Dexter Mill Creek Middle School Wrestlers Back in a Big Way

The Dexter Mill Creek Middle School wrestling team was once a team that everyone looked past when they saw the Dreadnaughts on the schedule. That wasn’t the case this season as the Dreads had one of its best seasons in over ten years and brought home some hardware to boot.

Wrestling had fallen out of the mainstream at the school and since Covid, the interest level was low The Mill Creek squad had just five wrestlers returning from last year and things did not look good early in the school year for the Dreads when middle school wrestling has 21 weight classes to fill.

New head coach Ryan Dinius and three other local dads, mostly with younger kids in Dexter schools accepted the challenge to change the face of Dexter wrestling.

Joining Dinius were Scott Westfall, a former wrestler and middle school coach, Jeff Backus, former NFL player and wrestler, and Todd Pearsall, former wrestler and they all started off by mailing letters out to the kids that attended Mill Creek.

“We introduced ourselves and invited all kids, no matter their skill level, out for the team,” Dinius said. “We spent two weeks in December recruiting in the lunchroom and getting to know the kids. We then held two open mat “learn to wrestle” practices before the season began.”

Collin Roller- Photo by Belinda Dinius

All the recruiting worked as the Dreads had the biggest turnout in recent history with over 25 kids showing up for the first practice.

The new coaching staff was not just there to teach wrestling.

“Once the season began, we raised expectations in everything the kids did,” Dinius said. “We expected them to 1) Be a good person, 2) Be a good student, and 3_ Be a good athlete.”

To boost academics, the coaches hosted weekly study hall. And on days of the meets, all wrestlers wore a shirt and tie to school.

“We taught them to respect all adults, especially teachers was paramount,” Dinius said. “They were expected to answer with sir or ma’am when speaking to adults.”

Through their hard work the kids began to gain confidence throughout the season and carried themselves with pride with everything they did.

Roman Fair- Photo by Belinda Dinius

It showed at the meets as well when several times throughout the season coaches from other conference schools would come up and ask how they went from a team with five kids to the team they were now.

The team continued to improve throughout the season and they put up their best showing at the final match of the season, the Junior JAWS Tournament in Jackson.

The JR JAWS is traditionally one of the tougher team tournaments in southeast Michigan, where some of the best middle school programs in the region compete and the Dreadnaughts had never placed at the event.

Dexter battled and won their pool before falling in the semifinal match and finishing 4-1 on the day to claim third place for the Dreadnaught wrestling program’s first trophy in 14 years.

The Dreads defeated Onsted 82-25, Grass Lake 75-48, and Holt 98-27 in pool play. They then dropped a hard-fought match with Jackson Northwest 57-54 that was decided on the final match of the dual. Dexter then finished up the day by defeating Jackson Parkside 75-30 to claim third place and bring home a trophy.

“Overall, we matched up competitively with all of the SEC teams we faced this season in our dual and tournament schedule,” Dinius said.

While the success and bringing home a trophy was something to be proud of, the coaches had other thoughts. “We finished the season with 26 wrestlers and that is what we’re most proud of,” said Dinius.

Members of the team include- Reece Phillips, Griffin Wismer, Beau Connant, Matt Sherman, Jack Dinius, John Preuss, Roman Fair, Ryan Robertson, Michael Walker ,Gavin June, Tyler Couchman, Lucas Franz, Tim Hannich, Ryder Stepanovich, Colton Pietrzyk, Mason Prom, Marshal Schoen, Joel Waters, Collin Roller, Max Wise, Griffin Backus, Taymour Zalmout, Nick Lewis, Gavin Davis, Sebastian Martinez, Zephyr Morse, Joe Murillo, Grant Davis, Team Manager Kyler Westfall, and coaches Scott Westfall, Ryan Dinius, Jeff Backus, Todd Pearsall. Photo by Belinda Dinius.