Brother Rice teammates Richie Davis, Joe Hakim face off in wrestling district championship

​The Brother Rice wrestling team had six grapplers qualify for the finals of their respective weight classes during Saturday's Division 2 individual district tournament at Warren Fitzgerald. 

And the Warriors were guaranteed to walk away with at least one champion. 

No, none of their wrestlers won via void in the finals. 

The guarantee came from teammates Richie Davis and Joe Hakim getting to face each other in the 106-pound championship match. 

Thanks to a pair of takedowns and two near falls, Davis topped Hakim by major decision, 10-0, to take first place.

"It's like wrestling a brother," said Davis, a freshman. "We practice every day together. It just felt exciting that we were wrestling. We've been partners (in practice) all season." 

Teammates wrestling each other in championship matches happen all the time (usually it happens a lot during random Saturday tournaments where teams can enter a handful of wrestlers into the same weight class). In fact, in the 138-pound third-place match, Brother Rice's Luke Nelson and Luke Elia went toe to toe. 

But Davis and Hakim battling for a district title made it a special day for the Warriors. 

When the tournament director lined up each wrestler for pre-match introductions, Davis whispered over to Hakim that when their names were announced they should both throw up their dukes at each other like they were at a boxing press conference. 

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And so they did. 

The only downside? They competed in the quietest match of the day in Fitzgerald's gymnasium. Brother Rice's coaches stood by quietly and just let the match play out while most fans kept to themselves. 

But were there any secrets between the two of them? 

"Not really," said Hakim, a sophomore. "It was kind of just like another practice. Our coach just told us to compete hard and act like it's not even your teammate you're facing." 

At the end of the day, Brother Rice finished with three individual champions. Davis beat Hakim, but senior Brennan Parent edged Warren Woods-Tower junior Vincent Provo by two points in the 157-pound championship while freshman Deacon MacNeill went to the final whistle with Orchard Lake St. Mary's senior Luca Milani to take home the 132-pound title. 

Others placing included Sebastian Abro (120 pounds) and Ricardo Saenz (126) taking second place, Caleb Steele (165) and Nelson (138) placing third and Elia (138) finishing fourth. 

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter @folsombrandonj.