Wildcats down hosting Royals for first district title since 2011
Last season, the Onsted wrestling team didn’t have a full team, and the Wildcats didn’t stand a chance in the Division 3 district tournament.
What a difference a year makes.
Onsted came into Blissfield with a full lineup and left with its first district championship since 2011.
“As soon as we got the numbers, it was nice to see we could go out and win,” said Onsted coach Joe Kokenakes. “Being able to take this back, and say, ‘Hey, look what we did and look what you can be apart of’ is going to be huge.”
Onsted took on host Blissfield in the final and showed its strength from the start.
The dual began at the 103 weight class, and the Wildcats’ strength is the light-weight half of the lineup.
Onsted jumped out to a 24-0 lead and was up 33-6 at the halfway point of the dual, before finishing with a 48-21 win.
Dylan Budd (119), Greg Denkins (125), Bailey Wesley (130) and Cole Wixom (140) all picked up pins, before Caleb Permoda survived a 9-8 decision against the Royals’ Hunter Smith to go up 33-6.
At that point, a pin would seal the deal for the Wildcats. They got it out of Jonah Rankin at 152 pounds to go up 39-6 with five matches left.
Onsted’s Michael Blankenship picked up a 5-4 decision against Andrew Coopshaw at 160, before Matt Wilharms put the finishing touch on the dual with a pin at 171.
“This was a totally different score from the first time we faced (Blissfield),” Kokenakes said. “The kids keep stepping up, and it would be great to get to that regional final.”
Getting wins for the Royals was Jacob Sivil at 135 pounds with a pin and Evan Moore with a 7-4 decision, before the Wildcats voided the final two weight classes.
“From 119 to 145 (Onsted) is pretty darn solid,” said Blissfield coach Andy Ford. “I think they’ll give whoever comes out of Napoleon a good dual.”
Despite the loss in the district final, Ford thought his program took a step forward this season.
In the semifinals, the Royals were up against Columbia Central, which has beaten Blissfield twice this year, but it was the Royals coming out with a 48-33 victory.
Brian Goetz began the dual with a pin at 285 pounds, before it switched to the light weights, and the Golden Eagles took control. Two voids, a decisions and a lineup quirk later, and Blissfield was down 21-6.
Columbia Central led 33-18, before the Royals scored 30 straight points to end the dual with pins by John Fowler (152), Austin Hall (171) and Jacob Reed (215), while the Golden Eagles voided at 160 and 189 pounds.
“We mixed things up lineup-wise and moved some guys around,” Ford said. “It ended up working out for us. Our better guys came away with pins where we needed them, and it got us into the finals.”
The Wildcats had to battle their way back to get into the final, as well, beating Madison 40-30.
The Trojans went up 15-6 with Max Sellers getting a pin to start at 285, before the teams traded voids and Jaime Mendizabal won a 13-6 decision. Budd picked up a pin at 119 for Onsted, before Denkins tied it at 15 with a 4-1 decision at 125.
Nick Adams gave Madison the lead back with a 10-3 decision to go up 18-15, but the Trojans gave it back with a void to give Onsted the 21-18 lead. The Wildcats picked up a key pin at 145 pounds when Permoda gave Onsted a 27-18 lead with five matches left.
“For Permoda to go out there and get that win, that was huge,” Kokenakes said. “Dylan Budd got the fall in his first match back from a concussion. It was one of those things were we just didn’t get pinned.”
Tyler Moyer brought the Trojans within three at 27-24 with a pin at 152, but it was all Wildcats from then on out.
“We had a couple of swing matches in there that I thought could’ve gone either way, and we didn’t win any of those,” said Madison coach Scott Hall. “The effort was there. We are wrestling mostly sophomores in the lineup, so I’m really proud of the guys.”
Jonah Rankin (160) won a 9-4 decision, before a void sealed the fate of the Trojans, as it was 36-24 with two matches left. Marcus Rinehart won a 17-3 major decision at 189 pounds for Onsted, before the Wildcats voided the final match bring the dual to its final.
Onsted will return home Wednesday to host the Division 3 regional and will meet up with Napoleon in the semifinals.The Pirates won a district title with a 49-30 win against Michigan Center.
The winner of that dual will take on the winner of Dundee and the Quincy district champion for a chance to go to the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo for the quarterfinals.