So the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals is about to start. The kids have been preparing for this moment since their last match of 2012. It's the single biggest wrestling tournament in the country. And if you've ever been to The Palace for the three-day tournament, you'd be in awe. Oakland County has 71 wrestlers competing this season, down from the 79 it had last year. Below is a quick look at the tournament - as it pertains to the Oakland County contingent.

Team with the most individual qualifiers: Detroit Catholic Central, with 12

Returning state champions: Anthony Gonzales, Holly; Ken Bade, Catholic Central; Drew Garcia, Catholic Central

Returning state finalists: Malik Amine, Catholic Central; Mason Cleaver, Holly

Best bet to win a state championship: Drew Garcia, Catholic Central - He's the county's lone unbeaten wrestler (48-0). And that says a lot considering the Shamrocks insanely tough schedule this year. His biggest challenges at 171 would come in the semis against Grand Haven's Connor Moynihan (37-2) and in the finals, against Hartland's Mitchell Thomas (55-1).

Any other state champions? This one is tough. It's hard to gauge who might make a run at a title. Gonzales (135, D2) and Bade (135, D1) return as state champions, but each have been vulnerable at times and are wrestling in extremely tough weights. Gonzales will have to battle nationally-ranked Logan Massa of St. Johns in the finals. And that's only if he can get by teammate Mason Cleaver in the semis. Cleaver, himself, was a state runner-up last year. As for Bade, he enters with a 36-7 record (take into consideration CC's rugged schedule against national powers this season). Because of the way the state draw is set up, he's set to face Davison's Justin Oliver (12-1) in the semifinals. Oliver is a returning state champion himself. Rochester's Josh Wood is on a mission. But like everyone else on this list, he's in a very competitive bracket. He's ranked No. 1 at 125, but will most likely have to face off with a defending state champion in the semifinals - Howell's Ben Calandrino (or Temperance Bedford's Mitch Pawlak, whom Wood beat 12-11 in last week's team state quarterfinals). Malik Amine (140), Logan Marcicki (160) and Bob Coe (285) of CC are all ranked No. 1 at their weights. Amine did reach the finals last year. If he wins his first two matches, he'll most likely face Rochester's Kaelan Richards (#2) in the semifinals. If one of them makes it through to the finals, they'll be the favorite. Marcicki is a former state champion, so he knows what it takes.He's got a clear road to the semis, where I see him wrestling Rochester's Dean Vettese. The winner would probably get either Davison's Jordan Cooks, or perhaps Grand Haven's Dakota Juarez. Coe's biggest obstacle is in the semifinal, in the form of Holland West-Ottawa's Miguel Correa - the No. 2-ranked heavyweight. And Rochester's Shawn Shadaia, ranked No. 1 at 189, will probably have to get by BC Lakeview's Rodney Harvey in the semifinal. But he's got a legit chance at winning it all. Lamphere's Andrew Gorman (51-2) is ranked No. 1 at 112 pounds in Division 2. He's in a balanced draw and has the potential to be wrestling both Friday, and Saturday night.

One to watch: Unbeaten record or not, watch out for Brother Rice's Shon Powell (160). He'll likely face Juarez (41-0) in the second round Friday morning. That would be a great match, one in which I'm sure Juarez is not looking forward to. 

Below is a list of all Oakland County wrestlers competing at The Palace this weekend. To track each of them, go to our Live Update page on MIPrepZone all weekend long.

