Final destination: Can Oxford, Holly matmen spring upsets to advance to final day?
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
BATTLE CREEK — Tough road ahead.
If Oxford or Holly are to advance to the second day of the MHSAA Team Wrestling State Sournament at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena, they’ll both have to pull a pair of upsets in Friday’s state quarterfinals.
Both the Wildcats (Division 1) and Bronchos (Division 2) will be facing fellow state powerhouse programs ranked in the top-five in the state.
“We’re good with whoever we wrestle,” admitted first-year Oxford head coach Brandon Rank. “Everybody at that stage is a really good team.”
Oxford, ranked seventh heading into the postseason, will face third-ranked Davison (19-4). The Cardinals defeated Oxford in the season opener both last season and this season.
The Wildcats edged Davison in the D-1 district finals last season en route to its run to its first state championship. Oxford defeated then-top-ranked and 2010 state champion Novi Detroit Catholic Central in last year’s state title match, 26-25.
Can the Wildcats (18-5) find the same magic in 2012? Oxford is making its fifth straight appearance in Battle Creek and has reached the Final Four in each of the past four years and seven times overall dating back to 1999.
Each of the Division 1 quarterfinals will take place at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The state semifinals are Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and the state finals will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday, al at Kellogg Arena.
Catholic Central, ranked No. 1 all season, gained the No. 1 seed and will face No. 8 Roseville. Temperance Bedford (No. 4) will face Hartland (No. 5), and Brighton (No. 2) will tangle will Grand Haven (No. 7). Brighton is unbeaten at 39-0, having lost to CC in last year’s state semifinals.
“That is always our goal,” noted Rank, an assistant the past five seasons with the Wildcats. “We want to go back and win the state championship again. It doesn’t matter who we are up against. We have a lot of experience on this team, guys that went through it last year. Our senior class has been outstanding. They have been (to Battle Creek) all four years.”
Oxford has made it to at least the state quarterfinals eight times in the past 14 seasons, won 11 districts in the same time span, won eight regionals and lost in the regional finals another time.
FINISHING ON TOP: Oxford's Jacob Peasley (top) and the sixth-seeded Wildcats are the defending state champions in Division 1 and will face fellow state power Davison at 5:#0 p.m. Friday in the state quarterfinals. File Photo | Dan Stickradt
At the state tournament, the Wildcats lost to Lowell (35-21) in the semifinal in 1999, lost again to Lowell in the 2005 state quarterfinals (41-21) and have appeared in four straight Final Fours.
That string began in 2008, when Oxford reached the Division 2 state semifinals before falling to Eaton Rapids (43-16). In 2009, Oxford reached the D-2 state finals for the first time before losing to Lowell (35-20). The past two years, Oxford faced off with Catholic Central—and now enters this year’s Elite Eight as the defending champions.
“We are still the defending champs unless someone beats us,” said senior 152-pounder Jacob Peasley, who missed parts of December and January with injuries. “Our goal is to go back out there and win the state championship. That’s always the goal.”
Holly is making its third trip to Battle Creek and its second straight. This time the Bronchos (29-5) will face second-seed Lowell, also ranked second in the state heading into the postseason, at 7:30 p.m. Lowell is perhaps the most successful Class B/Division 2 program of the past two decades.
Lowell has won three state championships, the most recent coming in 2009, with four state runner-ups and a plethora of state semifinals appearances and state quarterfinals appearances under its belt.
Elsewhere in Division 2, top-ranked St. Johns, ranked in the top-10 nationally, carries its stellar 32-1 record against No. 8 Mason. Tecumseh matches up with Greenville in the No. 4-5 contest, and No. 3 Allegan will face No. 6 Stevensville Lakeshore.
Holly coach Don Pluta understands that it would take a monumental upset for the Bronchos to advance to the second day.
“I think that there’s St. Johns and Lowell, and then there’s the rest of us,” predicted the veteran Pluta, who now has over 530 career wins. “It would be extremely difficult to beat Lowell and St. Johns is one of the best teams in the country, not just Michigan.”
Holly entered the postseason ranked sixth in the state, but slipped to the seventh seed after not having to defeat any ranked schools in the district or regional rounds.
“I actually think we stack up with the other (five teams) a lot better,” offered Pluta. “We (didn’t want to) draw Lowell or St. Johns. “
In its previous two appearances in Battle Creek, the Bronchos lost in the state quarterfinals and failed to make it to the second day. Last season, Holly lost to Greenville in the Division 2 quarters, while Holly competed in Division 1 in 2005 and was knocked out by Utica Ford in the quarterfinals.
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