The Wildcat wrestlers won their fifth straight OAA and ninth straight league title overall at the OAA Red league tournament Feb. 4.
Four of which came from titles won in the Flint Metro-League.
‘I think it’s been a pretty good run. It’s not easy to do,? said Head Coach Paul McDevitt. ‘Even being up there every year there always seems to be a team that has one of their best seasons and can come in and get a title here or there. For us to be consistent over nine straight years is pretty good.?
Oxford scored 241 points, followed by Rochester Adams (158), Clarkston (144) and Stoney Creek (120.5).
Oxford putout wrestlers in 11 of the 14 weight classes for the championship round, of those eleven, seven were lifted their hand as first place champions, which included Sergio Borg (112), Garrett Tyrell (125), all-stater Alex Hrisopoulos (130), Vinnie Vackaro (135), Collin Campbell (140), Wyatt Harden (215) and Adam Schlickenmeyer (285).
Second place finishers were Ryan Miller (103), Bailey Kammerer?(119), Ethan Kerin (152), and Byron Schlickenmeyer (189).
‘I think that could be the most league champs we’ve ever had, McDevitt said. ‘We had some of our guys, who hadn’t had a ton of success throughout the year because we built our schedule so tough, but came into this tournament and had one of their best days.?
Some of examples he said were Kerin, Tyrell, Vackaro and Rain Fredericks.
‘Those are some of the kids who come to mind who have really taken on some tough competition and tough year without a ton of success and then came in Friday night and had a really good tournament,? he said.
McDevitt called this year’s league competition a ‘decent mix.?
‘Some of those teams are down a little bit this year and some of them have some of the best teams they’ve had in years,? he said, noting that he looks for Adams to be a ‘formidable opponent,? if Oxford makes it to the team regional tournament.
‘We had a duel meet with them during the regular season that we won, but it was really close and there was a lot of swing matches that could go the other way,? McDevitt continued. ?(Adams) is probably going to be our biggest challenge in getting back to the state quarter-finals.?
While their record is currently 14-7, the team has had a few setbacks this year that they weren’t expecting, having lost five wrestlers due to eligibility, season-ending injuries, transferring to other schools or just quitting the team.
‘That really hurt our expectations of the team we thought we were going to have coming into this year,? McDevitt noted. ‘It’s kind of been a struggle to bring in a bunch of new kids who we weren’t expecting to throw into the fire right away, especially with the schedule we built.?
However, he said he has watched of those freshman and sophomore wrestlers respond in a positive way by responding, growing, learning and ‘keep coming back at it.?
‘Not only have they’ve done a pretty good job this year, but I think it sets us up for the future,? McDevitt added. ‘Some of these kids weren’t expecting to be starters this year and all of sudden they were and that’s just going to make them better in the future.?
Of the seven losses they’ve had on the season, McDevitt said there were four that they for sure should have won.
‘Those are the ones that sting the most, but also are the ones that help us learn the most about what we need to do differently next time to beat those beatable teams,? he said.
Having nine first-time wrestlers in the starting lineup, has forced a mentality change, McDevitt said.
‘In the past we have young guys in the lineup and the pressure wasn’t on them as much to be successful because we had our senior studs coming up who would get points back for us and we’d find a way to win because we always had those superstars,? he said. ‘We had to get over that mentality.?
‘That’s hard because it’s hard for a first year starter who is a freshman or sophomore to realize that their match is very important,? he continued. ‘Not only winning, but not getting pinned and learning those little pieces of how to save points or score points for us. I think we’ve done a pretty good job learning from a lot of those losses that we took.?
The Wildcats will take on Lake Orion and Romeo in a dual meet tonight (Feb. 11) at Lake Orion beginning at 6:30 p.m. before coming home Saturday for individual districts that will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Oxford High School.
As far as the team overall, McDevitt just hopes to finish the season strong.
‘We’re just hoping to keep it going and try to win a district title and regional title and get back the state quarterfinals,? he said. ‘This year, that would be a real successful season for us.?