Clinton Wrestlers Compete at National Tournament and Bring 7 All Americans

On Saturday, April 23rd several members of the Clinton Wrestling Program traveled to Wheeling, West Virginia to compete in the nation's largest one day national tournament, The Tournament of Champions. 

Freshman Braylon Long opened his tournament with a 4-2 win over V. Bonaminio of Ohio at 108 pounds of the Cadet division.  In round two Braylon lost 0-7 to G. English of New York.  In his first round of consultation matches Braylon bounced back with an 11-0 technical fall over R. Rezabeck of Ohio.  In his last match Long dropped a close 2-4 decision to G. Johnson of West Virginia to end his tournament run just short of placing. 

Braden Broderick who is currently in 8th grade competed at 114 pounds in the Cadet division and won his opening round match 7-0 over B. DellaPenta of New York.  In round 2 Broderick defeated P. Schuler of Ohio 6-2.   In round three Broderick defeated B. Ringe 4-2 from West Virginia in a hard-fought contest.  That win propelled him into the semifinal match where he took on L. Davis from West Virginia and lost a tough match 0-2.  Broderick lost his next match 2-4 to A. Sharpley of Ohio. In the match for 5th Broderick accepted a medical forfeit to earn 5th place for the day. 

Sammy Stewart competed at 102 pounds in the Cadet division and the current Clinton Middle School 8th grader took 3rd place in the nation.  Sammy started his tournament off with an 11-0 technical fall over J. Fisher of Ohio.  In the semifinals Sammy lost a close match to the first seed D. Wenner of Pennsylvania 0-2.  In his next match he defeated C. Russell of Ohio to put himself in the match for 3rd place. In the 3rd place match Sammy defeated D. Ambs 1-0 to earn 3rd place in the nation. 

Current high school sophomore competed at 126 pounds in the cadet division and placed 5th overall.  Opening the tournament Connor defeated J. Hood of West Virginia.  Connor then defeated L. McCargish of Ohio with a 12-2 technical fall.  In the quarterfinals Connor dropped a close 3-5 match to C. Householder of Pennsylvania.  In his first match of the consultation bracket he picked up a 10-1 win over L. Evensen-Hein of Ohio.  Conor then defeated

H. Andrus 2-1 of Pennsylvania.  Younts then dropped his next match to J. Joslyn of New York.    That loss put Connor in the 5th place match where he defeated E. Radecki of Delaware 4-2 to become an All American.

Bryce Randolph a current Clinton 8th grader placed 6th overall in the 138 pounds weight class in the Cadet division.  Bryce opened his tournament with a bye then defeated E. Wentz of Pennsylvania 6-0.  In the third round Randolph defeated A. Didas from New York 2-0.  That win propelled him into the semifinal match where dropped a 0-6 decision to H. Spitznogle of West Virginia.  He then dropped a close 1-2 decision to J. Wehlee of Pennsylvania.  Bryce then lost his final match 0-6 to an individual he had beaten earlier in the tournament 0-6 to place 6th and earn All American.

Blake Sloan a current 8th grader at Clinton Middle School placed 3rd overall in the 138-pound Cadet bracket.  Blake started out with a 14-4 technical fall over J. Cook of Ohio.  Sloan then defeated J. DiVello 8-0 of Virginia.  In his quarterfinal match Blake defeated Z. Taylor of Michigan 7-2.  In the semifinals Blake wrestled current Clinton sophomore and teammate Maurice Ames and lost a tough match 1-8.  Blake bounced back with a fighting spirit and defeated A. Didas 5-2 of New York.  That win put Blake in the 3rd place match where he defeated J. Wehlee 4-2 of Pennsylvania to place 3rd in the nation and earn All American. 

The Next day Blake wrestled on the Dundee Middle School team and went 4-1 over on the day picking up a pair of pins and a pair of technical falls to help Dundee Middle School team win the tournament. 

In the girl’s division current Clinton High School Sophomore Faith Blackburn competed in the high school division is a combined weight class that went from 136-147 pounds.  Faith placed 3rd overall and earn All American honors.  In her first match Faith lost to L. Smith of West Virginia.  In her next match Faith was up 2-0 before collecting the pin over P. Chambers of West Virginia.  In her final match Faith was again up in the match before earning another pin over K. Stith from West Virginia.  On the second day Faith competed for Michigan Revolution girls’ team in the duals portion.  Faith went 5-1 with serval pins and a tough overtime loss.  Faith was able to help Michigan Revolution win the girls duals tournament while competing at 140 pounds on the dual team. 

Maurice Ames is currently a sophomore at Clinton High School competed at 138 pounds in the Cadet division and was able to walk away with a National Championship for his age and weight class.  Maurice opened his tournament with a win over K. Mikesell 8-2 of Indiana after a first-round bye.  In round 3 Maurice defeated B. Spencer of Ohio 2-0.  That win put Maurice in the semifinals against his teammate Blake Sloan and Maurice was able to win and put himself in the finals.  In the championship match Maurice used a 1-0 win to defeat H. Spitznogle of West Virginia to win the national championship and earn All American honors. 

Congratulations to all the competitors that traveled down to challenge themselves and improve in any way possible this off season.