The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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3 Big Reds make regional cut
Sophomore David Box wins heavyweight title in district competition
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 22, 2007
Box is back on the mat.
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When Milan sophomore wrestler David Box fractured his pelvic girdle five weeks ago, he thought his season was over.
He said the pain was the most excruciating he ever felt. It hurt to sit. It hurt to laugh. He had to walk with crutches and wait for the fractures to heal.
Box was fortunate. The breaks healed faster than expected, and just in time.
Just in time for the post-season league meet and team districts.
Box won his first match back at the league meet. He didn't think about the injury. He focused on six minutes.
"As long as I wrestled six hard minutes and competed to the best of my ability, I thought I would do OK," he said.
Winning that first match was not so much a confidence booster as it was a relief to him and his family that he would be able to compete, he said.
"Win or lose, as long as I compete hard there's nothing to hang my head about," he said.
And Box was back just in time to become Milan's first Division 2 district heavyweight champ at the individual district tournament last Saturday in Adrian.
Winning his first match back wasn't as much a confidence booster for Box as it was a relief to him and his family.
Box entered districts seeded third and only having wrestled twice in the preceding week. In the district finals, he pinned the No. 1-ranked heavyweight from Tecumseh for the championship.
"It took awhile for it to sink in, but once it did it felt great," Box said. "It's a lot of emotions mixed together. It's a huge honor to represent Milan High School with my teammates."
Advancing with Box to regionals Jan. 24 were fellow heavyweight Jake Hill, who placed third, and Josh Pegouskie, who finished second at 171.
"Our kids on Saturday wrestled to win," said coach Gary Jonseck. "We were right on the threshold of getting four or five wrestlers into regionals. It was a good day of wrestling."
Winning matches but not placing were Josh Ford (130), Jacob Nelson (152) and Sean Domas (215).
Pegouskie, Hill and Box are the final Big Reds wrestling as the end of February draws nearer. Milan fell to Adrian 43-24 in the team districts last Wednesday.
It was a disappointing outcome for the young team.
"I just didn't feel we showed up to wrestle the way we should have," Jonseck said. "I felt we could have performed better than we did."
Winning matches for Milan were Dan Vivian (119), Cody O'Keefe (125), Box and Domas.
Jonseck attributed the loss to an extent on the Big Reds' youth and inexperience.
"I think a lot of our kids had the deer-in-the-headlights look," he said. "They finally realized this was it. If they don't win, the season ends."
Adrian advanced to play powerhouse Tecumseh, which dominated the Maple Leafs 55-13 for a Division 2 district title.
Milan High School is hosting the individual regionals next Saturday so Box, Hill and Pegouski will get to wrestle on their home turf.
Should Box and Hill advance out of the first round, the two Big Red heavyweights could wind up wrestling each other either in the semis or the finals. Jonseck, however, is not looking that far down the road.
"They've got to first get past the first round," he said. "If you lose in the first match, you're done –– there's no chance of wrestling back."
The three Big Reds each face a wrestler they have not seen before, but they shouldn't fixate on what their opponent might do, Jonseck said.
"At this point in the season, you have to do what you do best and take it out on the mat," he said. "It's all got to be done by you."
Box said he isn't anxious about regionals. He plans to follow Jonseck's simple advice at regionals:
"Wrestle six hard minutes and have fun doing what you're doing."
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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