No sweat: Oxford pounds Southgate Anderson to reach Final Four

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

BATTLE CREEK — Matt Frisch was quick to point to fingers to the sky following his 200^th career individual win Friday afternoon. But that’s only another stepping stone in the grand scheme for Frisch and Oxford’s wrestling program.

The senior helped the Wildcats win 12 of 14 matches Friday at Kellogg Arena en route to a 56-6 thumping of Southgate Anderson in the Division 1 state quarterfinals.

Seeded second Oxford (32-4), which is also ranked second in the polls, advances to the Final Four for the fourth straight year and sixth time in 13 seasons, and will face a huge hurdle in No. 3 Hartland at 9 a.m. Saturday in the state semifinals.

Hartland, which breezed past Romeo 46-15, is making its 10^th straight appearance in Battle Creek with multiple Final Fours and state runner-up trophies in that span.

“We wrestled (Hartland) last year and they beat us pretty good,” admitted first-year Oxford head coach Brad Keeney. “We wanted to wrestle them this year (in the regular season) but it didn’t work out. It’s an honor to be able to go up against (Hartland) and coach Todd Cheney.”

Top-ranked Novi Detroit Catholic Central, hammered upstart Roseville (67-7) and No. 4 Brighton slipped past fifth-seeded Hudsonville (36-30) to also advance to the semifinals for the first time. All D-1 semis are at 9:30 a.m., with the state finals following at 4 p.m., all at Kellogg Arena.

“This is what wrestling is all about,” said Keeney, looking ahead to the final Four matchups between four programs that have been ranked high all season. “There are four good teams left. You can’t ask for anything more.”

Southgate Anderson, which finished 24-5 and made its first appearance in the state quarterfinals in many years, led 3-0 after Jared Fernandez edged Dylan Smith 8-7 in a 103-pound match. That was the last ray of hope for the Titans.

The Wildcats reeled off 10 straight wins, which culminated in a 47-0 run when Ben Ralston posted a technical fall of Tomas Gomez (16-1) at 171. By that point the match had already been clinched.

Keegan Cantara (112), Noah Cantara (125), Jacob Peasley (135), Marty Giannola (145), Frisch (152) and Prescott Line (215) all had pins for Oxford. Rocco Borg (119), Kyle Hill (130), Mike Thomas (140), Ralston and Nick McMaster (285) also won their matches for the Wildcats.

Oxford posted six total pins on the afternoon with five decisions and one technical fall.

“I didn’t expect this to be 56-6,” admitted Keeney, figuring the quarterfinals would be closer. Only the Brighton-Hudsonville match was undecided until the final three weight classes.

“The kids came ready to wrestle,” added Keeney.

Oxford was a Division 2 state semifinalist in 2008 and the D-2 state runner-up in 2009. Last season, Oxford made the leap to D-1 last season due to an enrollment surge and still reached the Final Four, falling to eventual state champion Catholic Central

“Our goal is to win the whole thing this year,” said Keeney. “That’s what we came here to do.”

2011 MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals

Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek

Division 1 Semifinals-Feb. 26

#1 Detroit Catholic Central (22-2) vs. #4 Brighton (46-1)

#3 Hartland (30-2) vs. #2 Oxford (32-4)

