Sweet Revenge: Catholic Central topples Oxford to reclaim D-1 state title

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

BATTLE CREEK — Mitch Hancock claims he was the first one to duck out of Kellogg Arena following last year’s Division 1 state final wrestling match. This year, he departed in a different fashion.

Hancock guided his Novi Detroit Catholic Central team to a No. 1 ranking all season long and to the Division 1 state championship Saturday afternoon.

Tournament top-seeded Catholic Central gained its revenge on Oakland County rival Oxford, pounding the seventh-ranked and sixth-seeded Wildcats, 47-9, in front of an overflow crowd at Kellogg Arena. Catholic Central, which lost to Oxford, 26-25, in last year’s state finals, captured its second crown in three years on the ride of three straight state finals appearances.

It marked the Shamrocks’ 10^thstate title overall, with the first one coming back in 1969. Prior to winning titles in 2010 and 2012, the Shamrocks have to go back to 1988 for their previous state crown.

TITLE CLASH: Novi Detroit Catholic Central's Drew Garcia (white singlet) and the Shamrocks stole the title away from Oxford's Marty Giannola and the Wildcats, who were state champs in 2011. Staff Photo

“Our guys were pumped up all year and wanted nothing less than to get back here and win the state championship,” smiled Hancock, who won his second title as a head coach.

“I think our young men had a point to prove tonight,” continued Hancock. “”They came in and (won handily) and I think the score showed that. Coming in an beating an Oxford team and winning 11 of 14 matches like we did tonight I think speaks volumes about how well prepared our boys were and how much of a statement they wanted to make.”

The Shamrocks never trailed Oxford, which was making its fourth straight appearance in the Final Four with a state title and two state runner-up trophies. Alec Mooridian (152), Kevin Beasley (189) and TJ Fagan (119) picked up pins, Ken Bade (125) ended the match with a technical fall, and Logan Marcicki (145), Drew Garcia (171) and Trevor Zdebski (103) al posted major decisions.

The Shamrocks’ other wins came from Malik Amine (130), Andrew Thompson (135), Nick Mason (160) and Jay Peterson (215).

“After losing last year, our goal was to come back and win it all this year,” said Beasley.

CC won the first two weight classes for a 6-3 lead, then ran off a string of six straight wins for a commanding 32-3 lead, forcing Oxford to have to pin out in order to win.

Oxford’s undefeated senior Prescott Line defeated CC’s Bob Coe, 9-5, in a 285-pound bout, but that prevented the Wildcats from making a comeback.

The Shamrocks still managed to win three of the final four weight classes

Rocco Borg (140) and Edwin Schlickenmeyer (112) recorded the other wins for Oxford, all decisions.

“I’m still proud as heck of my boys,” admitted Oxford coach Brandon Rank, who served as an assistant for five seasons before taking over the helm this season. “We battled. I thought we had to win some of those early matches to have chance, but we just couldn’t do it. Catholic Central has a lot of firepower in its lineup. They were the better team today.

“We had a great run to get back here. That was the goal all season long, to get back to the state finals,” added Rank. “We had a great run, we beat some ranked teams to get a shot at defending our title. We’ve been here now (five years in a row to the Final Four) and our expectation is to compete for a state titles. Once you’ve been there, that’s always the expectation.”

DIVISION 1 STATE FINALS

NOVI DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL 47, OXFORD 9

(At Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek)

130: Malik Amine (NDCC) d. Mike Willits 3-0; 135: Andrew Thompson (NDCC) 8-4; 140: Rocco Borg (O) d. Riley Hanson 2-1; 145: Logan Marcicki (NDCC) maj. dec. Wesley Maskill 9-0; 152: Alec Mooridian (NDCC) p. Zeb Throne 2:32; 160: Nick Mason (NDCC) d. Jacob Beasley 7-3; 171: Drew Garcia (NDCC) maj. dec. Marty Giannola 16-6; 189: Kevin Beasley (NDCC) p. Liam Logan 0:39; 215: Jay Peterson (NDCC) d. Grant Krause 6-4; 285: Prescott Line (O) d. Bob Coe 9-5; 103: Trevor Zdebski (NDCC) maj. dec. Daniel Curtis 14-6; 112: Edwin Schlickenmeyer (O) d. Zack Colone 7-1; 119: TJ Fagan (NDC) p. Anthony Moore 2:25; 125: Ken Bade (NDCC) tech. fall Kyle Hill 18-2.

RECORDS: Novi Detroit Catholic Central 25-3; Oxford 20-6.

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Tags: featured, high school wrestling, MHSAA Team Wrestling Division1 State Finals, Novi Detroit Catholic Central Wrestling, Oxford Wrestling, prep wrestling, wrestling

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