By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
OXFORD — Oxford Varsity Wrestling battled last week as they took down top-ranked Macomb Dakota and won the Oakland County Championships, finishing with three individual champs.
The Wildcats opened the week with a 38-32 win over Macomb Dakota, ranked third in Division 1 at the time of the meet, in a spotlight dual, Dec. 13.
“We earned that,” said Ross Wingert, head coach. “We have been working really hard. The kids have been responding to us pushing them very hard. I tell them we expect to go out and have duals like that where we are putting in that kind of work. It’s great for them to be able to feel it because now we have to go back and work even harder.”
Macomb Dakota opened the dual winning the first three matches by decision to lead, 10-0.
The Wildcats took the next match with a fall by Luke Johnson in the 157-pound weight class over Dominic Demasa with 18.9 seconds left in the second period.
Preston Wilder (165) was next up to the mat and added another win for Oxford scoring 10-3 over Troy Weiand.
Ian Barlow (175) went for a take down as soon as his match began and won with a pin with 27 seconds remaining in the first period, putting Oxford up 15-10.
Micah Roper (190) continued the lead, winning his match with a 18-3 technical fall 25 seconds into the third period.
The Cougars took the next two weight classes with falls, two take the lead 22-20.
Gavin Lewis (106) brought Oxford back into the lead with a fall 1:18 left in the second period, 26-22.
The Cougars tied the score at 26 points winning the 113-pound weight class with a 11-2 finish.
Dominic Benjamin (120) and Chase Beall (126) added huge points for Oxford with falls in their matches to bring the Wildcats up 38-26 heading into the last match of the night.
“It’s all about where you are in your line up and where you start is random,” Wingert said. “The people we had go first did a great job fighting. They did a good job limiting bonus points. Then, we knew we had our kids who score a lot of bonus coming up. They went out there and they got it done. That’s what a good team does. It’s real easy to say wrestling is an individual sport and to a certain aspect it is. But, it’s such a team sport, too, and our kids believe that that’s why we are doing well.
“You are going to lose matches and Dakota is a good team and the ones we were losing our kids were fighting like winners. We are real proud of them for that. I believe with a lot of good outings we have had earlier, that was our best collaborative as a team to go out there and we are proud of them.”
Wingert added the win helped the team as they headed into the Oakland County Championships on Friday and Saturday.
“It brings a sense of excitement,” said Wingert. “I think at the same time it keeps us at a certain place where we have been telling these kids for awhile that we think we have a special group here. You hope the kids believe in that. They are starting to show themselves that. Now we get to go out into this individual tournament and we hope our momentum just carries over.”
Lewis, Johnson and Roper finished as champions in their respective weight classes during the two-day tournament.
Benjamin finished in second place in the 113-pound weight class. Beall and Ryan Thompson (138) finished in third place; Wilder, fifth place; Connor Stokes (132) and Nolan Freytag (150), sixth place, and Antonio Rojas (120), eighth place.
The top five teams in the 34-team tournament were Oxford in first place with 219 points; Rochester Adams, second, 145; Clarkston, third, 143; Brother Rice, fourth, 121; and South Lyon, fifth, 120.5.
Oxford hosts Richmond on Thursday in an Honor Dual at the Legacy Center.
“It will be our third year doing it,” said Wingert. “We are excited to be able to honor Tate (Myre) and everybody else we lost on that tragic day. Our kids have the experience to go out and put their hearts on the line for a good cause and we are looking forward to it.”
JV begins at 5 p.m. with exhibition matches, varsity follows.