Lakeland Wrestling Off To A Good Start

The following was submitted to White Lake Patch by Lori Sokoll.

The varsity wrestlers traveled to Pinconning on Dec. 10 to compete in their first tournament of the season. After weeks of rigorous conditioning and encouragement by head coach, Matt Bishop, the squad took to the mat prepared to grapple.

Once again, the hard work paid off as Lakeland sent five kids to the podium including a first place win by senior captain Brandon Calma at 119 pounds. Also bringing home medals were senior Logan Benns, junior Jon Conti and freshmen Andy Bovay and Dom Paterra.     

The following weekend brought some stiff competition as the team headed to Oxford for the Oakland County Tournament. Now in it's 52nd year, the tournament is known to be very tough as Oakland County is home to many of the best wrestlers in the state.

At the end of day one, Lakeland had four wrestlers qualify to wrestle on day two.     

Matched up against the top grapplers in the county, Lakeland was proud to bring home three medals. Calma placed 6th at 119 pounds, senior captain Kyle Babin placed 4th at 130 pounds and junior Chase Kelley placed 8th at 170 pounds.     

A number of years has passed since Lakeland Wrestling has had three athletes place at the Oakland County Tournament. The boys themselves said they feel this is a testament to their coach, Bishop continues to build a program that he and the squad can be proud of.