t first glance, Birm-
ingham Groves High
School students Steve
Simon and Jeremy
Lewin don't appear to
have much in com-
a:,
Simon, 16, a sophomore, is 5-
foot-3 and he weighs just over
100 pounds. He was on the ju-
nior varsity football team this
past fall, but he saw very little
action.
Lewin, 17, is a junior. At 6-foot-
2 112 and 262 pounds, he's near-
ly a foot taller than Simon and
he's so much heavier that he
nearly triples Simon's weight. On
the football field, Lewin has the
potential to be a major college line
prospect next season.
Simon and Lewin do share a
common denominator, however.
They are the bookends in the
lineup of the most successful
wrestling team in the history of
their high school and both have
qualified for Saturday's Class A
individual regional meet at Troy
It will be their first ap-
pearance in the regionals
and if they can finish in the
top four in their weight
classes, they'll move on to
the Class A individual state
meet Friday and Saturday,
March 10-11, at the Kellogg
Center in Battle Creek.
In the individual dis-
tricts held last Saturday at
Troy, Simon finished sec-
ond at 100 pounds and
Lewin was third at 275
pounds. Simon fell to a
Redford Catholic Central
wrestler, 15-9, in the dis-
trict finals and Lewin
pinned a much-heavier foe
from Oak Park in 2:17 in
the match for third place.
Groves took a 17-2 dual meet
record into the Class A team re-
gional tournament Wednesday
at Grosse Pointe South. The Fal-
cons got to this regional by win-
ning their first district title ever
Feb. 15 at Royal Oak Kimball.
Earlier, Groves won the Divi-
sion III championship in the new
Oakland Activities Association
(OAA) with a perfect 5-0 dual
meet record, earning its first
league title in nearly 20 years.
The individual
Class A regionals
are next for
Birmingham
Groves wrestling
stars Steve Simon
and Jeremy Lewin.
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
Among the Falcons'
non-Division III dual
meet wins are victo-
ries over Division II
winner Troy Athens
and Division IV ti-
tlist Birmingham
Seaholm.
Before Wednesday, Simon
owned a 29-11 record this sea-
son, including a 14-3 mark at
100 pounds (his other matches
were at 106 pounds). He won the
OAA Division II individual
championship at 100 pounds
and he has beaten every wrestler
who placed in the top six at 100
pounds in the Oakland County
meet.
"It'll be to Steve's advantage
for the rest of the season that he
has wrestled in more than 50
matches during his high school
career," said Groves coach An-
drew Wilson. "Most of the kids in
the 100-pound division are rela-
tively inexperienced freshmen."
At 262 pounds,
Jeremy Lewin is a
"light" heavyweight.
Even though this is only Si-
mon's second year as a wrestler,
the sport is in his blood. His fa-
ther, Jerry, wrestled in high
school in Cleveland Heights,
Ohio, and for one year in college
at the University of Michigan.
Lewin was 31-10 at 275
pounds with a team-leading 22
pins before Wednesday. Despite
being one of the "lightest" heavy-
weights in the area, Lewin has
come on strong in the latter
stages of the season, using his
speed and strength to flatten op-
ponents.
The third-year wrestler has
won the OAA Division II indi-
vidual and Chippewa Valley
Invitational tournament cham-
pionships since the first of the
year. In December, he finished
sixth in the county meet for the
second consecutive season.
"When Jeremy gets an oppo-
nent on his back, he doesn't usu-
PHOTOS BY BILL GEMM ELL
Battling For
Battle Creek
Above:
A straining Steve Simon
puts the clamps on a
Southfield-Lathrup foe.
Right:
Steve Simon and Jeremy
Lewin.
ally get up," Wilson
said.
In dual meets, it's
Simon's job to get
Groves going because
he usually competes
in the first or second
match. Lewin wres-
tles last, so he's some-
times called upon to
compete in a match
which determines the
winning team.
Simon and Lewin
both did their jobs in
Groves' defining mo-
ment this season, its
35-26 win over peren-
nial power Troy on Jan. 19. Si-
mon won 16-5 at 100 pounds and
Lewin pinned his Troy foe in 2:30
after falling behind 5-0.
"I like wrestling early because
you get your match over with
quickly," Simon said.
"Sometimes I hate wrestling
last because it can get boring
when the meet isn't close," Lewin
said.
On Feb. 9, the night Groves de-
feated archrival Seaholm, the
fired-up Falcons were in front 35-
0 more than halfway through the
meet. By the time Lewin hit the
mat, some of the fans were
putting on their coats and getting
ready to head home.
Then the Seaholm heavy-
weight accidentally slapped
Lewin in the face. With fire sud-
denly in his eyes and his team-
mates yelling "Louie!" in the
background, Lewin pinned his op-
ponent in 2:27. Groves left the
Seaholm gym a 50-12 winner.
"I can't stand it when someone
does that to me," Lewin said
about the slap, the anger still in
his voice.
Berkley High School juniors
Aaron Kobernick and Ben Gitler
also have qualified for the Class
A individual regional at Troy.
Kobernick will be making his sec-
ond consecutive individual re-
gional appearance, but it will be
the first for Gitler.
In last Saturday's individual
district at Troy, Kobernick was
third at 112 pounds and Gitler
was second at 172 pounds. Gitler
was pinned by Hazel Park's un-
defeated Aaron Hilgendorf at 5:34
in the district finals, but Berkley
coach Bruce Burwitz predicts
Gitler will do better if he has a re-
match with Hilgendorf in the re-
gionals.
"I think Ben realizes now that
Hilgendorf isn't God ... he's just
another kid," Burwitz said.
Kobernick edged an opponent
from Troy 4-3 to take third place
in the district. El