DEARBORN — Henry Ford College has formed a partnership with Michigan Xtreme – a wrestling training center based in Grand Rapids – called Program GOLD from 4 to 5:30 p.m. every Sunday in the Athletic Memorial Building gymnasium on the main campus.
HFC will be the newest regional training center for Michigan Xtreme. Program GOLD’s purpose is to bring top quality youth instruction in wrestling to the Dearborn area. It is led by Jordan Thomas, a three-time wrestling state champion who wrestled at the University of Michigan.
Thomas will be assisted by Grant MacKenzie, coach of the HFC Wrestling Club. The grandson and namesake of the MacKenzie Fine Arts Building on the main campus, MacKenzie has taught physical education at Allen Park Middle School for more than 17 years.
A 1992 alumnus of Edsel Ford High School, MacKenzie attended Olivet College where he was a Division III wrestler. He graduated from Olivet in 1996 with dual undergraduate degrees in elementary education and physical education. In 2003, MacKenzie earned his graduate degree in public administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Additionally, MacKenzie is a graduate of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association/Fellowship of Christian Athletes Academy.
MacKenzie has coached wrestling since 1998. For 12 years, he served as the assistant wrestling coach at Allen Park High School.
Feeling there was a need for collegiate wrestling in southeast Michigan, he founded the NCWA wrestling program at U-M D in 2010. He also founded the NCWA wrestling program at HFC at the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year.
Program GOLD wrestlers will be grouped by weight class. This program is open for wrestlers up to seniors in high school.
Registration for Program GOLD is required. To register, go to www.henryfordcamps.com. For further information, call MacKenzie at 313-318-4022.