By Mike Musary, Special to The Review
Coach Cory Kuzinski and his Lake Orion varsity wrestlers completed their season with a 21 ? 16 record.
It was a successful inaugural season for ‘Coach K? as his Dragons had one of the toughest schedules in the state. Nine of Lake Orion’s opponents reached Team States, including all four State Champions ? Detroit Catholic Central, St. John’s, Richmond and Hudson.
Coach Kuzinski said, ‘Wrestling one of the toughest schedules in the state can have its pros and cons. While our record may not look the prettiest, we were prepared to see top quality competition once the post season began.?
Lake Orion placed fifth at the Oakland County Championships out of 46 schools and finished in second place in the Oakland Activities Association Red, which is the top league in Oakland County.
On an individual basis, six Lake Orion wrestlers qualified for regionals and four of them advanced to states. Senior Matt Musary (125) and junior Adam Gros (171) both won one match at regionals, but it took two victories to reach the State Championships.
Seniors A.J. Fligger (135), Josh Hofmann (189) and Willie Stewart (215) all reached states as did junior Dom Arnold (145). Stewart was the lone state medalist as he placed sixth.
Kuzinski said, ‘I am proud to have had six regional qualifiers, four state qualifiers, and one state placer. Our outlook for the future is bright. We have a good number of wrestlers who are willing to put in the work necessary in the off-season to be more successful next year. Furthermore, we have a large number of middle school wrestlers who are excited to make the jump to the next level.?