Two Lapeer West High School sports teams honored in State for classroom performance

Two Lapeer West teams were honored for performances outside of athletics.

The Lapeer West Wrestling Team was recognized by the Michigan High School Coaches Association as an Academic All-State wrestling team with a combined 3.25 grade point average. The West wrestling team is coached by Mr. Matt Nowak. A total of 14 members of the team were counted for the honor.

“Our wrestlers know that academics and team are the keys to success,” said West wrestling coach Matt Nowak.

Lapeer West’s Boys’ Basketball Team was named to the Academic All-State Honorable Mention team with a 3.396 grade point average and the 13th best grade point average among all Class A high schools in Michigan. The basketball team is coached by Mr. Andy Roberts.

Members of the West basketball team are: John Amboy, Josh Francis, Zeshawn Jones-Parker, Joe Lerma, Brian McGeary, Zach Orr, David Price, Dakota Resop, Anthony Sisson, Nate Smith and Landon Warren

"Being Academic all-state is something the players should be very proud of,” said Lapeer West basketball coach Andy Roberts. “It is a reward for their hard-work in the classroom.”

“We are proud of the work done by our students and coaches, both on the mat, court and classrooms,” said Ms. Mary Haslinger, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at West. “We are very proud of our coaches, Andy Roberts and Matt Nowak, as well as our scholar athletes.”

Lapeer East, Lapeer West High School wrestlers compete at State Finals

Lapeer West High School wrestlers and a wrestler from Lapeer East High School represented themselves well at the recent State Wrestling Individual Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

West wrestler Dean Somers, took fifth place in the State in the 103 weight division.

Other members of the West team who wrestled at the State Finals were Adam Nichols (103), Dakota Carie (112), and Nate Irelan (135). Dakota and Adam each won matches in their weight divisions at the meet.

“I’m proud of the work these young men put into the sport during the recent season,” said West Coach Matt Nowak. “It takes a lot of dedication to end up in the State Finals.”

East wrestler Isaac Joseph (145), a junior, also won one of his matches in his weight division, but missed placing in the top eight by one point in his last match, said East Coach Al Lalonde.

Lapeer West wrestlers score another winning season

Individually and as a team, members of the Lapeer West High School wrestling team are having a great year.

The team won the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division II District II Championship at North Branch High School on Thursday, February 11. Lapeer West defeated cross-town rival Lapeer East 34-32 to advance to the championship, then downed North Branch 48-24 to become district champs.

“Our team wrestled well in the district tournament,” Head Wrestling Coach Matt Nowak said. “Freshman Vann Spinney won his match against East for the victory. His match was the deciding match and he stepped up in a pressure situation. It was a great win for our program and a step in the right direction.”

Team members also are registering individual successes. Aaron Secrest pinned his way to the League title. On Saturday, February 13, he and Dean Somers, Adams Nichols, Dakota Carie, and Nate Irelan competed in the Individual District Competition. They advanced to the Regional Competition, to be held this Saturday, February 20, at Warren Fitzgerald High School in Warren, Michigan.

The team also competed Wednesday, February 17, in Team Regionals at Kearsley High School losing a touch match to perennial powerhouse Corunna High School.

Four Lapeer West wrestlers qualified at the Regionals to compete in the State meet: Nate Irelan (fourth place in the 135-pound division); Dean Somers (first place in the 103-pound division); Adam Nichols (fourth place in the 103-pound division); and Dakota Carie (third place in the 112-pound division).

Lapeer East High School Wrestling Team hosts "Meet and Greet" spaghetti dinner

The Lapeer East High School Wrestling Team will hold its 2nd Annual “Meet and Greet the Wrestlers” spaghetti dinner at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 3, at the National Guard Armory, 2140 W. Genesee Street.

Tickets for the dinner are $5, which includes chances at prize drawaings. Children 5 and younger are free and families of more than 4 people are a maximum $20.

“We hope to see everyone there,” said Lapeer East Wrestling coach Al Lalonde.

2005 Lapeer East grad, returns to help with East wrestling program as assistant coach

When Erik Hohenthaner graduated from Lapeer East in 2005 he left behind four school wrestling records. One of those records still stands.

As a high school athlete Hohenthaner lettered in four varsity sports; wrestling, football, baseball and tennis. He was recruited by more than 20 Division II schools for wrestling, but left high school feeling he had not accomplished all his goals. He was a State qualifier in wrestling.

As the new Lapeer East assistant wrestling coach Hohenthaner wants to make sure that doesn’t happen to other athletes.

“I wanted to come back and coach to help the kids get where they need to be and realize the potential that they have,” Hohenthaner said. “I didn’t accomplish the goals I set in high school, so I want to help these kids reach their goals and not feel unfulfilled like I do.”

Hohenthaner attended Lapeer Community Schools for his entire K-12 education, starting at Lynch Elementary School. He began wrestling at the age of seven.

Despite all the scholarship offers, Hohenthaner decided to wrestle at Mott Community College, but stopped after his freshman year. At Mott he was a qualifier for the National Collegiate Wrestling Association.

He left Mott to attend Michigan State University where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He currently is a sports writer for the View Newspapers in Lapeer.

Former Lapeer West wrestling coach, John Virnich, named to Wrestling Hall of Fame

Former Lapeer West High School wrestling coach John Virnich, who led teams that won back-to-back State Division II championships in 2000 and 2001, was inducted into the Michigan Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on May 17th at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.

During his ten year coaching career at Lapeer West, Mr. Virnich coached ten individual state champions, 34 state place winners and 68 state qualifiers. In 2001, Lapeer West High School was ranked 20th in the U.S. and Coach Virnich was named the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association, Coach of the Year for Region 4.

Virnich’s teams also won three regional titles and nine district titles during his tenure.

He was also named Coach of the Year for the State of Michigan in 2001.

Virnich, who is retired from coaching and lives in Port Huron, began and ended his coaching career at Algonac High School, heading there in 2003 after leaving Lapeer West. Before coming to Michigan in 1991, Coach Virnich coached in Illinois and achieved success there as well.

John Virnich never had a losing season as a coach.

“I was blessed to have the opportunity to coach kids,” said Mr. Virnich. “I have good feelings about my time in Lapeer.

East's Phil Joseph wins State wrestling title

Lapeer East's Phil Joseph won the 171-pound State wrestling title Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Flint Journal story, including Joseph's title winning match can be found here.

Congratulations to Lapeer East's Travis Cushaway, 215 lbs, Matt DePuy, 189 lbs., Ryan Dixon, 140 lbs., and Jordan Morris, 112 lbs., and Lapeer West's Dakota Carie, 103 lbs., for making the State finals and representing both schools well.