by Thad Kraus For the third time in eight years Lowell claimed a state wrestling championship.
The most recent one came Saturday at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek as the Red Arrows overpowered Oxford 35-20 in the Division 2 state final. “The boys stuck with it. This is their reward for all their effort and hard work,” said Lowell wrestling coach Dave Dean. “I am proud of them.”
There were plenty of challenges along the way. Arguably the most formidable was a regional final match-up against Greenville. That victory slid Lowell into a number one seed and heaped some pressure on the Red Arrows as well. “I felt a change right after we beat Greenville. There seemed to be a different state of mind. We didn’t seem the same. We felt a lot more pressure,” Dean said. “Knew we were in number one seed and didn’t want to let that down.” Lowell got out of the gate a little slow against Oxford, losing two of the opening three matches, but there was no let down.
From there, the Red Arrows ripped off eight straight matches to take a 35-11 lead. Ryan Olep’s 7-1 decision at 189 pounds sealed the state title for Lowell with three matches still to wrestle. “We just tried to stay focused and to get done what we needed to get done,” Olep explained. “The first match today was little tough, but we were ready to go for the finals.”
Olep’s decision was preceded by Gabe Dean’s (171) 7-5 decision over Geoffrey Charles; Tim Gingerich’s (160) 3-2 decision against A.J. Logan; Jackson Morse’s (152) 13-4 major decision against Mike Myer; and Rocky Pabon’s (145) 10-8 decision against Ben Ralston. “I’ve worked so long and hard for this. Everybody stepped up. It was a team effort. All of us seniors didn’t want that feeling of losing a finals again,” Pabon said. “Everybody came through. We wanted it. This is the best way to go out.”
