Stoney Creek's Gajdzik, Rochester's Wood Fall Short in State Wrestling Finals

AUBURN HILLS - If Nick Gajdzik had 10 more seconds, he might have taken home a state title for Stoney Creek. For Josh Wood, a second straight finals loss was a tough pill for the sophomore wrestler to swallow.

It was double disappointment in the finals for Gajdzik, the junior from Stoney Creek, who lost to Prescott Line of Oxford in the 215-pound weight class, and Josh Wood, the sophomore who lost in the 112-pound class.

Clock runs out on Gajdzik

Gajdzik (50-4) was down 3-2 going into the final minute of the match. Line (44-3) proved elusive as Gajdzik tried to find a spot to hit a takedown. The clock ticked down and with 10 seconds left Gajdzik saw an opening.

He grabbed Line’s leg and had the Oxford junior hopping up and down. All Gajdzik needed to do was sweep his opponent to the mat for two points. 

But the time ran out.

“On the one foot like that, five, ten seconds left I would’ve finished it,” Gajdzik said after the match. 

The two wrestlers battled earlier in the year at the county championships in a terrific bout that needed three overtime periods. There wasn’t an overtime period in the finals, but Stoney Creek fans at the Palace might have left the arena thinking there should've been. 

Line was called for stalling with 33 seconds left in the match and spent the remaining time dancing around Gajdzik. A second stalling call would of given Gajdzik a point. Neither Gajdzik or his coach Jeff Smart were upset about the no-call after the match, but they conceded it could have gone either way.

“It was smart wrestling,” Gajdzik said. “He was up by a point and I knew that was coming. I should of set something up earlier.”

“In the state finals you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Smart said. “I’m not going to complain, it could’ve gone either way. A little more pressure (by Gajdzik) would’ve done it for us, but I thought we wrestled a good match." 

The only mistake Gajdzik made in the match was in the first 15 seconds. Line scored a takedown right out of the gate.

“I didn’t sprawl my hips back fast enough,” Gajdzik said. “I knew he was coming, I just didn’t get them back fast enough.”

Gajdzik tied the match in the second round with his incredible leg strength. He scored a point in the first and second round for getting back to standing from the ground position. He literally had to stand up with Line on his back.

The two wrestlers are both juniors and next year at the Palace there’s a good chance these two could face each other again on the same stage.

“I expect them to see each other a few times next year,” Smart said, smiling.

And to Smart, that's what is great about high school wrestling. 

“To me it’s an ultimate wrestling match,” Smart said. “Two good guys going hard at it. Strength and skill, it’s fun to watch. It’s a great match to be a part of.

2nd loss in finals a tough blow for Josh Wood

 Losing in the finals for a second time wasn’t any easier for Rochester’s Josh Wood.

The sophomore made it to the Division 1 112-pound finals last year and lost to Holt’s Freddie Rodriguez. This year he had a terrific run through the bracket, but unfortunately had the same result in the finals.

Wood lost to Justin Oliver from Davison on an 8-4 decision. After the match, he was understandably upset about dropping a second consecutive finals bout. His coach Frank Lafferty pulled him aside and had a simple message for his wrestler.

“I said how many sophomores been in the state finals two times in a row?” Lafferty said. “He came up short, but he has two more years. He wrestled a good match, he’ll get better.”

The turning point in the match came in the third round when Wood (47-7) was down 6-4 and looking for a takedown. He grabbed Oliver’s leg and tried to flip him over for two points.

The freshman from Davison somehow broke free and scored a takedown of his own. It was a four point swing that robbed Wood of all the momentum in the match with only 53 seconds on the clock.

“He just kind of slipped or something,” Wood said. “I lost control, I needed to outhustle him to beat him and I didn’t.”

His coach called it a “scramble situation” and that when both wrestlers are quick in that situation they can go either way. In the match on Saturday, Oliver was the one to score the takedown.

“Josh is disappointed, but I’m not disappointed,” Lafferty said.  “He’s a great kid, great worker, he’ll be back.”

Oliver’s 8-4 lead was enough to give him the win and the first place finish. Wood was driven by last year’s defeat and said the final score this offseason will do the same. 

 “I pushed harder this year and still came up short,” Wood said. “Next year I’m going to have to push even harder. Obviously I wasn’t good enough.”

Lafferty disagreed with that sentiment. He was proud of his wrestler and chalked up Wood's loss to Oliver being a great wrestler. The win pushed the freshman’s record to 53-0 on the season. Wood was the only wrestler in the 112-pound weight class to even come close to the freshman.

Wood’s four points nearly doubled the amount of points Oliver gave up the entire tournament. Oliver won his quarter and semifinals matches by a combined score of 33-5.

More Patch wrestling coverage

Avery Hasenauer finishes sixth in stateBrother Rice freshman Shon Powell eliminated FridayStoney Creek’s Nick Gajdzik and Rochester’s Josh Wood both finish second in state Chavez Farris wins final two matches to take third Dakota’s Greg Day places third at 140 pounds Utica Eisenhower’s Charlie Myers finishes seventhThree Lake Fenton wrestlers bring home state titles Milan’s Tim Sims earns third in state John Julien captures third in state in Division 1 Athony Abro finishes season 60-0 and captures state title Ian Stirton takes seventh place Drew Barners takes fourth in Division 2 at 152 pounds Harrison’s Sanders, Hubbard both finish seventh in state Coach Sam Amine named one of two Division 1 coaches of the year Anchor Bay wrestlers Eric and Larry Rybarz both finish fourth in state Lake Shore’s JacQuan Moore places sixth Several wrestlers from North and South are eliminated in early rounds Roosevelt’s Joe Lombard finishes fourth Edsel Ford’s Lucas Luchonok takes seventh in finals

Download the movie

Download the movie