Oak Harbor High School wrestling coach Mike Crebbin offered some details Tuesday on his team’s performance at the state meet last weekend.

As reported earlier, Cody Fakkema (126 pounds) and Jennifer Fremd (145) placed third at the Mat Classic. Jeremy Vester (106), Jahleel Vester (120), Joshua Crebbin (152) and Brittany Johnston (170) each won one of three matches and did not place. Mark Johnston (132) dropped both of his bouts.

In an email response, coach Crebbin said Fakkema built a 9-0 lead in the opening round of his opening match. He said in the second round Fakkema’s “opponent was able to ride and turn him, something no one has done all year.”

Crebbin added, “I think this shook Cody’s confidence and the pressure overcame him.  He came back strong and wrestled great.  I would like to have seen him in the finals.” After the loss, Fakkema won five straight, four by pins, to finish third.

Fremd reached the semifinals with two wins. In the semifinal bout, she fell behind, Crebbin said, but “made adjustments during the match and was able to come back to tie the match up. She lost in the first sudden victory round of overtime.”

Crebbin noted that Fremd “was able to put that behind her and wrestled great in the consolation and third/fourth match.”

Fremd’s effort in the match for third place “was a great example of the type of wrestler Jen has become,” Crebbin said.  “Her Emerald Ridge opponent was very physical, a hard collar tie and a hard power half and brutal cross face.”

The coaches told Fremd how to clear and counter the collar tie, and to “weather the storm” on bottom.

Crebbin said, “Jen was taken down and endured some pain as the ER girl threw all her moves at Jen. But no points were scored and Jen got a reversal.”

In the second round Fremd cleared the tie, took her opponent down and “proceeded to give what we call ‘payback,’” Crebbin said.

“A hard cross face resulted in a cradle and Jen got the pin,” Crebbin said. “She listened to her coaches, executed her moves, followed the game plan and ended her season with her best match of her career. Girls wrestling has come a long ways.”

Jahleel Vester lost his first match and then won in the consolation bracket. He got a bad break when Ferndale’s Isaac Robison, who had beaten Vester three times this year, was upset and dropped into the losers’ bracket opposite of Vester.

Each time Vester faced Robison he improved. In their first meeting, Robison won by a fall, in the second by a technical fall and the third by a decision. This time Robison edged Vester by one point.

Crebbin said, “We had closed the gap each time and we almost beat him, but he is a very good wrestler and we just were not there yet.”

Joshua Crebbin, coach Crebbin’s son, won his first match and then “ran into Billy Goforth, the eventual champ, in the quarters,” Mike Crebbin said.

In his third match, Joshua Crebbin met an opponent from O’Dea. Coach Crebbin said, “We had scouted him and knew what his strong move was. Josh went ahead 4-0 the first round. O’Dea chose top and went to his ‘go to’ move, a cross-face cradle.  Josh was able to get out of it twice, but the third time resulted in a fall.”

“Mark Johnston was recovering from the flu, probably the norovirus,” Mike Crebbin said.  “Everett had it at regionals, and it spread to several wrestlers. It was obvious in his wrestling that he was not fully recovered.”