Standing on top: Frisch, Ralston, Line, Vandermeer all earn state titles

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

AUBURN HILLS — Matt Frisch was the heart-broken victim in the state finals a year ago. This year he walked off the wrestling mats a state champion.

The Oxford senior won his final high school match Saturday at The Palace of Auburn
Hills, taming Hudsonville’s Jared Zimmerman 8-3 in the Division 1, 145-pound title bout to reach the winner’s circle.

The individual title came eight days he gained his 200^th career win in a state quarterfinal victory over Southgate Anderson and just a week following Oxford’s first team state championship, which included wins over Hartland and Novi Detroit Catholic Central.

“I don’t think the 200 wins would have met much if I didn’t win this,” said Frisch, who lost in the state finals last year to Matt Dietz of Clarkston, who graduated. “I think the team state championship meant more. That was incredible. I wasn’t sure how to react here. I was sitting around thinking, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do.’

“It does feel great to win here after losing (in the finals) last year,” added Frisch. “I think that made me work hard for this year. It feels great. It hasn’t really hit me yet.”

Frisch was not alone, as two other teammates and another colleague from the OAA Red Division, Oxford’s new league, all won state titles.

Senior teammate Ben Ralston and junior Prescott Line also won titles on the day for the Wildcats. It all came one week after Oxford won the Division 1 team state championship for the first time.

Oxford had nine state qualifiers and eight placed in the top eight to reach the medals stand.

Ralston ended his prep career with an 11-3 major decision over Holt’s Seth Hanton in the finals of 160.

“This is an incredible feeling,” admitted Ralston, who was the top-ranked wrestler in the state for much of the season. “Having Frisch and me win state titles right after team states … this is unbelievable.”

Finally, Oxford’s Line outlasted Rochester Stoney Creek’s Nick Gajdzik 3-2 in an all-area final at 215. Both are juniors.

Line defeated Gajdzik 4-3 in triple overtime in the finals at the Oakland County meet in mid-December.

Line had to defeat that same opponent by one point twice in a season.

“I thought it be a really close match because he’s a great wrestler,” admitted Line. “(Nick Gajdzik) has great balance, so he’s really hard to take down.

“The guys on our team have a lot of heart,” added Line, reflecting on Oxford’s big day at both the team and individual state tournaments. “They always go 100 percent at all of the practices. And having eight of our nine guys placing is awesome.”

Gajdzik tried to get a take down in the waning seconds for the win, but ran out of time.

“It was exciting just being here. It would have been a lot more fun if I won it,” admitted Gajdzik, who trailed by a point for most of the third period after Line pulled off an escape point. “He’s a smart wrestler. I should have saw it coming. I should have tried to get the takedown earlier. I had his foot (up) … five or 10 seconds (more) and I would have finished it.”

Watching three wrestlers take home individual crown was simply desert for Oxford coach Brad Keeney and staff, who watched their team put together its best season in school history. It was capped by adding three more state champions to the list, which is now nine all-time.

“(I’ve been told) that winning a team state title and an individual title in the same season is hard, but our guys stepped up,” noted Brad Keeney, Oxford’s first-year head coach. “I think this was almost icing on the cake. We had eight kids come here and medal. The one kid who didn’t Matt Anger, got hurt in practice a few days ago and didn’t wrestle.”

Clarkston’s Matt Vandermeer captured the crown at 171, outlasting Kevin Beazley of Novi Detroit Catholic Central 1-0 to finish up his season with a 53-4 record.

“I got the escape point and then I thought once we got to the (third) period, I knew I had him,” said Vandermeer. “I kind of thought it would be a close match. I was able to keep him from (making a move).

“This is an unbelievable feeling,” added Vandermeer, who is the third sibling from his family to place at the state finals. “It may not sit in until tomorrow morning.”

Rochester’s Josh Wood wasn’t as fortunate, losing in the finals for the second straight year. Last year he finished second at 103, while this year he reached the finals at 112 before falling to unbeaten freshman Justin Oliver of Davison, 8-4.

“He’s a two-time state runner-up. There’s not too many kids that can say that and he’s only a sophomore,” offered Rochester coach Frank Lafferty. “He wrestled a good match. The other guy was just a little bit better tonight. He’ll be back. This will make him work harder.”

Clarkston senior Jeff Sloney was upended by Catholic Central’s Logan Marcicki 5-0 in the finals at 130. A freshman, Marcicki was far more aggressive in defeating an opponent that beat him earlier in the season.

