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Oxford ready to put finishing touches on OAA-Red wrestling title

Dan Stickradt | February 4, 2011 | Comments (1)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

OXFORD — A change in conferences can leave any team apprehensive about its new surroundings.

Not Oxford’s wrestling program.

The Wildcats, ranked third in Division 1, have more than weathered the storm in the confines of the Oakland Activities Association Red Division this season, where they finished the dual meet season 7-0 and can wrap up the title with a win at the eight-school league meet at Oxford on Friday night.

Oxford is 28-4 overall with its only losses to state powerhouses Davison, Richmond, Novi Detroit Catholic Central and St. Johns. Richmond has been ranked in the top five in Division 3 all season, St. Johns is No. 1 in Division 2, Catholic Central is No. 1 in Division 1 and Davison is ranked second in Division 1, one rung ahead of Oxford. Inside the league, they have won each match by double figures.

“I think we have wrestled really well,” admitted first-year head coach Brad Keeney, who was an assistant the past few years where Oxford has reached the Final Four. The first two in Division 2 while last year in Division 1.

“We have a couple of guys out, but that’s wrestling. We’ll be fine,” continued Keeney. “But the OAA is a very tough league. There are a lot of good teams. (Tenth-ranked) Clarkston is back (to full strength), Rochester is very good, Rochester Adams is strong. There’s a lot of great individuals in the league, too. I can see 20-25 guys from our league making it through to the state meet.”

While the individual and team state tournament begins next week, there’s some work the Wildcats need to complete on Friday. In the previous 10 seasons in the Flint Metro League, the Wildcats finished first or second in that league. Oxford is in good condition to carry on that streak and a conference title Friday would give the Wildcats their fifth straight league championship.

Clarkston is the defending league champions, and the Wolves enter the league meet in fourth place. Rochester is second, its highest dual meet finish in nearly a decade, Adams is third and Lake Orion, which reached the Division 1 state semifinals in 2008 and 2009, is fifth. The Dragons won three league championships in the past decade. Since 2000, only Adams, Clarkston or Lake Orion have own the OAA-Red (formerly OAA Division I).

“That is the best we’ve done in a long time. We hope to have a good showing at the league meet. Our league is so tough,” said Rochester coach Frank Lafferty. “Our goal is to make it to the state (quarterfinals in Battle Creek).”

There are five defending league champions back, although many of them have switched weight classes since last season. Among returning winners from last year are Rochester’s Josh Wood, Auburn Hills Avondale’s Trevor Wright and Victor Vettese, and Clarkston’s Jeff Sloney and Matt Vandermeer.

Oxford’s Keegan Cantera, Ben Ralston and Prescott Line all won FML titles last season and hope to reach the winners circle in the OAA-Red this weekend.

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LAST YEAR’S RESULTS

OAA RED TOURNAMENT
(Feb. 6 at Hazel Park)

TEAM SCORES: 1. Clarkston 173.5; 2. Lake Orion 142; 3. Rochester 112; 4. Hazel Park 106; 5. (tie) Rochester Adams, 95.5; Auburn Hills Avondale 95.5; 7. Troy Athens, 57; 8. West Bloomfield 47.5.
DUAL MEET STANDINGS: 1. Clarkston (7-0); 2. Lake Orion (5-2); 3. Auburn Hills Avondale (4-3); 4. (tie) Rochester Adams (3-4); Hazel Park (3-4); Rochester (3-4); 7. West Bloomfield (2-5); 8. Troy Athens (1-6).

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Clarkston, 16 points; 2. Lake Orion, 14 points; 3. Rochester, 10; 4. Auburn Hills Avondale, 9.5; 5. Hazel Park, 9; 6. Rochester Adams, 7.5; 7. (tie) West Bloomfield, 3; West Bloomfield, 3.

