The Wildcat grapplers didn’t disappoint Feb. 17 as they brought home yet another District 1 Regional Championship, making it their eighth such title in nine years.
Oxford kicked the night off with a 48-21 victory over co-league champion Clarkston.
‘Clarkston had beat us in the dual in the league tournament, so we kind of felt like we owed them,? said Head Coach Paul McDevitt. ‘We had our guys pumped up for that one and . . . I think we went out and performed very well.?
Utica Eisenhower was a different story.
‘They’re a real good team and we didn’t match up all that great with them, so we needed some guys to come through with some key wins,? McDevitt said.
Those guys were Devin Trevino at 152 pounds and Ethan Moll at 160 pounds. McDevitt noted Moll has mostly been a backup this season and hasn’t experienced a lot of success in the Varsity A lineup, but they decided to put him out there.
‘Basically, his job was to not get pinned and he went out there and he actually won, which made everything after that pretty much easier,? he explained.
Senior Captain Wyatt Harden secured the 33-28 victory with a pin.
Six Wildcat wrestlers were 2-0 for the evening. Harden and sophomore Daltan Myers each had two pins. Senior Captain Alex Hrisopoulos had one pin against Clarkston and one technical fall against Eisenhower. Junior Jacob Call and sophomore Sergio Borg each had one pin against Clarkston and one decision against Eisenhower. Trevino, a freshman, had one major decision and one decision.
Five Wildcats made it out of the Feb. 20 individual regionals with a chance to make history at the Individual State tournament at the Palace of Auburn Hills March 3-5.
First place finishers included Dalton Myers at 103 and Alex Hrisopoulos at 140. Sergio Borg at 125 and Devin Trevino at 152 and Wyatt Harden at 215, all had second place finishes.
McDevitt called Saturday ‘bittersweet.?
‘We had some kids that didn’t make it out (who) I (had) hoped would. Liam Hillary, Jacob Call, Garrett Tyrell, Byron Schlickenmeyer, all of those guys have done a really good job for us all year long and were all probably good enough to make it out, but just didn’t have a good day,? he explained. ‘What I was happy with was the five that we did get out. All five of them took first and second place. That was pretty impressive.
He noted Oxford was probably the only school to do that, with the exception of maybe Davison.
Harden’s second place was due to an unfortunate injury. ‘Wyatt was up 6-1 in the finals with 30 second to go. He had the match won and was kind of playing out the time. They went out-of-bounds and he landed awkwardly and separated his shoulder,? McDevitt said. ‘He had to injury default out of a match that he had won. We’re not sure if he’s going to be back or not.?
Best case scenario, Harden will be back for team states this Friday, but McDevitt thinks it’s probably unlikely.
Oxford will head to the Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant on Friday to compete in the Team State quarter-finals. McDevitt said they are seeded fourth and will compete first against Hudsonville.
‘We feel pretty good about it,? he said. ‘We’d feel better with Wyatt in the lineup, but even without Wyatt, if all of our guys compete, do their jobs, then we have a chance to beat Hudsonville.?
If Oxford beats Hudsonville, McDevitt said they’ll face number one seed Hartland.
‘Without Wyatt, that’s a pretty tall order, but we’ll see what we can do,? he added. ‘If Wyatt is able to compete and be in the lineup, then we put together a plan and I think we can pull the offset off, but it’s a tall order.?
On a side note, McDevitt said he is impressed with how well his team has done given the injuries.
‘We lost four state qualifiers (due to injuries) from this year’s team and we’re still battling on and competing,? he said. ‘I just think that speaks to the strength of our overall program.?