The Seaholm wrestling team exceeded expectations by finishing in 4th place at the Chippewa Valley Invite last Saturday. The Maples competed in the highest division at the tournament (elite pool), and placed higher than the host school Chippewa Valley who is ranked 3rd in Macomb County.
Senior Alex Zohoury was the only person on the Maples roster to finish with an undefeated record of 5-0. Seniors Barclay Oudersluys, Keith Otterbein, Joel Cortight, Tyler Kerstetter, and sophomore Ryan Law all finished with three victories at the tournament.
The team won a 37-31 nail biter January 20 against Southfield that came down to the final match. In the 171 weight class, senior Tyler Kerstetter won in a 4-3 decision to clinch the victory for the Maples.
That momentum was crushed, however, when the Maples lost to arch rival Groves 39-34. Senior captain Keith Otterbein was shocked with the 39-34 blemish.
“The loss to Groves was devastating,” said Otterbein. “We haven’t lost to them in years.”
Despite a lot of injuries to the Maples roster, the Seaholm wrestling team is off to a fast start this season. With two tournaments wins at Lutheran Northwest and Bishop Foley, senior captain Barclay Oudersluys is very optimistic about this year’s team.
“We have a really good team,” said Oudersluys. “We just need to fill a couple of weight classes to be great.”
In the Lutheran Northwest tournament that Seaholm finished 1st in, everyone in the Maples lineup was able to place on the podium. This caught the eye of Otterbein, who realized after this meet that this team is for real.
“It was the best wrestling I’ve seen so far this season,” said Otterbein. “Everyone wrestled to their full potential in that meet.”
The Maples are led by senior captains Joel Cortright, Joe Franceschelli, Otterbein, and Oudersluys. These captains lead by example by getting the practices started, lead warm ups, lead stretching and conditioning, and show the team moves to better their skills. Not only do they lead by example, they are also great mentors to the underclassmen.
Otterbein appreciates the respect the underclassmen show towards the captains. He believes this not only betters the individuals but also builds team chemistry.
“It’s cool because the younger guys are willing to listen and take advice,” said Otterbein. “It makes my job as a captain a lot easier.”
Oudersluys is very appreciative that he was given the chance to be a captain in his senior season at Seaholm.
“It’s a great honor to be a captain,” said Oudersluys. “I’m more than willing to put in the extra effort that is necessary for a captain.”
The advice that the captains have been giving to the team has clicked for two underclassmen. Freshman Tim List and sophomore Ryan Law have made an instant impact on the squad this season. Junior Kevin Covey believes these two wrestlers are going to be very successful throughout their Seaholm career.
“I have been very impressed by these two kids this season,” said Covey.
Franceschelli believes that a good amount of Seaholm’s success this season should be attributed to head coaches Mike Hessling and Neil Tuomi. The confidence they instill in his wrestlers give Franceschelli and the rest of the team that extra push to win.
“They think we have a good chance at making states,” said Franceschelli. “This motivates us to put in hard work day in and day out.”
With a very talented team with plenty of veterans, Oudersluys knows the team goals that were set for this Seaholm squad at the beginning of the season are reachable. He also believes he has the potential to qualify for states in Battle Creek as an individual.
As a team we would like to win the league and hopefully make it to Battle Creek,” said Oudersluys. “Individually I would be pretty happy to go to states.”
Franceschelli would like to end his senior season off with a bang by winning the state championship. He’s been training year round to try and achieve this once in a lifetime accomplishment.
“I want to win states whether feasible or not,” said Franceschelli. “I’ve been training since the summer to push towards this goal.”
The Maples record is 5-5 and wrestle this Saturday at the Dakota Tournament.