TOP FOUR PLACERS

103: 1. Josh Wood (Rochester) maj. dec. Raymond Wilkie (Clarkston) 15-3; 3. John Ko (Rochester Adams) p. Jesse Mitchell (Avondale) 2:25.
112: 1. Zac Roberson (Clarkston) d. Kaelan Richards (Rochester) 4-1; 3. Cody Vanderhagen (Hazel Park) d. Dan Davidson (West Bloomfield) 2-1.
119: 1. Trevor Wright (Auburn Hills Avondale) d. Trace Williamson (West Bloomfield) 2-1 (OT); 3. Jazz Hubbard (Troy Athens) p. Mike Cardinale (Clarkston) 0:48.
125: 1. Jeff Sloney (Clarkston) d. Matt Musary (Lake Orion) 5-0; 3. Brad Vincent (Troy Athens) d. Arian Quintero (Hazel Park) 6-3.
130: 1. Victor Vettese (Auburn Hills Avondale) maj. dec. Jeremy Stoian (Troy Athens) 15-2; 3. Brandon Walker (Hazel Park) maj. dec. Ryan Jose (Rochester) 8-0.
135: 1. A.J. Fligger (Lake Orion) d. Ty Foltz (Clarkston) 5-3; 3. Kyle Reinhart (Auburn Hills Avondale) d. Chris Lillie (Rochester Adams) 4-2.
140: 1. Matt Deitz (Clarkston) d. Brad Lowe (Auburn Hills Avondale) 9-2, 3. Dan McKay (Rochester Adams) d. Diego Camp (Rochester) 2-1.
145: 1. Dom Arnold (Lake Orion) d. Mike Henige (Clarkston) 8-4; 3. George Abro (Troy Athens) d. Jon Roberts (Hazel Park) 5-2.
152: 1. Cinque Denham (Hazel Park) d. Mac Fisher (Rochester Adams) 19-14, 3. Demitri Hudson (Lake Orion) d. Naron McDougal (Clarkston) 11-4.

160: 1. Evan King (Clarkston) d. Matt Waszkiewicz (Rochester) 8-1; 3. Third-place match unavailable.
171: 1. Matt Vandermeer (Clarkston) d. Matt Hart (Adams) 2-1 (OT); 3. Alec Camp (Rochester) d. Adam Gros (Lake Orion) 3-1.
189: 1. Chris Heald (West Bloomfield) d. Josh Hofmann (Lake Orion) 3-2; 3. Paul Mihkjian (Adams) maj. dec. Joe Kury (Avondale) 12-3.
215: 1. Willie Stewart (Lake Orion) d. Jacob Burlager (Hazel Park) 8-3; 3. Marcel Johnson (Rochester) p. Chris Wilson (Auburn Hills Avondale) 2:26.
285: 1. Dakwan Dillard (Hazel Park) p. Joey Kohler (Lake Orion) 1:46; 3. Nick Davis (Rochester) d. Scott Devos (Clarkston) 3-2.

FLINT METRO LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

(Feb. 7 at Lapeer East)

TOURNAMENT TEAM SCORES: 1. Oxford, 274.5; 2. Holly, 191.5; 3. Linden 161; 4. Fenton, 130.5; 5. Swartz Creek, 124.5; 6. Lapeer East, 116; 7. Lapeer West, 95; 8. Ortonville Brandon, 67; 9. Flint Kearsley 63; 10. Clio, 41.

DUAL MEET STANDINGS: 1. Oxford (9-0); 2. Holly (8-1); 3. Linden (7-2); 4. Fenton (6-3); 5. Lapeer West (5-4); 6. Swartz Creek (4-5); 7. Flint Kearsley (3-6); 8. Clio (2-7); 9. Ortonville Brandon (1-8); 10. Lapeer East (0-9).

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Oxford; 2. Holly; 3. Linden; 4. Fenton; 5. Swartz Creek; 6. Lapeer West; 7. (tie) Lapeer East, Flint Kearsley; 9. Ortonville Brandon; 10. Clio.

GUNNING FOR GLORY: Oxford's Keegan Cantera (right) and the Wildcats will be going after the OAA Red Division championship Firday in the Wildcats' first year in the conference. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt

103: Keegan Cantara (Oxford) d. Mason Cleaver (Holly) 9-3.

112: Anthony Gonzales (Holly) d. Jacob Peasley (Oxford) 1:46.

119: Esteban Gonzales (Holly) d. Steve Ferguson (Oxford) 11-7.

125: Alex Donoho (Swartz Creek) d. Mike Thomas (Oxford) 3:13.

130: Jake Pratt (Oxford) d. Austin Rymarz (Linden) 9-4.

135: Dallas Blank (Linden) d. Zac Miller (Oxford) 7-2.

140: Ben Ralston (Oxford) d. Travis Stowe (Swartz Creek) 0:30.

145: Josh Houldsworth (Holly) d. Isaac Joseph (Lapeer East) 2:59.

152: Connor Brancheau (Fenton) d. Cameron Myers (Lapeer East) 5:54.

160: A.J. Logan (Oxford) d. Zack Voller (Linden) 3:40.

171: Shawn Scott (Holly) d. Justin Green (Lapeer East) 3-2.

189: Kyle Fisher (Linden) d. Seth Abbey (Swartz Creek) 6-1.