Livingston County Male Athlete of the Year Luke Stanton competed for 4 state championships (2024)

It’s hard to fathom Luke Stanton experiencing fear in an athletic setting, but a 4-year-old can be cut some slack.

The first sport Stanton’s parents tried to get him into was hockey. He could have developed into an imposing presence on the blue line for Paul Moggach’s hockey powerhouse at Brighton, but Stanton said he never got started.

Livingston County Male Athlete of the Year Luke Stanton competed for 4 state championships (1)

He was afraid to step on the ice.

Fear was never an issue again for Stanton, who battled some of the best offensive linemen and wrestlers in the state during his football and wrestling careers at Brighton. An explosive 6-foot-4, 235-pounder, Stanton was often the one imposing fear on an opponent on the other side of the line or mat.

Stanton made all-state in both sports, becoming the only Livingston County male athlete to do so in multiple sports in the abbreviated 2019-20 sports year. His ability to compete in two sports at a high level made him the Livingston Daily’s choice for the county’s Male Athlete of the Year.

High school football players and wrestlers dream of competing for state championships at Ford Field. Stanton’s Brighton career in both sports ended in the Detroit Lions’ home stadium.

During football season, he was a star defensive end for the first Livingston County football team to reach a state championship game. Brighton lost in the Division 1 title game to Davison, 35-25.

A little more than three months later, Stanton reached the Division 1 state wrestling championship match at 215 pounds, having cut weight since football season ended. He lost a 4-2 decision to defending champion Brendin Yatooma of Detroit Catholic Central.

Stanton was a three-time all-stater in wrestling, finishing eighth as a sophom*ore and third as a junior at 215.

Although football is the sport he will continue at Grand Valley State University, his wrestling experience was invaluable in his development as a defensive end.

“It definitely helps a lot with hand-fighting,” Stanton said. “Being a D-end, I’ve got to use my hands a lot. Those went together. Then there’s the whole mental state of it. For instance, all three years we played Belleville. I’m undersized to those Division I offensive tackles I went against. Devontae Dobbs (of Michigan State), I didn’t care where he was going. Wrestling definitely helped from a mentality standpoint. I don’t care if you’re a five-star recruit, I’m going to bring all I’ve got.”

Livingston County Male Athlete of the Year Luke Stanton competed for 4 state championships (2)

The way Stanton held his own against a Belleville team stocked with elite talent from throughout the Detroit area made an impression on college recruiters.

“I talked to a couple of coaches who said, ‘I love how you played against Belleville,’ ” Stanton said. “That was my junior year. That game really opened up recruiting for a lot of our guys.”

As a senior, Stanton helped Brighton upset Belleville in the state semifinals, 22-19, to earn a trip to Ford Field. He led the county with 12 sacks. He had 44 tackles, including 18 for losses. Used occasionally as a tight end, Stanton caught nine passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns.

Only a handful of athletes in county history have competed in a state championship setting as often as Stanton. He was on the mat in two team championship losses to Detroit Catholic Central in 2018 and 2019, played in a football state final and wrestled in an individual title match.

“Looking back, I couldn’t have had a greater opportunity to get the whole high school experience with football and wrestling,” Stanton said. “I was blessed to be able to be on two sports where I wrestled for three state championships and played in football for one. You don’t get that opportunity much, especially the football one.

“Playing for a football state championship was the greatest experience of my life. That whole season was very magical. I’m very grateful that’s how my senior year went with football and my sophom*ore, junior and senior year with wrestling.”

Livingston County Male Athlete of the Year Luke Stanton competed for 4 state championships (3)

Stanton could have wrestled in college, but football was his first love. He became involved in wrestling in third grade after seeing classmate Aiden Brown wearing a Brighton wrestling shirt.

“I went to my dad and said, ‘I want to wrestle,’ ” Stanton said. “He wrestled back when he was a kid, so he was all for it. Ever since then, I stuck with it. I’m glad I did. It definitely helped with football and helped with life. You go out there and a kid might be better than you, but if you’re there mentally you can beat him.”

Stanton was a talented enough wrestler that he was able to finish second in the state, even though he admits “my heart wasn’t in it” by his senior year. He wrestled last winter because he didn’t want to let down his teammates, particularly senior football teammate Greyson Stevens.

“Going into the season, I didn’t know if I wanted to do this,” Stanton said. “Once I got in the wrestling room and knew our team had the potential to make another state final and knew Greyson had the potential to do something big, I knew I owed it to Greyson. I respected him enough to give him a good practice partner.”

With the school’s weight room closed because of COVID-19 fears, Stanton and Stevens have been working out together in preparation for college. Stevens will wrestle at Northern Illinois.

“We’ve been waking up early and running before it gets too hot,” Stanton said. “At the beginning, it was hard to find someone to work out with, then Greyson let me know he has a (weight) set in his basem*nt. We’ve been working out the last month-and-a-half.”

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After coming close to winning four state championships in high school, Stanton is looking forward to playing football for one of the nation’s top NCAA Division II programs. Grand Valley State has won four national championships and has the best all-time winning percentage of any Division II team.

“After making the state finals in football and losing, I just wanted to fight for at least one championship in football,” Stanton said. “I’ll still be playing for the next five years. It’s nice knowing coach Mitch (Matt Mitchell) has been there for 17 years. He knows how to win. He’s got the coaches to do it. We’ve got the guys to do it. I think we’re going to do some special things at GV the next couple years.”

Livingston County Male Athlete of the Year Luke Stanton competed for 4 state championships (2024)

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