The Varsity Wrestling team experienced extreme highs and lows during their matches against Detroit Catholic Central and Brandon on Wednesday Jan. 27.
On Senior night for the Wildcats, the crowd was treated to a thrilling match-up between two of the top ten teams in the state. DCC entered the match ranked second in Division One, while Oxford was eighth.
Halfway through the match, the crowd erupted when senior A.J. Logan earned his 100th career varsity win after pinning his opponent in the second period.
‘It’s awesome, there are a lot of guys who don’t get 100 wins,? Oxford Head Coach Scott Couch said.
He added that ‘when you’ve got leadership like that, it makes other people around him want to get their 100 win.?
His victory gave the Wildcats a 12-9 lead in a match that lived up to expectations with DCC pulling out a late 30-25 victory over Oxford.
The match went back and forth, with both teams making runs to take the lead. Oxford found itself trailing 21-12 with five matches left, when sophomore Prescott Line pinned his opponent in the second period, cutting the lead to 21-18.
The crowd sensed the upset after consecutive victories by junior Keegan Cantara (103 lbs) and sophomore Jacob Peasley (112 lbs). They got energized even more after DCC was issued a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
But an upset wasn’t in the works as DCC’s Todd Melick pinned sophomore Kyle Hill and DCC’s Alec Mooradian defeated junior Mike Thomas 10-0, securing the victory.
‘Even though we fell short, it was one of those things that tells people that we’re right there; ready to be a state calibar team and that gets us ready for the state tournament,? said Couch.
‘It was a great meet,? he added. ‘The guys wrestled really well and it was a good showing.?
Couch added that they still have to continue to work on some the little things to put them over the top.
In their opening match of the night against Brandon, the Wildcats quickly disposed of the Blackhawks, defeating them 80-0. The match took less than one hour, thanks to four voids by Brandon.