Hudson Wrestlers ready to open 2006-07 season
                                                                             By Bill Mullaly

The 2006-07 high school wrestling season has begun for the Hudson Tiger varsity wrestling team. The Tigers were in action last night (Wednesday) at Monroe in a four-way quad meet with the host school along with Plymouth Salem and Plymouth Canton. The Canton team is coached by former Tiger state-champion wrestler Casey Randolph. "This will be a good meet to get us going for the year as it will provide some solid competition," said long-time and veteran Hudson head coach Scott "Scooter" Marry. Hudson will be short on numbers that is compared to past years but that won't affect the quality of the team's performance. Marry likes the kids he has to work with and he has a talented crew. The team has about 18-20 wrestlers ready to go for the upcoming season and Marry admits the team by no means has record numbers but they do have a lot of tough kids that are working very hard. "I like this group and they are all in that wrestling room working hard and pushing one another," said Marry. "The competition is intense and that will only make the team better. We will be improved from last year and we are still building but the youth that we have is impressive. This will be a fun season and we will go with the kids that we have." Despite all the youngsters that Marry has on hand he noted the team would be without three key contributors from last year. Senior Dan Hartman who was fourth in the state last year decided not to wrestle this winter. The loss is huge and hopefully Hartman will quickly reconsider and get out on the mat. Also, not out are two sophomores who performed well as freshmen. Colin Wollet has decided to play basketball for the junior varsity team and Johnny Monahan will be hitting the weight room to get stronger for football season.

The Tiger Grapplers

Marry is only interested right now in who is out there busting their rears each day in practice and the following are the young men who will comprise the 2006-07 edition of Hudson wrestling.

At 103 pounds will be senior standout Taylor Smith who was a state placer last year gaining a fourth at 103 at the state finals. Zeb Hilyard is a freshman but he is a seasoned wrestler who backs down to nobody. The 112-pounder will be sophomore Kevin Vanderpool and he was a state qualifier from a season ago. Landon Jenkins is a freshman that can go at 112 and sophomore Nathan Chamberlain at 112 has experience from last year that will help him this season. The team's 119-pounder will be Derrik Marry who is just a freshman but with all of his youth wrestling experience he is way beyond that grade in experience. He should have a banner season and could make some noise at the state meet. Marry can also go at 125 pounds if needed as coach Marry has the luxury of bumping kids around to fit the needs of the team. Byeongjik Kim is a sophomore who can go at 125 or 130 pounds as can his cousin, Duckjin Park, who is a freshman. According to the coach both of these kids are solid wrestlers who will both do well for the team. The 135-pound spot could go to Kim or Park or perhaps junior Eric Wolf or sophomore Kyle Benschoter or they could go at 140 pounds. Most likely at 140 is the rugged and tough Keith Walworth who coach Marry says is "tough as nails." A freshman could earn some valuable time at 145 pounds also as Juan Alba has caught the eye of the coach and he likes what he sees in Alba so far.

At 152 pounds most likely will be veteran wrestler in junior Caleb Ely who can also go at 160 pounds. A big surprise was the presence of senior standout Josh Butts who wasn't sure if he was going to wrestle this year but he is at practice and working hard. "We got Buttsy out and we are thrilled," said Marry, who noted that Butts has already once qualified for the state meet. "If he is committed he will have a great year and right now he is focused and ready to go." Butts can go at 152 or down to 145 if needed. 

Ely or Butts can both also grapple at 160 pounds and at 171 pounds is junior Kyle Hillard. Both Ely and Hillard are veteran wrestlers and tough linemen in football, which translates well to what they do on the wrestling mat. Look for sophomore Gabe Elliott to have a stellar year at 189 pounds as he returns for his second year. He should put up some big numbers after playing the line this past fall. Another youngster will fill a spot in the higher weights as sophomore Joey Beaubien will go at 215 pounds for the Tigers.

Marry does not have many seniors but one he does have is veteran heavyweight Derrick Welton at 275 pounds. Welton will work with freshman Brad Kirkendall to help him develop and to provide depth.                 

Season Outlook

The Tigers will battle Dundee for the LCAA title. Dundee is a heavy favorite and Marry knows Hudson will most likely be working for second place in the league. Can Hudson close the gap on two-time defending state champion Addison when they meet in the districts in February? Yes, was the answer Marry gave but how much the gap can be closed is uncertain. "Addison has six or seven seniors and we will work to catch them or at least close the gap," said Marry. Catching Addison this year might not be in the cards but Tiger fans wait until the winter of 2007-08, as Hudson will be loaded. In just two days on this Saturday, December 2nd don't miss the first home meet of the year as Hudson hosts the annual Hudson Booster Club Invitational with the Tigers and five other teams competing. The first whistle to start the day's events will begin at 9:00.  