Division 1 Quarterfinals-Feb. 25

#1 Detroit Catholic Central (22-2) 67, #8 Roseville (9-17) 7

WT      DCC     RS      MATCH RESULT

103     6       0       Evan Toth (DCC) Fall Christian Thursam (RS), 1:39

112     12      0       Zack Colone (DCC) Fall Jordan Leavy (RS), :42

119     18      0       T.J. Fagan (DCC) Fall Nick Rosario (RS), 2:54

125     24      0       Ken Bade (DCC) Fall Simon Phillips (RS), :48

130     24      3       Kirk Wawrzyniak (RS) Dec Andrew Thompson (DCC), 9-5

135     27      3       Riley Hanson (DCC) Dec Patrick Potestato (RS), 7-3

140     33      3       Alec Mooradian (DCC) Fall Jeffery Fresch (RS), 2:10

145     39      3       Nick Mason (DCC) Fall DuoQuan Blunt (RS), 1:45

152     45      3       Andrew Garcia (DCC) Fall Alex Mafteiu (RS), 2:33

160     49      3       Andrew Erickson (DCC) Maj Dec Nicholas Juncaj (RS), 13-2

171     55      3       Kevin Beazley (DCC) Fall Caleb Cummings (RS), 1:30

189     61      3       Miles Trealout (DCC) Fall Lamar Harris (RS), 1:30

215     61      7       Chris Nash (RS) Maj Dec J.T. Ayotte (DCC), 20-8

285     67      7       Robert Coe (DCC) Fall Jon Tobalski (RS), :51

#4 Brighton (46-1) 36, #5 Hudsonville (23-10) 30

WT      B       HU      MATCH RESULT

103     6       0       Jordan Amine (B) Fall Victor Urzola (HU), :51

112     9       0       Jackson Pizzo (B) Dec Zach Henderson (HU), 8-4

119     12      0       Daniel Koenig (B) Dec Matt Igo (HU), 7-1

125     17      0       Evan Hoshaw (B) Tech Fall Zach Nystrom (HU), 17-2 6:00

130     17      3       Marcos Diaz (HU) Dec C.J. Brish (B), 13-8

135     20      3       Keith Kooperman (B) Dec Ryan Rinck (HU), 7-5 (SV)

140     20      9       Carl Nystrom (HU) Fall Aaron Calderon (B), 2:14

145     20      15      Ryan Luyk (HU) Fall Justin Ploof (B), 2:53

152     20      18      Jared Zimmerman (HU) Dec Andy White (B), 6-5

160     24      18      Brandon Hill (B) Maj Dec Zach Van Ess (HU), 15-2

171     24      24      Joey Steffes (HU) Fall Jordan Maschke (B), 5:45

189     30      24      Vince Tkac (B) Fall Todd Holstege (HU), :28

215     36      24      Kurt Alder (B) Fall Dallas Dickson (HU), :29

285     36      30      Taylan Nyenhuis (HU) Fall Max Collins (B), 1:06

#3 Hartland (30-2) 46, #6 Romeo (26-13) 15

WT      HA      RM      MATCH RESULT

103     6       0       Nate Hughes (HA) Fall Kevin Ketvirtis (RM), :16

112     10      0       Austin Eicher (HA) Dec Tayron Womble (RM), 8-0

119     14      0       Keith Boldt (HA) Tech Fall Travis Thompson (RM), 15-0 3:03

125     18      0       Ross Kantola (HA) Dec Joe Sinishtaj (RM), 6-2

130     18      3       Evan Richardson (RM) Dec Justin Rollins (HA), 11-6

135     24      3       Mitchel Thomas (HA) Fall Josh Batch (RM), :45

140     24      6       Kyle Witgen (RM) Dec Chase Snider (HA), 2-0 (SV)

145     27      6       Ryan Hill (HA) Dec Mike Stobak (RM), 4-2

152     32      6       John Julien (HA) Tech Fall Zach Schafer (RM), 21-6 3:42

160     32      9       Alex Christofis (RM) Dec Chad Hunt (HA), 5-4 (3 OT)

171     36      9       Justin Charneski (HA) Maj Dec Shane Toreki (RM), 10-0

189     40      9       Matt Ostermiller (HA) Maj Dec Larry Rekar (RM), 10-1

215     46      9       Nick Long (HA) Fall Andre Martinez (RM), 1:26

285     46      15      Adam Bennett (RM) Fall Phil Rowland (HA), :54

#2 Oxford (32-4) 56, #7 Southgate Anderson (24-5)6

WT      O       SA      MATCH RESULT

103     0       3       Jared Fernandez (SA) Dec Dylan Smith (O), 8-7

112     6       3       Keegan Cantara (O) Fall David Sharp (SA), :18

119     9       3       Rocco Borg (O) Dec Jourdain Spurlin (SA), 3-2

125     15      3       Noah Cantara (O) Fall Raven Schmitt (SA), 4:49

130     18      3       Kyle Hill (O) Dec Alex Molloy (SA), 3-2

135     24      3       Jacob Peasley (O) Fall Cody Branch (SA), 1:28

140     27      3       Mike Thomas (O) Dec Josh Lockwood (SA), 9-2

145     33      3       Marty Giannola (O) Fall Cody Stanley (SA), 1:42

152     39      3       Mathew Frisch (O) Fall Brandon McLaughlin (SA), 5:47

160     42      3       Dakota Peasley (O) Dec Caleb Wilson (SA), 11-6

171     47      3       Ben Ralston (O) Tech Fall Tomas Gomez (SA), 16-1 3:31

189     47      6       Devon Bronson (SA) Dec Matt Anger (O), 7-3

215     53      6       Prescott Line (O) Fall Ben Dominguez (SA), 3:44

285     56      6       Nick McMaster (O) Dec Dustin Burley (SA), 8-1

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Tags: featured, Kellogg Arena, team wrestling state quarterfinals, wrestling

Category: Oxford, Prep Wraps