Area wrestlers advance from WW-T regional
Sometimes changing weight classes can make a difference for a high school wrestler.
Two of the individual champions from Saturday’s Division 2 regional at Warren Woods Tower are hoping it brings them a state championship in two weeks.
Moving up a few weight classes to 138 pounds has worked for Adam Polk of Pontiac. On the other hand, Daniel Staniszewski of Warren Woods-Tower is thriving after dropping down to 106.
Last year Polk, who is trying to become the first Pontiac wrestler to place in the finals all four years, finished third at 120 pounds.
“My conditioning and strength is better and moving up in weight, it seems like guys are a little slower,” he said. “My quickness definitely helps me.”
Polk’s three wins in the regional gave him a 30-0 mark going into the state finals. Next year he’ll join his brother, Julius, on the wrestling team at Rochester University.
Adam Polk is hoping that he’ll return to a spot on the podium in two weeks.
“It’ll mean a lot,” he said. “It hasn’t really hit me because the season’s not over, but when the season’s over I’m going to look at it like ‘wow. A guy from Pontiac could do it. That’s amazing.’”
Polk won his first match on a technical fall, then pinned his last two opponents.
Staniszewski edged Qaid Mohamed of Melvindale 5-4 in the championship match.
“It takes some adjusting coming from 120ish, but I can adjust,” Staniszewski said. “It helped me a lot. I’ve got an edge in strength. That’s why I wanted to go down.”
Staniszewski’s willingness to move to a lower weight class impressed coach Greg Mayer.
“He’s always wrestled 113 but he kind of felt he was a little undersized,” Mayer said. “He made a commitment to manage his weight. That sacrifice has paid off.”
Staniszewski trailed Mohamed 2-1 going into the third period. He got a takedown late in the period to build enough of a cushion that Mohamed’s last-second reversal didn’t matter.
“I just wanted to stay strong and persevere through the match,” he said. “I was down a little bit but I couldn’t let that stop me. It’s not