On to important ‘mat’ters: Holly defends regional wrestling title
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
MADISON HEIGHTS — Holly got a sneak peak of Warren Lincoln at Saturday’s Division 2 Individual District. The Abes were enough of a concern for Don Pluta to feel nervous.
“I thought if we faced them that it would be really close,” admitted Pluta, Holly’s veteran wrestling coach.
As it turned out, sixth-ranked Holly didn’t have to sweat it out too much, as the Bronchos toppled Lincoln by a 57-19 count in the Division 2 regional finals at Madison Heights Lamphere.
It marks Holly’s second straight regional championship — the first time in school history that has occurred.
“We have never won regionals in back-to-back years,” noted Pluta. “That was one of our goals. We won districts three years in a row now and that’s never happened before. We also won the Flint Metro League championship in back-to-back years, and that has never happened before. It’s been a season of firsts for us.”
Lincoln finished 26-3, and the berth in the regional finals came after the Abes sent eight wrestlers through to the individual regionals. Holly qualified nine four days earlier.
“That’s why I thought it would be really close,” admitted Pluta. “We had nine guys get through and they had eight and we had a lot of really close matches with them. But I think we rose up to the occasion. Anthony Gonzales had a great match in the district finals against Lincoln on Saturday and he comes in tonight and gets a (first-period pin). I think we had several guys take it to the next level tonight. They wanted it.”
Holly opened with a 24-4 run to put the match against Lincoln away in a hurry.
“We got off to a great start,” said Pluta.
Holly advances to the state quarterfinals for the third time in school history, all coming in the last decade. The Bronchos will head west to Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena just one win away from its first Final Four.
“That is one of our goals,” offered Pluta. “We have several guys back, but we also have a bunch of kids that wrestled (junior varsity) last season who have stepped in and done a great job all season. We keep getting better.”
Holly (29-5), which owns the second most wins in school history, had little trouble with host Lamphere in the semifinals, topping the Rams, 55-21. Warren Lincoln downed Redford Union, 42-40, in the other semifinal match.
Holly had seven double winners on the night. Tyler Gibson (119), Mason Cleaver (!25), Gonzales (130), Zack Jones (!35), Kyle Pepper (145), Andrew Scott (152) and Shawn Scott (215) picked ups wins against both Lamphere and Warren Lincoln.
The aforementioned Shawn Scott now has 206 career victories.
“It takes a strong lineup up and down to get this far,” said Pluta, whose team lost in the state quarterfinals in its previous two appearances. “We know St. Johns will get the No. 1 seed and Lowell will be the No. 2 seed. But after that, it’s wide open. We would like to be in the three to six range. We don’t want to be seventh or eighth. We would like to get one step closer than we have in the past (and make the Final Four).”
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