Six heading to Ford Field

By Wendi Reardon-Price

Special to The Leader

Six Wildcats move on to the MHSAA Division 1 Wrestling Individual Finals at Ford Field in a few weeks after placing in the top four at the Hartland Regional meets this past weekend.
Freshman Wildcat Gavin Lewis was regional champion in the 106-pound weight class at the MHSAA Division 1 Wrestling Individual Regional 1. He went 3-0 for the day starting off with a win by forfeit over Clarkston’s Tyler Le. He won by a technical fall over Birmingham Seaholm’s Jack Salyer, 15-0 at 3:27. Lewis won the championship round with a 12-0 major decision over Flushing’s Dylon Labelle.  
Senior Koen Eberhard (120) finished in second place going 2-1 for the day. He had a fall over West Bloomfield’s Christopher Coleman, 3:29; and a 4-3 win over Hartland’s Dallas Korponic. He lost in the championship round to Clarkston’s Brady Vogt, 9-7.
Junior Micah Roper (157) finished in third place and went 3-1 for the day. He started the day with a 6-1 loss to West Bloomfield’s Jason Onwenu. He went on to win his next three matches with a 5-0 victory over Swartz Creek’s Keagen Larion; 4-3 win over Birmingham Groves’ Colin Campbell; and a 8-4 win in the third place match over Bloomfield Hills’ Garrett Jansen.
Sophomore Dominic Benjamin finished in fourth place in the 113-pound weight class. He went 2-2 for the day with both losses to Clarkston’s Archer Anderson, in the quarterfinal and in the third place match.
His two wins were over Grand Blanc’s Sage Silber, 9-4; and Hartland’s Jake Gillespie with a fall, 4:22.
Sophomore Chase Beall (120) and junior Ian Jones (175) had two losses in their first matches to end the meet.  
Sophomore Luke Johnson (150) did not compete due to an injury.

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On Sunday, the girls wrestled at Birmingham Groves high school and both Freshman Cheyenne Frank and Junior MaKenna Bovee placed 3rd in their weight classes at the Girls MHSAA regionals and have qualified for individual states. This makes them the first two females to qualify for states in Oxford history.
Frank went 3-1 for the day in the 105-pound weight class. She had a fall over Garden City’s Priscilla Ewald, 59 seconds, to open the day. She had a 6-1 win over Southgate Anderson’s Sparrow Centeno, 6-1. She won her third place match with a fall over Utica Eisenhower’s Anna Pontzious, 1:48.
Bovee went 3-1 in the 190-pound weight class. Her three wins were by falls over
Jackson’s Kami Papiersky, 2:28; Onsted’s Jenna Zellen, 50 seconds; and Warren Mott’s Nanette Dawood in the third place match in 44 seconds.

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The Wildcats lost to Davison in the MHSAA Division 1 Wrestling Team Regional 101 on Wednesday, 54-21. Picking up wins for Oxford were Lewis over Ivy Forrest and Beall over Calvin Martz, both with falls. Roper won by decision over Bryan Shanks, 4-2; and Benjamin won by a void.

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The following photos are courtesy of Kristina Johnson.