Typically enemies on the mats, a few Oakland County teams, including Lake Orion, Clarkston and Oxford, joined forces last Saturday for the annual Oakland-Macomb Challenge event.
All three squads went a perfect 5-0, helping Oakland reclaim the event, which is held at two separate sites.
At Clarkston, the Dragons, Wolves and Wildcats were joined by Detroit Catholic Central and Holly and the county teams went a convincing 23-2.
Doug Mack, A.J. Pratt, Jake Varilek, Joe Graffeo and Evan Gros all went undefeated on the day for Lake Orion and Coach Doug Kline said his wrestlers enjoyed teaming up with sworn enemies, just for a day.
‘When we got done with one of our duals, Holly was still wrestling Romeo,? Kline said. ‘So Clarkston, Oxford and us all circled around to cheer them on. It’s a fun event.?
Lake Orion’s friendship with Clarkston will come to an end, however, as the two will be part of the OAA I league meet at LOHS this Saturday (starting at 10 a.m.).
‘We’re right about where we want to be,? Kline said of his 28-4 squad. They got revenge on one of their losses over the weekend by topping Utica Ford at the county challenge.
The Dragons were given a lift last week when Clarkston fell to Rochester Adams, giving all three squads one loss heading into the league meet.
‘I don’t know if it’s too much help because now it’s a three-way tie for first,? Kline noted.
After the league meet, Lake Orion will head into district action, and could have as many as 12 wrestlers with 30 or more wins on the season in their lineup by then.
The team is currently ranked sixth in the state. They’ll likely see Adams again at districts, and regional action will be at LOHS.
‘This is what we’ve been working for all year,? Kline said. ‘We can’t wait to see how it all plays out.?