The Saline Reporter
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Saline takes fifth at SEC tourney
Hornets hope to bounce back at Thursday's Districts
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 14, 2008
Put simply, it wasn't the day the Saline wrestling team had hoped for.
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The Hornets entered Saturday's Southeastern Conference tournament hoping to take third (or better) and edge Adrian for third in the overall 2007-2008 league standings.
But it wasn't to be as Saline was forced to settle for fifth place in the tourney — behind Bedford, Tecumseh, Chelsea and the Maples — and fourth overall, second in the SEC Red division.
"We just didn't wrestle as well as we have the last couple of weeks," said Saline head coach Scott Marvin. "I don't think we wrestled our best this weekend. Now we have to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and win team districts, and then go to individual districts and get as many kids through as we can."
The day wasn't completely without success for Saline as two Hornets won their finals and claimed an overall SEC title. One was less than surprising as senior Nick Barnett stayed undefeated in grabbing first place at 215 pounds.
Much less expected was the title won by senior Jake Feldkamp at 171 pounds. Feldkamp pulled back-to-back upsets of higher-seeded wrestlers, including one who had defeated him in earlier in the season, to earn the championship.
"For him to go in there, beat those guys, and get the win was nice to see," Marvin said. "Barnett also continued to wrestle strong for us."
Most of Saline's other successes came in the lighter weights. At 103, Ryan O'Sullivan finished as the SEC Red champ. Nate Opaleski took second in the SEC Red and third overall, with Brent Clink at 130 and Nick O'Neill at 112, both also finishing second in the SEC Red and fourth overall.
"Our big guys have been the strength of our team, so we were pleased to get those wins from our little guys," Marvin said.
Marvin admitted that while his team could have performed better and that a coaching decision on his part also may have hurt the team's final totals — he bumped junior Matt Price up to heavyweight rather than Barnett to leave Barnett at his standard weight, the weight he will wrestle at in the postseason — but also said the Hornets didn't have much luck on their side, either.
"Sometimes, things just don't go your way and we had a couple of bad breaks here and there that went against us," he said. "But what's done is done. We have to move on and make sure it doesn't happen again this week."
The Hornets will enter the postseason 6 p.m. Thursday at home against Ann Arbor Pioneer in the team district semifinals. The winner very likely will take on Lincoln, who faces Ann Arbor Huron in the other semifinal, in the final later in the evening.
Saline defeated both Pioneer and Lincoln in the regular season, but Marvin said the Hornets won't be taking anything for granted.
"One or two matches go the other way in those meets, and we lose. They know that," Marvin said. "We know that we're an improved team, but we also know we can't take anyone lightly."
A title would be Saline's fifth at the district level in six years. Marvin said that a win would be another step forward for the program, while a loss would be "devastating."
"That would really set us back," he said. "But, obviously, any time you can win a championship, it would be a big win. It would help us continue to build."
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