DIVISION 1
Birmingham Brother Rice
145 - Andrew Napieraj, Sr. (47-2)
160 - Shon Powell, Jr. (38-2)
189 - Josiah Thomas, Jr. (43-5)

Clarkston
152 - Nick Vandermeer, Sr. (40-5)
189 - Chris Calvano, Sr. (37-4)
215 - Adam Myers, Sr. (35-16)

Detroit Catholic Central
112 - Parker O'Brien, Jr. (33-14)
119 - Trevor Zdebski, So. (36-6)
125 - Evan Toth, Jr. (39-11)
130 - Myles Amine, So. (33-6)
135 - Ken Bade, Sr. (36-7)
140 - Malik Amine, Jr. (36-6)
152 - Mike Babicz, Sr. (34-17)
160 - Logan Marcicki, Jr. (32-5)
171 - Drew Garcia, Jr. (48-0)
189 - Nick Giese, So. (37-12)
189 - Jimmy Russell, Jr. (34-14)
285 - Robert Coe, Sr. (41-4)

Farmington
125 - Immanual Govantes, Sr. (46-5)

Farmington Hills Harrison
103 - Michael Volyanyuk, So. (42-7)
140 - Bobby Mathieson, Sr. (39-15)
145 - LaRone Mack, Sr. (42-10)

Lake Orion
285 - Paul Scott, Jr. (41-12)

Milford
285 - Noah Hosking, Sr. (50-3)

Oxford
103 - Alex Hrisopoulos, Fr. (42-4)
119 - Daniel Curtis, Sr. (37-12)
130 - Edwin Schlickenmeyer, Jr. (38-6)
145 - Rocco Borg, Sr. (47-2)
152 - Wesley Maskill, Jr. (36-11)
215 - Ben Line, Jr. (34-12)
285 - Zach Wood, Jr. (38-7)

Rochester
112 - Justin Kim, Sr. (48-7)
125 - Josh Wood, Sr. (15-0)
140 - Kaelan Richards, Sr. (52-2)
160 - Dean Vettese, Sr. (41-2)
171 - Shane Shadaia, Jr. (33-7)
189 - Shawn Shadaia, Jr. (50-1)

Rochester Adams
112 - Justin Schofield, Sr. (40-12)
119 - Stephen Biebelhausen, Sr. (27-9)
135 - Chris Mikhjain, Sr. (36-13)
145 - Jack Addy, Jr. (39-13)

Stoney Creek
112 - Kyle Noonan, Jr. (44-3)
140 - Jake Hazelton, Sr. (32-14)
152 - Andrew Price, So. (44-10)
215 - Austin Denha, Sr. (37-15)

Troy Athens
130 - Thomas Keyes, Jr. (44-6)
135 - Jazz Hubbard, Sr. (41-7)

Walled Lake Central
103 - Kaleb Marion, Fr. (40-10)
112 - Daniel Shear, So. (42-5)
160 - Mitch Craig, Sr. (42-5)

Walled Lake Northern
135 - Christian Lauderback, Jr. (42-6)

Walled Lake Western
130 - Austin Murray, Jr. (36-15)

Waterford Kettering
125 - Brandon Conrad, Jr. (32-16)
215 - Matt Okaiye, Jr. (45-3)
285 - Tommy Edwards, Sr. (47-7)

West Bloomfield
125 - Ross Bahro, Jr. (46-3)
 
DIVISION 2
Auburn Hills Avondale
145 - Grant Sharkey, Sr. (41-6)
171 - Dillon Brancheau, Sr. (39-12)

Ferndale
160 - Eric Bird, Sr. (24-10)

Hazel Park
152 - Keith Bucholtz, Sr. (28-13)

Holly
103 - Colton Cleaver, Fr. (40-13)
125 - Sam Johnson, Fr. (41-14)
135 - Mason Cleaver, Sr. (50-2)
135 - Anthony Gonzales, Sr. (50-3)
160 - Andrew Scott, Jr. (40-4)

Madison Heights Lamphere
112 - Andrew Gorman, Sr. (51-2)
135 - Evan Reich, Sr. (42-9)

Ortonville-Brandon
103 - Bryan Lavearn, Fr. (48-4)

Southfield
130 - Davion Williams, Jr. (35-11)
135 - Delando Davis-Wright, Sr. (38-9)
152 - Ken Daniels, Sr. (37-10)