“I had to hold him down, break him down,” said Marcicki. “I had already lost to him this season, so I needed to be more aggressive.”

The OAA Red Division had 35 qualifiers this year, and 33 of them hailed from the coverage area of www.northoaklandsports.com. The area had 35 total qualifiers this season, including two from the OAA-White Division.

Adam Gros of Lake Orion placed fourth at 171, while Mitch Ladd placed sixth at 189, as the Dragons had two wrestlers place.

Oxford’s Dylan Smith, who won the decisive match in last week’s team state title match, ended his high school career, placed sixth at 103. Keegan Cantara was seventh at 112 and Rocco Borg claimed third at 119 for Oxford.

Rochester sophomore Kaelen Richards went over the 50-win mark this season and wound up finishing third at 125, topping league rival Kyle Hill of Oxford, 10-2, in the consolation match.

Clarkston’s Mike Henige defeated Rochester’s Cody Devoe in the fifth-place match at 160. Clarkston had five medalists and Rochester three on the weekend.

Mike Thomas of Oxford was seventh at 135, tripping up league rival Nick Vandermeer of Clarkston 4-1 in his final match. Clarkston’s Scott Devos placed fourth and Stoney Creek’s Serge Andreou was eighth, both at 285, to round out the area placers.

The Cougars have now had three state placers in their short nine-year history.

Matt Vandermeer said that competing in such a tough wrestling conference helped prepare everyone for the state finals.

“Wrestling the best kids all the time definitely helps,” said Matt Vandermeer. “I spent a lot of time wrestling with the Oxford guys all summer. They’re good guys and they (train) hard. That helped out a ton.”

In Division 2, Auburn Hills Avondale’s Victor Vettese became just the school’s second four-time state placer. He finished fourth at 135.

Vettese won state titles as both a freshman and sophomore and finished second last season. His older brother, Angelo Vettese, a 2000 Avondale grad, also placed at four state meets.

Sophomore Dean Vettese also medaled at 140, taking sixth.

Below are the 2011 state qualifiers from the www.northoaklandsports.com coverage area that competed in the MHSAA Individual Wrestling State Finals, held March 3-5 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The individual records listed are pre-tournament totals.

DIVISION 1

CLARKSTON (6): Jeff Sloney, sr. (130, 43-7); Nick Vandermeer, soph. (135, 40-18); Mike Henige, sr. (160, 46-10); Matt Vandermeer, sr. (171, 50-4); Ethan Frick, jr. (215, 25-19); Scott Devos, sr. (285, 43-7).

LAKE ORION (3): Charlie Highlen, fr. (112, 33-21); Adam Gros, sr. (171, 44-10); Mitch Ladd, sr. (189, 38-9).

OXFORD (9): Dylan Smith, sr. (103, 29-7); Keegan Cantera, sr. (112, 48-9); Rocco Borg, soph. (119, 44-11); Kyle Hill, jr. (125, 40-16); Mike Thomas, sr,. (135, 39-16); Matt Frisch, sr. (145, 47-3); Ben Ralston, sr. (160, 54-2); Matt Anger, jr. (189, 34-17); Prescott Line, jr. (215, 41-3);

ROCHESTER (6): Justin Kim, soph. (103, 39-11); Josh Wood, soph. (112, 44-7); Kaelen Richards, soph. (125, 51-2); Diego Camp, sr. (140, 30-17); Cody Devoe, jr. (160, 43-9); Marcel Johnson, sr. (215, 44-11).

ROCHESTER ADAMS (5): Ryan Howcroft, jr. (130, 26-12); Kevin Jock, sr. (135, 45-13); Andrew Sabuda, soph. (135, 29-15); Mac Fisher, sr. (152; 47-13; Paul Mikhjian, sr. (189, 50-7).

ROCHESTER STONEY CREEK (2): Nick Gajdzik, jr. (215, 48-3); Serge Andreou, jr. (285, 39-17).

DIVISION 2

AUBURN HILLS AVONDALE (4): Trevor Wright, sr. (119, 37-9); Victor Vettese, sr. (135, 40-3); Dean Vettese, soph. (140, 42-7); Kyle Reinhart, sr. (140, 41-7).

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Tags: featured, individual wrestling state finals, video, wrestling

Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, Clarkston, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Troy, Troy Athens