By Andrew Moser
Leader Intern
Usually teams from Division II schools are not supposed to win Division I tournaments, but Oxford proved that theory wrong by winning the Detroit Catholic Central Tournament Saturday.
‘The guys wrestled tough,? said Oxford Coach Scott Couch. ‘We’re happy to win. This is the first time we won the Detroit CC tournament, and this maybe even the first time a non-Division I school won the tournament.?
Oxford demonstrated that it could play with the big boys, placing 11 wrestlers in the tournament, including two individual champions. The champions were Matt Frisch of the 125-pound weight class and Prescott Line of the 215-pound weight class.
Oxford also had four second-place finishes by Calvin Cavanaugh, Mike Myer, Josh Villerreal and Heavyweight Dillan Smith.
Ben Rolsten, Bo Cantera and Jeff Charles also finished third in their weight classes.
At the Bluewater Invitational, Oxford’s B-team took fourth place.
On Jan 7, the Oxford Wildcats Wrestling team once again proved why they deserve the number three ranking in division two with convincing home wins over Holly and Fenton.
Emotions were running high as Oxford took on wrestling powerhouse Holly in the first meet, and Josh Villarreal got Oxford started with an impressive pin over Holly’s James Nichols. Oxford never looked back, and an exuberant crowd from both Oxford and Holly saw Oxford go on to win 42-22.
Couch said the turning point of the meet came in the 130-weight class, when Oxford’s Zach Miller pinned Holly’s Joe Spencer. Other Wildcats with pins were Prescott Line, Jacob Peasley, Calvin Cavanaugh and Matt Frisch.
‘Holly is always tough, we have lots of respect for them,? Couch said.
Against Fenton, Oxford’s emotional victory and exceptional balance showed, wearing down Fenton wrestlers on their way to a 64-6 win. Five out of the first six Oxford victories in the meet were pins, in route to taking 12 out of 14 weight classes, with over half by pins.
‘We have good balance top to bottom,? Couch said. ‘We have a tradition that we don’t lose in this gym, and not many dual meets have been lost in this gym.?
Overall, Oxford improved its record to 16-0.