Win or Go Home
By Dan Ward

The wrestling regular season wrapped up Wednesday night with emphatic wins over Alpena and Shepherd. The Redwings finish the regular season at 14–5, with their only losses coming against ranked opponents: Mason, Fowlerville, St. Louis, Three Rivers, and Eaton Rapids.

The boys’ season was packed with highlights. They placed 1st at the Don Johnson Invite, 1st at the Fowlerville Varsity Scramble, and 2nd at the Mike Adamson Invitational. They battled their way to an 18th-place finish at the Hudson Super 16—out of 39 of the toughest teams in the state—went 5–0 to win the Tryston Bancroft Memorial, and finished strong with a 2nd-place showing at the CAAC Red Championships.

The girls had a standout season of their own, highlighted by a 4th-place finish at the East Jackson Legends Invitational, 3rd at the Fowlerville Girls Scramble, 2nd at the Mt. Morris Invite, 1st at the Trojan Takedown, and a 3rd-place finish at the CAAC Girls Championships.

On Wednesday, the Redwings traveled to Essexville Garber to face Alpena and Shepherd—and left no doubt. Against Alpena, St. Johns won 12 of 14 weight classes, outscoring the Wildcats 70–12. Wins by pin came from Annabelle Longoria, Donovan Quinn, Tristan Densmore, Doug Thurston, Logan Finn, Abram Matice, and Oliver Nobis. Brady Heibeck earned a major decision, while Regan Ward, Gabe Mares, Hayden Billings, and Gavin Moreno won by forfeit.

Next up was Shepherd, and the story was much the same. The Redwings claimed 13 of 14 weight classes on the way to a 76–3 victory. Pins were recorded by Regan Ward, Donovan Quinn, Hayden Billings, Brady Heibeck, Gavin Moreno, Jackson Armstrong, and Annabelle Longoria. Corey Heck and Doug Thurston won by technical fall, while Elliot Lor, Colton Robbins, Will Wharton, and Abram Matice picked up forfeit wins.

Saturday brought the CAAC Red Conference Championships to St. Johns, with teams from Fowlerville, Mason, Williamston, Haslett, and Lansing Eastern in attendance. The Redwings finished 2nd overall, just behind Fowlerville and narrowly ahead of Mason. Placers for St. Johns were Regan Ward (1st), Donovan Quinn (1st), Corey Heck (1st), Brady Heibeck (2nd), Will Wharton (2nd), Abram Matice (2nd), Gavin Moreno (2nd), Jackson Armstrong (2nd), Hayden Billings (3rd), Doug Thurston (3rd), and Greyson Osborne (3rd).

On Sunday, the girls traveled to Eaton Rapids and placed 3rd out of 20 teams, finishing behind Holt and Portland and just ahead of DeWitt. Placers for the Lady Redwings included Olivia Pettigrew (1st), Lori Morris (1st), Addyson Ney (2nd), Annabelle Longoria (3rd), and Peyson Sova (3rd).
Also on Sunday, the JV squad traveled to Lakewood. While no team scores were kept, the Redwings made their presence felt when awards were handed out. Placers included Noah Demo (1st), Bridger Haviland (1st), Michael Grow (1st), Kael Whitaker (1st), Gabe Osborne (1st), Leo Marilla (2nd), Roman Berkhousen (2nd), Logan Finn (3rd), Oliver Nobis (3rd), Ayden Marchek (4th), and Nick McGillis (4th).

That brings us to the Win or Go Home portion of the season.
“Win or Go Home” perfectly captures how brutally final wrestling can be. What other sport has a blood round? In wrestling, the blood round is the consolation semifinal—where it’s decided who keeps wrestling and who goes home. It’s desperation. It’s heart. You already have one loss, and a second loss ends your season. You will never see a more intense competitor than a wrestler down by one with 30 seconds left in the third period of the blood round.

In the MHSAA tournament, the top four from Districts advance to Regionals, and the top four from Regionals advance to the State Finals. Lose in the blood round, and it’s over. Win—or go home.

You start training early. Honestly, you never stop. Open mats throughout the summer. Endless camps. Daily workouts. And the real monsters—the hammers—are drilling technique year-round. Wrestling is an individual sport at its core. You have teammates, coaches, and a team score, but when you step on the mat, it’s just you and the person in front of you. The crowd fades. The coaches blur. It’s silence and a whistle. Wrestling is intense.

Coach Pettigrew put it simply:
“I challenged the kids from the start. I scheduled the hard duals to get us battle-tested and ready for the postseason. The postseason is here now.”

I’ll close with this: once you step into the circle, rankings don’t matter. Records don’t matter. Who you beat—or who beat you—doesn’t matter. The difference comes down to heart. Who wants it more.
Win or go home.

St. Johns travels to DeWitt on Wednesday, 2-11-26, for Districts. The Redwings wrestle DeWitt at 5:00, with the winner advancing to face Portland. This is a tough district, and the team could use all the support they can get.
Individual Districts take place Saturday at Williamston High School for the boys and Sunday at Mt. Morris High School for the girls.