Tecumseh student-athletes finish big in winter sports, maintain high GPA

Mary Lowe, The Daily Telegram
·4 min read

TECUMSEH — Student-athletes at Tecumseh high and middle schools ended the winter season with some big wins and a higher grade-point average than non-athletes.

There were 166 high school students and 152 middle schoolers who competed in a winter sport. The student-athlete average GPA for the winter was a 3.3 compared to the average of 2.3 for students who did not participate in athletics.

Two teams were academic all-state. There were three Southeastern Conference champions and one state runner-up. Several students went to the individual state finals. For the first time, Tecumseh had a female student-athlete earn all-state in Michigan High School Athletic Association girls wrestling.

Thirty-six Tecumseh student-athletes received all-SEC, all-county, all-state or other awards and four coaches were named SEC coaches of the year, with two being named all-county coaches of the year.

Here are some breakdowns by sport:

Wrestling

  • 7-1 record in SEC White

  • First time at SEC White Conference Tournament.

  • Two Lenawee County champions: Brandon Rau and Benny Solis. Solis was named county MVP.

  • Five individual regional and state qualifiers.

  • One MHSAA all-state wrestler, Sophia Sexton (first Tecumseh girls all-state wrestler).

  • SEC champion Solis at 130 pounds.

  • Wyatt Andrews, freshman state qualifier, 103 pounds.

  • Solis, junior state qualifier.

  • Tanek Bagrowski, junior state qualifier, 189 pounds.

  • Brandon Rau, senior state qualifier, 171 pounds.; earned a scholarship to wrestle at Siena Heights University.

Boys bowling

  • State runner-up, Owen Williams.

  • Region 12, second place.

  • SEC champions, 13-1 season record.

  • All-SEC: Owen Williams, Andrew Rowe, Kaden Salts and Andrew Risinger; Tyson Tennyson, honorable mention.

  • SEC and County Coach of the Year: Eric Wigner

Girls bowling

  • SEC champions, 14-0.

  • Third at regionals.

  • Top eight in the state.

  • Abby Werden (top four) and Wendy Ketola (top 16), state finalists.

  • Abby Werden, all-state, all-SEC.

  • Wendy Ketola, all-state, all-SEC.

  • Brooke Kosco, all-SEC.

  • Meadow Rapaich, all-SEC.

  • Mikalah Hill, all-SEC honorable mention.

  • SEC Coach of the Year: Ken Richards.

Competitive cheer

  • Top three finish at every competition this season.

  • Increased overall score by nearly 100 points this season.

  • SEC third place.

  • All-district honorable mention: Hannah Comini.

  • All-SEC: Hannah Comini, Maddie Johnston, Mira Fundunburks and Bryleigh Ahearn; Klara Dawley, honorable mention.

  • All-SEC sportsmanship: Delaney Moore.

Gymnastics

  • Three all-conference gymnasts (South Central Gymnastics League).

  • Fourth in the SCGL.

  • Regional qualified as a team.

  • Seven individual regional qualifiers out of nine gymnasts.

  • One all-region gymnast and state qualifier.

  • Fifth highest scoring team in program history.

  • Program record broken this season on the beam.

  • Jordyn Wright, state finalist.

Hockey

  • Six Tecumseh High School student-athletes on Lenawee United varsity roster with all achieving varsity letters.

  • Team finished 14-9-1 in regular season with most wins in program history. Overall record of 8-7-1 within the SEC and 3-5-0 in SEC White Division.

  • Advanced to Division 1, Region 8 semifinals.

  • Individual honors: Jake Benbow (captain), Aldo Barba (SEC honorable mention) and Seamus McCarley (SEC sportsmanship).

Boys swimming

Overall record in the SEC:

  • 1 win, 4 losses.

SEC championship results:

  • 14 out of 14 individual swims were personal best times.

  • SEC Sportsmanship Award: Colton Caudill.

Varsity letters:

  • Five out of seven swimmers earned varsity letters based on meeting the time requirement for at least one event or meeting the individual points requirement for the season.

Girls basketball

  • Overall record: 19-3.

  • Second place in the SEC.

  • First team all-SEC and all-county: Jaden Benschoter, Chesney Wilke and Alli Zajac.

  • Honorable mention SEC: Jada Moore and Ashlyn Moorehead.

  • SEC Sportsmanship Award: Emma Abbott.

  • Academic all-state for the fifth straight year with a 3.882 overall GPA.

  • SEC and County Coach of the Year: Kristy Zajac.

Boys basketball

  • Finished the season with a 15-6 record.

  • Most wins in a season in more than 25 years.

  • SEC White champions for the first time since 1994.

  • Eleven athletes earned all-SEC academic honors for this season.

  • Team academic all-state.

  • All-SEC first team: Ryder Zajac

  • All-SEC honorable mention: Grant Mossburg and David Hunt.

  • SEC Sportsmanship Team: Brendan Cross.

  • SEC Coach of the Year: Jamison Webster.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh athletes finish big in winter sports, maintain high GPA