Howell Puts Heart Into Memorial Meet

OXFORD — When she was in sixth grade, Cheyenne Frank initially was excited when a friend invited her to a wrestling practice on the first day of the season, mainly because that friend wanted to have another girl with her on a team full of boys. 

But upon showing up for that practice, there was a slight problem for Frank, who had never wrestled before. 

“She never showed up for practice,” Frank said of her friend. “She kind of bailed on the first day.”

Fortunately, despite not knowing anybody in a room full of boys and having no clue what wrestling was all about, she forged on and stayed at the practice.

“I just stuck with it,” she said. “I had no one to talk to, and then I eventually got to know the coaches and my teammates and it became really fun.”

Ever since, Frank certainly has had a lot of fun wrestling.

Now a senior at Oxford, Frank has grown to become one of the state’s top female wrestlers, and a pioneer of sorts for a tradition-rich Oxford wrestling program. 

“For girls, she is our breadwinner for Oxford wrestling,” Wildcats assistant coach Carl Barnes said. 

Frank has more than 100 career wins and is the reigning MHSAA Individual Finals champion in the girls 120-pound weight class, finishing last year with a 26-0 record after being runner-up as a sophomore. The Oxford boys team over the years has typically been a highly-acclaimed program – the Wildcats won the Division 1 Team Finals title in 2011 – but Frank became the program’s first Individual Finals girls champion. 

“It means a lot to me,” said Frank, whose career record against girls and boys opponents is 122-24, including 29-1 this season (24-0 against girls). “I really like to see that (the sport) is growing too.”

Speaking over the phone Sunday, Frank said she was set to fly Tuesday to Turkey in order to pursue a unique opportunity. 

Her mother is originally from Turkey and has dual citizenship, so Frank said she is spending the rest of this month trying out for a spot on Turkey’s under-23 world championship team in the 53-kilometer weight class. 

“There’s just more opportunity for me to go the Turkish route,” Frank said. 

When she comes back from Turkey, Frank will look to end her high school career with another Finals title at 120 pounds before embarking on a college career at Northern Michigan. 

“I think I’m better technically,” Frank said. “A lot of my snapdowns have gotten better. I’m working on a lot of different shots right now. My hand-fighting is pretty good, but I’m still just trying to work on it. I also think maturity comes into play. I’m getting older, so I feel stronger. I can feel my movements have more muscle behind it.”

Even more meaningful may be Frank’s impact on the program even after she wrestles her last match for Oxford, given her success has been an inspiration already for other girls at the school to wrestle. 

“Last year, we had I think three girls,” Frank said. “This year, we have 12 girls on the team. After kind of advertising it, having some girls come out here, it’s been really cool to see. We’re a newer team, but it’s crazy how much they’ve progressed, and they’ve really been just trying and getting after it. We’ve had crazy growth and a lot of girls are still wanting to try and come out.”

Barnes said at a recent assembly dual, it was Frank’s idea to stand in front of the student body and promote the girls wrestling program. 

“We actually got six additional girls to come out the next day,” Barnes said. “That wouldn’t have happened without her.”

As much fun as the championships and matches won have been, that will ultimately be the most lasting legacy Frank will leave behind in Oxford. 

“We’ve been sending out a girls program (to tournaments) basically every weekend,” Barnes said. “That’s greatly due to Cheyenne Frank.”

Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Oxford’s Cheyenne Frank, left, wrestles Algonac’s Sky Langewicz during last season’s Individual Finals at Ford Field. (Middle) Frank holds up a banner celebrating her 100^th victory after the championship win. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)