Lakeland's Alex Sokoll Grapples with the Best During His Senior Year

Alex Sokoll won 42 matches during his senior year as a 215-pounder on the wrestling matches. He also advanced to the state finals. 

But what he may be most proud of is the impact he has had on the wrestling program. 

“I think what I am most proud of is that just because at Lakeland we didn’t have  ton of success over the years, we earned a lot of respect this season, and I think I had a part in that,” said Sokoll, who will attend Central Michigan University next year and plans to major in broadcasting. “I hope our class helped to change the perception of the program.” 

In addition to Sokoll, Brandon Calma (112 pounds) and junior Kyle Babin (125 pounds) qualified for regional competition two weeks ago at L'Anse Creuse. 

Sokoll was the only one of the three to qualify among the top four finishers in the regional, placing third. He defeated Macomb Dakota's Anthony Johnson 3-1 in overtime, Don Dzierbicki of L'Anse Creuse 4-1 and Ethan Frick of Clarkston 6-4 in overtime. Sokoll lost his second match of the regionals in triple overtime to Rochester's Marcel Johnson. 

He then went 1-2 at the state finals to finish an impressive season. 

"This was a huge achievement for Alex,” said Lakeland head wrestling coach Matt Bishop. “He has worked extremely hard and bought into what we try to do in our room. We constantly talked about getting better every day, and Alex really took this concept and ran with it. He is an exceptional kid who had a goal and saw it through.” 

But Sokoll didn't have an easy run to the state finals. He suffered a separated shoulder early during the wrestling season in his junior season and missed much of the winter. He did compete in league and district meets last year, but he wasn’t fully recovered from his injury. 

“I spent a month last year jumping rope, just watching my teammates wrestle,” Sokoll said. “I hated it.” 

During the offseason, Sokoll had to get over not only the physical element of his injury, which took a little bit of time, but the mental aspect as well. He worked hard during the offseason with open mats from April through August and also got into condition in preparation for football season. He was a starter at defensive tackle for the 5-4 Eagles, and that training really helped him improve on the wresting mats as well. 

“With what I was doing for football, it helped to strengthen by shoulder but also my arms,” Sokoll said. “I really was able to balance my workouts.” 

Before his senior season, Sokoll competed at wrestling camps where he learned from a number of wrestling instructors with different backgrounds and worked on some of his moves. He also was able to wrestle against some of the better athletes in the state and found that he could compete at a high level. 

Once he started on the mats in his senior season, Sokoll knew he could compete at a high level within the Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) North Division.

But he quickly learned that he could compete with some of the most talented heavyweights in the region. It started with a 5-3 loss to a top-seven ranked wrestler in the state from Wayne Memorial at a tournament meet in December. 

“I think I really grew a lot from that meet,” Sokoll said. “Even for a number of meets when we were wresting good teams, they wouldn’t always have some of the top heavyweights, so the competition wasn’t the greatest.”

Another turning point was when Sokoll defeated Nick Long from Hartland at the league meet. Hartland traditionally has one of the top wrestling teams in the area, and that victory was another sign that Sokoll had taken the next step. 

“At that point, I felt that I could beat anyone,” Sokoll said. “It gave me the confidence I needed at the end of the year for districts.” 

Throughout much of his run during the postseason, Sokoll competed in individual matchups that went down to the wire. He came back for wins twice during districts on his way to an individual title. Ironically, his only pin during the postseason came during the consolation round of the state finals.

When he captured first place at Walled Lake Central at the end of the championship match, he looked up at Bishop, who was smiling and pointing to the score. 

“I’ll never forget that look – he was about as happy as I was,”  Sokoll said.

It’s the type of individual season that Bishop feels could have a ripple effect through the program at Lakeland. 

“I think his biggest improvement came technically. He really made some big strides," Bishop said.

"(His success) is huge for our program. To have a guy like Alex, who works his butt off, reach the goals he has worked so hard for — it’s something to admire, and I think that's exactly what our guys see.”