Short Brothers Find Solace in Family, Michigan Center, Wrestling

From left, Blake Short, Edie Poynter, Tom Poynter, and Chase Short stand on the mat following the Cascade Conference meet Friday at Grass Lake High School. Both wrestlers earned fourth place in their respective weight classes during the conference finals.

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(February 4, 2024 7:30 AM ET) In a twisted kind of way, Michigan Center High School seniors Chase and Blake Short have come full circle in life. 

They spent the first two years of their lives living with their aunt and uncle, Tom and Edie Poynter.

Eventually, they found security in the town of Michigan Center – a school district most of their family graduated from.

And wrestling has become a way of life for family members with more than a dozen sometimes attending wrestling meets to watch the twins.

But somewhere between being born and graduating high school in three months, the twins have experienced life’s ups and downs.

Like a Hallmark movie, it appears as if there will be a happy conclusion.

Here is their story.

Two and out

Because of perceived mental illness and legal issues Chase and Blake Short spent the first two years of their lives living with the Poynters. A court order sent the two boys back with their parents.

Chase said the twin’s father wasn’t around much due to “legal issues” and their mother raised the two boys. He believes his mother has mental illness issues and did not treat the twins with kindness.

“She didn’t mean it on us,” Chase said. “She would just randomly snap at things that didn’t make sense.”

It was bad enough that the twins – pre-teenagers at the time – walked from their home near the Middle School at Parkside to another aunt’s house near Jackson High School. Child Protective Services was called, and the twin’s other aunt became their caretaker.

They lived with their other aunt for nearly two years before she died in an automobile accident.

Then the Poynters took action.

The reunion

Tom and Edie Poynter had not seen the twins in nearly a decade but knew something had to be done.

“When we got the call that my sister had died I knew we wanted them,” Edie said. “We went over to the house immediately because I knew what their future would be (in foster care) and we had to save them from that.”

But that came with a price tag.

Tom had just retired, and the couple lived in a two-bedroom house. 

They sold their home and moved into a house in Michigan Center where the children – now three of them with the addition of sister Olivia – could have their own bedroom.

“This time we were going to get it right,” Edie said of the situation. “There was no thinking about it … we had no time.”

Chase believes the couple gave up a lot to bring the three together. 

“They sacrificed things at home so we could have things in life,” Chase said. “They fought like hell for us because they knew it would be a bad situation.”

Wrestling through life

Chase started wrestling in eighth grade and his brother, Blake, started the sport in ninth grade. Being as close as they were, wrestling made sense in a twisted way for Blake.

“I saw him (Chase) losing a match and it made me mad,” Blake said of his decision to join the sport. 

The closeness could be seen during this current season. Chase wrestles up at 190 pounds – he weighs 178 – so his brother does not have to cut weight. They are captains on the team and make sure teammates have rides to and from practices and meets.

MCHS wrestling coach Payne Blanchard says the twin’s story “inspires him.”

“They are two of the greatest kids I have ever met,” Blanchard said of Chase and Blake. “They could have chosen a much different life, and no one would have blamed them.”

Edie said her brother was a “big wrestler” in high school and the sport has reunited the family through wrestling meets.

“There are sometimes 15 people at meets watching Chase and Blake … the family support is appreciated,” Edie said. 

Blake has a record of 25-11 this season while Chase is 32-11. 

Better days ahead

Somehow, Blake and Chase have learned to adjust in life. 

Tom says the twins have learned to count on one another to get through the hard parts.

“In this situation, you can either lay down or power through it,” Tom said. “I have never seen the boys argue.”

Chase is the genius in the family with an SAT score of 1,470 – believed to be the highest in school history. He nearly had a perfect score – 790-out-of-800 – in the math portion of the test. He plans to attend Central Michigan University to study cybersecurity. With these SAT scores he could attend college anywhere in the United States and he has been accepted at the University of Michigan. 

Blake is in the construction program at Jackson Area Career Center and plans to attend Jackson College to study to be an electrical lineman. He has a grade point average of 3.0.

Chase holds on to a phrase his parent told him years ago.

“Someone always has it worse than you,” Chase said. “Even at the low points we were able to get through it.”

The brothers have no contact with their parents but do not appear to show any malice toward them for the way things went down the first dozen or so years of their lives. 

“You have to be able to be thankful for what you have,” Chase said. 

Edie sums up the family life for the five in one simple sentence.

“We are blessed … in a crazy kind of way.”