The match was over before it started. Thirty seconds into the first match it was given away how talented he was. He was like a spider monkey on his opponent’s back taking him out left and right. Everyone knew he would win. They could tell even at the beginning of the season he would be victorious.
At St. Louis High School Owen Fogel is the 2025 113 pound Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state champ.
The state tournament took place Feb. 28, at Ford Field, Michigan. “It felt really, really good winning. Being able to bring home the title of ‘state champion’ made me feel extremely proud of myself and my team. The number of people watching me didn’t really bother me, and I felt even more proud of winning knowing that all those people got to watch me do it. The only thing I want to tell my peers and teammates is to keep going no matter what. Hopefully, I will achieve this again next year,” says Fogel.
Leading the team on was coach Kevin Kuhn. Kuhn has been the wrestling coach at SLHS for 18 years. “I knew from the beginning of the year, once Owen made 113, that he was going to win a state title in that weight class. I mean, he pulled ahead of all others in our division pretty early on,” Coach Kuhn stated.
“It’s always a nerve wracking tournament in Detroit. Anything can happen, and Owen made the best of an opportunity. Unfortunately, we had others who had a chance at titles and fell short… So no matter how high we were on Owen’s win, there were other Sharks who fell short of their goals. This sport is one that is brutal emotionally. We preach never to get too high or too low. We had three wrestlers wrestling for first place with Owen being the only one to win. This makes him the fifth state champ in Shark wrestling history, and the fourth one that I have coached,” Kuhn added.
From onlookers in wrestling, some realized that Fogel was going to get his state title. The fact he was going to state was given due to his hard work. There was an immense amount of support from his peers both in wrestling and out of wrestling. “Owen spent a lot of time and hard work during the off season training and other things that I know a lot of other people don’t do to be ahead in the game to make him better than his opponents. I feel like it was somewhat expected. He just needed to put it into action,” said classmate Paul Eldredge.
With that being said, the wrestling season has sadly come to an end for the 24-25 school year. Hopes are high for wrestlers and the student body, and both will continue their journey to the state tournament again in the 25-26 school year.
