MONTAGUE — Montague improved to 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in the nascent West Michigan Conference campaign with victories over Oakridge and North Muskegon in Wednesday’s home quad meet.
The Wildcats romped over Oakridge, 60-16, and defeated the Norsemen, 54-30.
Montague benefited from neither of their opponents being able to field full lineups, but caught a break when North Muskegon accidentally checked the wrong wrestler in for the 113-pound match. The wrestler in question had weighed in at 120, so he couldn’t wrestle at 113, but since he had already checked in, he was unable to wrestle at 120 either.
“We were confident coming in, but we were nervous,” Montague coach Kris Maddox said. “A couple different scenarios played out and worked in our favor, so that helps.”
The Wildcats dominated Oakridge, picking up several wins by pin. Those winners included Brock Hunter, Chris Aebig, Fletcher Thommen, Ayden Everett and Tyler Risch. In addition, Isaac French, Trisha Beckman, Zaniya Meza, Jimmy Thommen and Chris Evans won by forfeit.
However, one of the most telling matches wasn’t a win at all, but a hard-fought 8-6 defeat taken by sophomore Mike “MJ” Jones. Maddox said wrestlers who are willing to fight for the whole six minutes are encouraging to witness at this early point of the season.
“That was good to see him fight to the end there,” Maddox said. “That’s what we’re looking for out of all our guys, just being able to fight, be in the right position, do the right things, don’t make the same mistakes over and over again.”
The matchup with the Norsemen was closer, but the ‘Cats came out on top on the strength of their full lineup. Beckman, Meza, Jimmy Thommen and Landon Wood scored forfeit wins, and Aebig, Pendell, Fletcher Thommen, Risch and French scored pins.
Montague was favored to win the matches, of course, but accomplishing the goal still marks a checkpoint in the team’s development.
“You want to win the matches you’re supposed to win,” Maddox said. “You don’t want to lose those or come in overconfident and end up doing something to lose a match you shouldn’t.”
Montague’s home quad was just the first of several home events for the Wildcats this year. The boys team will be right back on its home mat Saturday for a tournament. Both the boys and girls teams are hosting Mat Cat dual meets over the winter break, and the annual Randy Jacobs Duals again highlight the late-season schedule.
“Our administration’s really good to us,” Maddox said. “They allow us to have so many home events. It’s nice that our parents don’t have to travel. We’re right here. That helps us with community involvement. We love that the community gets behind us and supports us with that.”
