Of the ‘Oxford 7? who made it to the individual state finals for wrestling, Alex Hrisopoulous (119) and Collin Campbell (135) came home with medals and All-State honors.
‘Although we only had two state placers and no state finalist (out of seven wrestlers), it may seem a little disappointing, but really it wasn’t,? said Head Coach Paul McDevitt. ‘Overall, the kids did really well.?
Unfortunately, the Wildcats were a man short after Wyatt Harden (189) was unable to compete due to a shoulder injury he received a couple weeks earlier.
‘Wyatt Harden being out with (an) injury was a big loss for us because he probably could have been anywhere between state champion to a high state placer,? McDevitt said. ‘So, that would have been another one for us that we weren’t able to have.?
Hrisopoulous, took third overall and finished with a season record of 53-4. He kicked off his first match of the tournament with a 2:51 pin fall over Adam Ross, of Livonia Franklin.
‘It’s a big relief,? Hrisopoulous said after the match. ‘That first one is always important and I feel great.?
Hrisopoulous was the only Wildcat of the six competing to have been to states before both a as a freshman and as a sophomore.
‘This is what I train all year for, he said. ‘I fell short last year. It’s not the plan this year.?
Hrisopoulous took a hard loss in the state finals last year. He noted that last year’s loss was definitely motivation to return to states.
‘Losing in the state finals is the worst feeling in the world and I don’t want to repeat,? he said. ‘I try to come in with a clear mind and just take it one match at a time.?
Unfortunately, this year he took a loss in the champion quarter finals to Romeo Riley, of Kalamazoo Central, which pushed him further down the chart, leaving him to battle back to third place.
‘Alex was a little disappointed. He was state runner up last year and he was really hoping to get back to the finals and have a chance to win this year,? McDevitt said. ‘He lost to a really tough kid (in) a really close match. Those kinds of things happen.?
‘The third place kid is always someone you have to admire because they have to face adversity. They have to come back on the consolation side of the bracket and wrestle four more really tough matches to get to that third place,? he added. ‘Sometimes it’s easier to take first or second then it is to take third, because at the state level of competition, everybody’s good.?
Having been knocked down the charts and battling back, McDevitt said that Hrisopoulous ‘really (made) a statement that he was one of the best kids on that chart.?
It was a similar story for Campbell, who took solid wins in his first two matches, but lost to Daniel Shear, of Walled Lake Central, in a 39-4 decision in the championship semi-finals, sending him down the charts.
‘They were very evenly matched. It was a very close match (that) could have gone either way,? McDevitt said. ‘These kids could have probably wrestled each other 10 times and (the winner would be) different all 10 (times).
Unfortunately, after working his way back up the chart, Campbell suffered a 48-2 loss by decision in the third place match against Collin Vargo, of Wyandotte ? Roosevelt.
McDevitt noted it was Campbell’s first time at states.
‘For his first time going (to states) and (to) come back with fourth place is pretty impressive,? he said.
He finished the season with a 48-8 record.
‘It’s been pretty awesome,? Campbell said of his journey to states. ‘My first three years of wrestling, I’ve been in some bad spots and never made it here, but I put in a lot of work this summer and made some mental adjustments and always tell myself I am the best kid on the mat when I’m wrestling and do what I got to do to win.?
Freshmen Ryan Miller (103), Sergio Borg (112) and sophomore Vinny Vackaro (130) all lost in the ‘blood round,? where a win equals an All-State placer and a loss puts you out of the tournament.
‘All three of them had really tough kids there and they wrestled really well,? McDevitt said. ‘They just fell a little bit short, but all three had great tournaments and we’re very impressive.?
Miller, who finished the season with a 38-13 record, lost in the blood round to Daniel Poupore, of Saline, 39-4 by decision.
‘It’s very exciting,? Miller said of making it as a freshman to states. ‘I’m happy to be here.?
Borg, who finished his season with a 43-11 record, agreed.
‘It’s a good environment and I’m having fun wrestling here,? he said.
Tyler Rogaliner, of Temperance-Bedford, scored a 43-12 win by pin fall over Borg.
Vackaro lost to Kyle Bohnsack of Brighton. Vackaro finished the season with a 38-16 record.
‘It’s been a heck of journey,? he said. ‘I started out not too hot and slowly worked my way up.?
Adam Schlickenmeyer took two hard losses a row at heavyweight, giving him a season ending record of 31-15. He said it was ‘interesting? being at states.
‘A little bit less than I expected. I thought it would be a little bit different, but it’s (been) a fun ride, he said. ‘I could have done better. I didn’t do my job so I lost. If I did my job, I probably would have won.?
‘Adam had a really tough draw at states,? McDevitt added. ‘He is returning next year, so I think the experience was very valuable to him.?
As a team, Oxford came a long way from where itstarted at the beginning of the year with only one senior in the lineup and trying to plug holes with boys who had never wrestled at the varsity level. They eventually found their way.
‘We kept trying different combinations of kids to try and see what we could come up with. As the year went on, we started finding the right combination of kids at the right weight classes,? McDevitt said. ‘With the growing pains we ended up qualifying for state, but drew the eighth seed, which means you go up against the number one ranked team right out of the gate.?
In their match-up against Brighton at the team state tournament, which was held Feb. 28 in Battle Creek, the Wildcats fell to the Bulldogs 39-19. Miller, Hrisopoulous, Vickaro and Campbell all had wins.
‘We were pretty dangerous as an eighth seed. Brighton as the number one in the state found that out,? McDevitt said. ‘Usually, your number one and number eight is not as close as the dual we put up with them.?
Overall, McDevitt described the season as ‘gratifying.?
‘It was one of the most fun seasons of coaching,? he said. ‘These kids really took it upon themselves to do a lot of self coaching.?
Part of this season’s success, McDevitt attributed to his captains, Campbell, Hrisopoulous and Bailey Kammerer.
‘We (the coaches) didn’t have to raise our voices at practice to get them to work harder or make them run faster. We had fantastic captains this year. Collin, Alex and Bailey were such good captains that those kids took it upon themselves to lead by both example and be very vocal with the young kids? The respect the young kids had for the captains was evident because they listened to them.?
McDevitt noted that next year’s team should be a ‘pre-seasoned team? with the experience freshman and sophomore wrestlers received, as well as those who will be returning as state qualifiers.
‘Now that they have been to Battle Creek (at team state finals), they’ve been to the Palace and they’ve been on the big stage, it’s not going to be anything new for them,? he said. ‘They’ve gone up against the best teams in the state on a regular basis.?