File photo: Three Rivers’ Shawn Brew
It wasn’t the way Shawn Brew wanted his high school wrestling career to end. And perhaps it wasn’t the way it should have ended.
The Three Rivers senior 160-pounder, like teammate Brandon Verwey (189) and Sturgis’ Luke Carver (152), was ousted from the MHSAA individual wrestling state finals Friday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Brew, handling with class what he believed to be an officiating mistake, retires his slinglet short of reaching his all-state (top eight) goal.
Ranked No. 9 in his weight class in Division 2, Brew attacked with four seconds remaining in his consolation first round match against Hamilton’s William Duimstra and execute the takedown he needed for a win. An official disagreed and Duimstra was awarded a 2-1 victory. Brew’s final record for the year is 28-12.
“I got a clear takedown at the end of the match; everyone knew it was a takedown and they didn’t give it to me,” Brew said. “Right now I’m really bummed. It’s not fun to watch these matches knowing I’ll never wrestle one again.”
Brew missed several weeks of the regular season with a knee injury and is scheduled for surgery Monday. He’s optimistic that he’ll be healthy when baseball season begins. He’s headed to Grace College to begin a collegiate baseball career next season.
Wildcats sophomore Verwey lost an 8-1 decision to Yale’s seventh-ranked Derek Desloover, ending his finals run. Verwey finished the season with a 28-14 record.
Carver ended his time at the Palace knowing he belonged and hungry for a return trip. The Trojans sophomore was edged 7-5 by Greenville’s ninth-ranked Jake Hopkins in the first round of the consolation bracket to finish the year 42-12.
“It was awesome experience even though I lost,” he said. “I learned a lot and that I am capable of competing at this level. My first match I was a little nervous in the first period and felt that I wrestled slow, but I got over it. Even though I still lost my second match I wrestled tough and it was close. He scored in the first period. In the second period I scored and was down by two. In the third I worked to turn him but I couldn’t seem to score and lost by two. But after today and yesterday, I am ready to get back to work for next season and come back here next year.”