The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Guts and glory
Teams set new records, overcome adversity in winter campaign
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 22, 2007
There was nothing typical about the winter sports season at Manchester. With one varsity team setting school records, two others proved very resilient among tough stretches and circumstances. What follows is a sport-by-sport review of Manchester's 2006-07 winter season.
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Basketball
The season began and ended with a loss to Clinton, but in between the Flying Dutchmen gave their fans quite a ride.
Manchester struggled out of the gate, dropping its first eight games. Injuries and offensive struggles were the main factors behind the slow start, but things would turn around in a big way.
In the Jan. 16 game against Columbia Central, the Dutchmen exploded for 86 points, hitting nine three-pointers along the way for their first victory. That was followed by eight more wins in the next nine games.
Greg Schaible drained a three-pointer at the buzzer 10 days later, giving Manchester a 47-45 victory over East Jackson.
On Feb. 13, the Dutchmen walked into Napoleon and stunned the defending Cascades Conference champion Pirates 42-41.
"I enjoyed being around this group of players because of their approach to the game," Manchester coach Bryan Barnard said. "They had the right attitude, which made it easy to coach."
Defense was a key to Manchester's success. For the season, the Dutchmen averaged 49 points allowed per game.
The Dutchmen hung with Clinton in the district semifinal, but the host Redskins rallied for a 49-44 victory. Manchester finished the season 9-12.
Schaible, who averaged 15.1 points per game, earned All-Conference First Team honors and was voted the team's Most Valuable Player. Zach Benedict was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year, while Sam Brown was named Most Improved. David Ball received the Coach's Award, while Kevin Fielder and Andrew Tindall received the Sportsmanship Award.
Schaible, Nick Ball, David Ball, Fielder, Benedict, Tindall and Jake LaCross each received All-Conference Academic honors.
"Greg and Nick were great captains who provided outstanding leadership," Barnard said. "They led by example and helped the team stay focused."
Despite losing seven seniors, the Dutchmen have a bright future. The junior varsity team posted a 13-7 record, while the freshmen team finished 14-5.
"We have some good players coming up, and I like what I've seen so far," Barnard said. "We'll really get a feel for next season during the summer."
Volleyball
The Flying Dutch posted a 19-21-4 record overall, and their 4-3 mark in Cascades play was good enough for a third-place tie with Addison in the conference. After a slow start, Manchester entered conference play amidst a streak of six victories in eight matches.
Prior to leaving for the Springport Invitational Feb. 3, head coach Mike Mininger was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency heart surgery two days later. Mininger was unable to coach the rest of the season, but appeared at both the Cascades Tournament Feb. 22 and the team's pre-district match Feb. 28.
The team was coached by Kim Meyer and Rachel Heinrich, two players on the Siena Heights University volleyball team. Mininger is an assistant coach of the team.
"I know my situation was a distraction, but the girls performed admirably," Mininger said. "They actually had a better record when I wasn't there."
The season ended with a first-round loss to Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, but not without a fight. The Dutch overcame a two-game deficit and forced a fifth game, but fell 25-23, 26-24, 16-25, 21-25, 15-7.
Julie Fielder was named to the All-Conference First Team and was voted the team's Most Valuable Player. Crystal Poertner received All-Conference honorable mention and was All-Conference Academic along with Amanda Pratt. Amanda Mutchler was named the team's Most Improved Player and Ally Way won the Coach's Award. Shanel Mullins and Ashley Zigila received the Sportsmanship Award.
"They've been through four coaches in four years and it takes time to adjust, but I thought they did a great job of that," Mininger said. "Their record is an improvement over last year, and for being a young team I thought it was a successful volleyball season."
The Dutch were also recognized for their performance in the classroom. As a team, Manchester had a 3.54 grade-point average for the second quarter.
The team graduates four seniors, but has a deep core of juniors returning.
"We'll miss those who are leaving, but we're looking forward to next year," Mininger said.
Wrestling
The Flying Dutchmen didn't just make noise during the 2006-07 season. They soared to new heights as a team and individually.
Manchester finished with a 30-8 record and was second in the Cascades Conference behind two-time defending state champion Addison. After plowing through the team districts, the Flying Dutchmen upended No. 4 Springport to win the Division 4 team regional title and clinch its first appearance in Battle Creek since 1991.
In the quarterfinals, Manchester whipped Bangor 47-16 and advanced to its first-ever state semifinal, where they were finally stopped by powerhouse New Lathrop.
"We had some good teams in the early '90s, but overall this was our best season," Manchester coach Steve Vlcek said.
It was also a season of individual success. Manchester crowned seven Cascades Conference champions, a school record. That was followed by five district champions and 11 regional qualifiers, also school-records. Finally, eight Dutchmen qualified for the individual state meet, yet another Manchester record.
Bill Cloke captured the state title at 152 pounds, while Dan Lobbestael finished his prep career with a second-place finish in the 215 class. Jason Alber finished third at 160, while Kyler Ritter (215), Mike Garrison (125) and Cevin Walker (119) were each medalists at the Palace. Jimmy Hamilton (103) and Coyle Render (112) also competed in their first-ever state tournament this season.
Vlcek traced much of the success to Manchester's youth wrestling program, which started in the mid-1990s and the middle school team, which went 24-6 this year.
"Coach (Jason) Woods had a lot of these guys and does an outstanding job," Vlcek said. "We've talked about them for a long time, and now they're coming into their own."
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