The varsity wrestling team capped off it’s outstanding season by sending five wrestlers to the individual state finals held March 4-6 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
‘They guys wrestled really well. It was the state finals,? said Wrestling Head Coach Scott Couch.
Leading the way for the Wildcats was junior Matt Frisch, who finished second in the 140-pound weight division after losing a 9-2 decision to Matt Dietz, of Clarkston.
Frisch cruised into his semifinal match against Adam Fahs of Port Huron Central High by defeating Blake Bradley of Macomb L’Anse Creuse North 10-3 and John Julien of Hartland 9-1.
Frisch escaped with a 5-3 over Fahs to set up his title shot against Dietz.
Frisch finished the season with a 50-4 record.
He wasn’t the only Wildcat to medal in the 140 lb. weight division, as junior Ben Ralston finished fifth after defeating Andrew Ermatinger of Kalamazoo Central 8-6 in overtime.
Ralston finished his junior season at 49-12.
The Wildcats also had two wrestlers place in the 103 lb. weight division, junior Keegan Cantara and freshman Rocco Borg.
Cantara lost a 4-0 decision to Ken Bade of Detroit Catholic Central in the third place match, while Borg also lost a 4-0 decision to TJ Fagan of Detroit Catholic Central in the fifth place match.
Cantara finished the season 50-6, while Borg was 32-7.
Sophomore Prescott Line rounded out the successful event for the Wildcats with a fourth place finish in the 215 lb. weight division.
He lost to Detroit Catholic Central Mike Kinville 4-3 in overtime in their second meeting of the tournament.
They also met in the second round, when Line defeated Kinville 8-5 to set up a match against Hartland’s Nick McDiarmid.
McDiarmid defeated Line 11-3 in their semifinal match.
Overall, Couch was pleased with how well his guys preformed. ‘You have schools that are happy when one guy qualifies, and we just placed five, so I am very proud of the guys and they wrestled very well,? he said.
With all of the wrestlers who placed at the state competition being underclassmen, Couch cannot wait for next year when the OAA comes calling.
‘We have seven state qualifiers returning and five state placers and I think that it says a lot for our program…I think some of those guys who got a taste of it this year can return next year and be state champs, so I look for big things from those guys,? he said.
The Wildcats finished the season 30-4.
‘I think the OAA should be looking for us going in and I think we are going to have a great team going in with the people we have coming back.?