The Wildcat grapplers claimed their third consecutive district championship this past week after defeating Port Huron Northern 72-6 and Romeo 49-24 at the MHSAA Team District finals held Feb. 11 at Oxford High School.
‘This time of year, it’s win or go home,? said Head Coach Paul McDevitt. ‘We knew our backs were against the wall and so we went out there and wrestled.?
This championship marks the 17th district title for the Wildcats in the last 21 years.
‘It’s good. We’re not really keeping count of those,? McDevitt said. ‘We set our goals pretty high and winning districts is kind of just on the way (to) meeting our goals, so when you set your goals high every year, winning districts is just a part of that happening.?
Nine Wildcat wrestlers were 2-0 for the evening. Freshmen Liam Hillary and Devin Trevino and sophomore Sergio Borg each had two pins apiece. Senior captains Alex Hrisopoulos and Wyatt Harden and junior Jacob Call each had one victory by forfeit and one victory by fall. Juniors Garrett Tyrrell and Vinny Vackaro both had one victory by forfeit and one victory by technical fall, with back-to-back matching scores of 18-3 over Romeo. Senior Ethan Kerin had one pin and one major decision.
On Saturday, the Oxford travelled to Troy High School, where 14 Wildcats wrestled in the MHSAA Individual Districts. Out of the 14 man lineup, 10 placed in the top four to advance to individual regionals next week.
‘Ten guys coming out of that district is phenomenal,? McDevitt said.
Oxford had five wrestlers in the finals, with four of them securing the district Champ honor ? senior captain Wyatt Harden, senior captain Alex Hrisopoulos and sophomores Sergio Borg and Daltan Myers.
Junior Byron Schlickenmeyer finished in second place.
There were also five wrestlers competing for third place, with four of them winning that round to earn it ? juniors Jacob Call and Garrett Tyrrell, and freshmen Liam Hillary and Shane Moore.
Freshman Devin Trevino took fourth place.
Of the 16 schools competing at MHSAA Individual District 2-1, Oxford advanced the most wrestlers to regionals, followed by Clarkston, which advanced eight and Utica-Eisenhower, which advanced seven.
‘We went out there and we did really good,? he McDevitt said. ‘Our kids looked pretty tough and they all competed well. It started looking like our strategy of building a really, really competitive schedule where you compete against the best-of-the-best every single weekend all-year-long paid off on Saturday.?
‘Our district is really tough, but for our kids, it was one of the easier tournaments they have been in all year long. When you raise the bar really, really high and you push the kids to do that, then coming into a district like that where you have a lot of tough matches, they’ve been (doing) that all year long,? he continued. ‘It wasn’t anything new for them, whereas for a lot of those teams, it was their first time really having to deal with real tough competition.?
The Wildcats will compete in the MHSAA Team Regionals at Rochester High School on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and host the MHSAA Individual Regionals at home on Saturday, Feb. 20.
Oxford will step onto the mat Wednesday to face Clarkston and the winner of Rochester Adams versus Utica Eisenhower.
McDevitt said they’re excited to take on Clarkston again.
‘We beat them in the dual. They beat us in the tournament,? McDevitt said. ‘We’re pretty much even with them now, so now, it is winner-take-all.?