1) rode Belew (33-3) for the entire third
period to close out the victory.
“Belew wrestled a three-time state champ
and lost 3-1. I’m proud of that. Both of these
guys performed very well today and the last
three weeks in the tournament,” Bissett said.
“They’re practice partners, so that goes to
show you that practice partners really help
make you who you are as a wrestler.”
“Caden is super strong and he is taller.
When they wrestle each other they each have
their strengths and weaknesses. With Belew
wrestling Caden, he obviously has that
strength aspect he gets to work on. For Caden
wrestling Belew, Belew is fast and he is a
shooter. I feel like that helps Caden with peo-
ple like Orr and the kid from Hudson
[Cameron Underwood] he wrestled in the
semi’s. Those guys are shooters. That pre-
pares Caden for that. They kind of feed off
each other. They have totally different styles
of wrestling, but both had a great work ethic
and both had the same goal.”
Ferris scored a 3-0 win over Underwood in
the semifinals after opening the tournament
with pins of Whittemore-Prescott’s William
Stothers and Capac’s Bryce Tank.
Belew reached the 189-pound final with
pins of Bronson’s Jared Shotzman and
Springport’s Barak Haring. He was working
towards another pin in the semifinals when
Hanover Horton’s Trent Hoctor had to forfeit
their match with a shoulder injury.
“Skill-wise, as coaches we just talked about
today, Hunter has had the skill set to be top
two in the state or a state champion the last
two or three years,” Bissett said. “He is a phe-
nomenal athlete. I think just mentally thisyear, senior year, he knew where he could be
especially the past few weeks. Early in the
season he had those first two losses, and I
think it kind of set him back on track. They
were losses to good kids, but they got him
right and the last few weeks he has just been
mowing through kids.”
Maple Valley’s Slaght (36-2) made it as far
as the championship semifinals before being
knocked into the consolation bouts by his first
defeat of the season. DK had two other state
qualifiers who missed out on the medal rounds
112-pounder Gage Vincent (21-15) and
135-pounder Vinnie Quick (25-10).
Maple Valley head coach Tony Wawiernia
said he felt liked Slaght and Brumm’s time
together in the practice room helped them
immensely as well.
“We worked on [Brumm’s] shot all year, or
the half a year,” Wawiernia said. “Him and
Matthew just battling in the room every day.
Every day they’re battling. It has helped them
both. It got them both here obviously.”
Brumm had his heart set on a high school
state championship to go along with multiple
club titles from before he was even a member
of the Lion varsity. He got to the state final at
112 pounds as a freshman, and had expecta-
tions for himself to be back in the state final
each season.
“It has always been a dream of mine. I
think I deserve it. I have worked hard for it. I
have done everything I could for it,” Brumm
said.
Wawiernia was especially impressed that
Brumm held the defending state champ Marry
scoreless for their time on the mat.
“Jesse’s technique right now is that he is sosports
Delton Kellogg 112-pounder Gage Vincent (left) battles for control with Decatur’s
Talan Flowers during their consolation match Saturday at the Division 4 Individual
State Finals inside Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
Delton Kellogg junior Caden Ferris
smiles as he looks out from the center of
the mat with his bracket and state
championship medal following his victory
in Division 4’s 215-pound weight class at
the Individual State Finals Saturday inside
Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. (Photo
by Brett Bremer)Delton Kellogg 135-pounder Vinnie
Quick (front) tries to get onto his feet and
escape the grasp of Laingsburg’s Aden
Baynes in a consolation match Saturday
at the Division 4 Individual State Finals in
Grand Rapids. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Maple Valley senior Jesse Brumm waves to the stands after winning the 130-pound
weight class at the Division 4 Individual State Finals inside Van Andel Arena in Grand
Rapids. Brumm, now a four-time state medalist, led Hudson’s Bronson Marry in the
130-pound final when Marry (a 2020 state champion) was forced to bow out with an
injury. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Delton Kellogg senior Hunter Belew (left) works for control with Clinton’s Logan
Badge in the Division 4 189-pound championship match Saturday during the Individual
State Finals at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
Maple Valley’s Matthew Slaght (top)
tries to score while fighting off a shot from
Hudson’s Cole Marry in their medal round
match for third place in Division 4’s 112-
pound weight class Saturday at the
Individual State Finals in Grand Rapids.
(Photo by Brett Bremer)Delton Kellogg junior Caden Ferris (left) and New Lothrop’s Camden Orr each work for a take down during their Division 4 215-
pound championship final Saturday at the Individual State Finals hosted by Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Orr took a 7-0 lead
in the bout before Ferris rallied for a 13-11 win in a sudden victory overtime period to claim the state championship. (Photo by Brett
Bremer) Continued next page