2006-07 Hudson basketball preview
                                                                           By Bill Mullaly

Could this be the year that the Hudson High School varsity basketball team finally breaks through and has a winning season? Perhaps, but it won't be an easy task by any means. Hudson is coming off a four-win season last winter and the prospects for 2006-07 do look promising but wins have been hard to come by at Hudson for the last decade. Second-year head coach Wayne Perry is expecting some good things but he won't predict a certain number of wins. "We want to be competitive in every game and we want to be improved from last year," said Perry, who saw his first team a year ago end up 4-18. "We have our top two scorers back and we have a good nucleus of kids to work with. We want to be in every game and we need to eliminate bad games. I believe we can have a successful season. Right now the players and coaches are both very optimistic." 

Hudson Tiger Hoopsters

Hudson will have a varsity team of 11 players that Perry and his assistant coach, Brad Milligan, will be working with this season. The following is a closer look at who will be on the varsity squad this winter as Hudson goes for its first winning season in what seems like decades. Senior Josh Williams is the headliner as the 6-5 player can get the job done at several positions. He averaged 13 points per game last year and is expected to better that figure this season. Williams can shoot the three-pointer or score inside and he will be counted on to rebound a lot. "We need and expect a big year from Josh if we are going to have success as a team," said Perry.

Another Tiger who tied with Williams as the team's top scorer last winter returns as junior guard Matt Aguirre will be expected to play the best ball of his career. Aguirre scored 13 points a game in 05-06 tying Williams for team honors. "Matt can hit the three-pointer but we need him to penetrate more from his point guard spot and get to the foul line," Perry said, about Aguirre who will be in his third season with the varsity.

Williams and Aguirre are going to need to combine for close to 30 points per game this winter if Hudson is entertaining any thoughts of a winning season. Nick Hart and Zach Warner are both juniors who are both expected to earn starting spots. Hart is more of a forward type of player who can do the dirty work down near the hoop. He is expected to play a lot of minutes, as is Warner. The junior guard Warner is a leader and hopefully he will provide some help with the offensive load.

At this point with the first game rapidly approaching the projected fifth starter is sophomore Blake Woodward. The 6-1 post-player can score down low and he needs to be a solid rebounder.

Sophomore Garrett Schoonover will provide quality minutes off the bench and at 6-0 he will be counted on down low in the post-position. Two juniors Nate Burlew and Sabin Enerson will play when needed and they give the team needed depth. Burlew is more of an offensive threat and Enerson really hustles and plays hard on defense, which has caught the eye of Perry. Another junior Jeremy Busscher is 6-3 and will help in the low-post position. He needs to rebound and play with lots of intensity, according to Perry. Two juniors who will provide depth are Brett Merillat and Andrew Osborne who both play the guard spots. "We have a great group of kids that are very coachable and they, like the coaching staff, are looking forward to the start of the season," said Perry, who noted the schedule is very favorable to Hudson in the early going.

Season Outlook

All four games before the Christmas break are at home and eight of the first ten games overall are at home. "We need to get off to a fast start and we need to take advantage of having so many early games at home," Perry said. The Tigers will run a motion offense looking for the best shot and they will play man-to-man defense along with some zone. Perry doesn't view his squad as a pressing team but he feels that they can handle pressure from other teams and they will be expecting to see a lot of full-court pressure. "We need to work on playing with plenty of intensity for a full 32 minutes," said Perry. "Last year we would be in the game for three quarters and then end up losing by double digits. We want to be in each game with a shot at winning at the end." Hudson will open up this coming Tuesday at home at 7:00 against Adrian-Madison. Then they will have home games on December 12, 15 and the 19th is against arch-rival Addison.

Perry sees Ida, Dundee, Onsted and Clinton as the favorites to win the LCAA but he doesn't count his team out by any means. "If we play ball like I feel we can we will be in most every game with a chance to win it," said Perry. The JV team will have 10 players and is coached by Lance Horwath and Brent Milligan. The Luma brothers, Chris and Mark, will coach the 14-member freshman team. Hudson has revived its frosh program after several years without a ninth grade team. Go Tigers!
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