They are the champions!
Oxford’s varsity wrestling team secured its half of the Flint Metro League Championship last week by beating both Holly and Linden.
On Feb. 7, the Cats beat Holly 36-22, then handed Linden its first league loss of the season 36-24.
‘They really stepped up,? said Coach Scott Couch. ‘You can’t really underestimate these guys. They come out hard and they have goals.?
‘I think we just out-wrestled them,? Couch explained. ‘We won a lot of close matches. It’s always a tough battle between us.?
On Saturday, Oxford traveled to Fenton for the league tournament and took second place with 146 points.
Holly took first with 150 points and Linden placed third with 144 points.
‘At one point we were in third place, but then we came back in the medal round,? Couch noted. ‘They did a really nice job.?
Because Oxford beat Holly in head-to-head dual meets, yet placed behind them in the league tournament, the two schools shared the FML title.
Kyle Brammer (130 pounds), John Logan (215) and Aaron Moore (275) were all champions in their respective weight classes at the league tournament.
Mike Upshur took second in the 119-pound class. Brent Mueller (160) and Zack Line (189) finished third in their weight classes. Fourth place finishes were earned by Zack Miller (103), Bobby Rhodes (135) and Bo Cantara (140).
The team is now 23-2 overall and 7-1 in the league.
Coming up for the grapplers ? team districts Feb. 14 at Fenton, then individual districts Feb. 17 at Brandon.
Next week, it’s on to the team regionals at Linden and individual regionals at Clio.