By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
WESTLAND — Oxford Varsity Wrestling opened the 2023-2024 with wins in their dual match on Dec. 6.
The Wildcats took down host John Glenn, 40-30, and Fordson, 58-15.
“We have been talking about what we were looking for opening up at the beginning of the year,” said Ross Wingert, head coach. “What we are not worried about is wrestling perfect and what we call peaking – putting our best technical effort out there. It definitely is important it always is especially when you are seeing formidable opponent at John Glenn. What we have really been focused on is how hard we are going to compete and how hard we are going to wrestle.
“We are really proud of the results from Wednesday. I felt like we out wrestled our opponents both on the varsity and a fun stat we are really proud of too – our JV team won 34-3 on Wednesday night as well which we are really excited about.”
The Wildcats had seven wrestlers win both of their matches for the day: Gavin Lewis in the 106-pound weight class, Dominic Benjamin (120), Chase Beall (126), Ryan Thompson (138), Luke Johnson (165), Micah Roper (175) and Preston Wilder (190).
“A young Preston wrestling up and a higher weight class was very impressive as a freshman,” said Wingert. “What really stood out to us in the John Glenn dual was Gavin Dominic, Luke and Micah pinned, in what is in our opinion, the other team’s best four kids. Those are match ups we want our best kids to wrestle their best kids. We are not going to protect them. We are not going to hide them. We got those match ups we wanted and not only did they win but they came away with pins to give us bonus points which is absolutely massive when you talk about dual wrestling and team wrestling. I can’t say enough about those individuals and what they did that day.”
Wingert added though the score didn’t reflect it there were times they were sloppy in their first dual against Fordson.
“Something we continue to talk about is we work year round to put ourselves in a position of confidence and not panic,” he said. “I thought even though the score doesn’t show that we had some things to fix mentally after the first dual and then we are going to wrestle a really good opponent the second dual. The crew did a really good job of just refocusing and getting back to what they know and working hard through positions and being smart. It just shows the veteran crew we have. We are still a young team overall there is no doubt about that, but at the same time we have a lot of experience with this young team.”
The Wildcats had three line ups go to two different tournaments.
Varsity Gold went to the Warren Woods Tower tournament and went 3-2 for the day with a 52-16 win over Gaylord, 48-21 win over St. Joseph, and a 53-29 loss to Warren Woods. They lost to Bay City John Glenn, 40-35; and Bedford, 34-33.
Varsity Blue went to the Airport Duals and JV also went to Warren Woods.
Wingert shared they have close to 70 on the roster right now.
“There are a lot of kids on the team and we are happy about it,” he said. “We have two completely separate practices just because they don’t all fit in our room. It’s a good problem to have. We are adapting and figuring out how to have a team this size. We are blessed with coaching staff we have. It speaks volumes about the community and people’s interest in our program.”
The Wildcats host their first home dual this Wednesday against Macomb Dakota, 5 p.m.
“We are really excited about it,” said Wingert. “Dakota is always a great program. I love we get to see these quality teams early this season. As we continue to gain experience like we saw on last Wednesday and we continue to gain confidence with that experience, I think Oxford gym is going to be a hard place to wrestle at. I know the town and our alumni are really proud of the program and our team. I am excited for our kids to be out in front of their peers and perform to the best they can. “
Oxford hosts the first day of the Oakland County Championship on Friday, beginning at 4 p.m. They continue the county meet on Saturday at Birmingham Groves, 9 a.m.