The varsity wrestling team traveled to Kalamazoo for the team state tournament as the number 3 seed, They left Kalamazoo as the number 1 team in the state! The weekend started with The 6 seed, Carson City Crystal, and the Redskins flexed their muscle right from the beginning racing out to a 28-0 lead before winning 47-24 to advance to the semi-finals. The semi-final was against #2 New Lothrop. Clinton won 5 of the first 6 matches including a dominating win of the #2 ranked and undefeated 189 pounder from New Lothrop by Brayden Randolph 13-3 to lead 18-5. New Lothrop had dropped that wrestler to 171 for that match and it backfired on them. New Lothrop answered with a pin and a win to close the gap to 18-14. The Redskins answered by winning the next 3 matches to seal the meet at 32-14 before New Lothrop was able to get the last 3 weights and make the score 32-26. That set up the Final with County and Future LCAA rival Hudson who beat us for the title last year. The dual meet started at 119 in the final and the defending state champs answered the bell with a 5-1 win, Pin, 5-4 win, and another pin to build an 18-0 lead. Clinton Captains AJ Baxter and Kent McCombs answered that barrage with back to back technical falls at 140 and 145, first 19-4 and then a dominating first period 15-0 score. That made the team score 18-10 Hudson. Hudson got a win back 3-2 to make it 21-10 halfway through the dual. Noah Deshano took the mat at 160 pounds and gutted out a 5-3 win. Then junior captain Brayden Randolph asserted his dominance with a 24-9 domination of his opponent at 171. Logan Badge took the mat at 189 and secured a pin in just 1:54 to make the team score 24-21 in favor of the Redskins with 4 matches left. Jack Voll followed at 215 with a pin of his higher ranked opponent in just 31 seconds to blow the roof of the building and set up Will Felts with a chance to get the 5th straight win. Felts did just that with a manhandling win of his opponent at heavyweight to secure a guaranteed tie for the Redskins. Connor Busz went to the mat knowing that as long as he wasn't pinned he could secure the team state title. Busz showed why he is the top ranked 103 pounder in the state by coming back from an early 2-0 deficit to win 4-2 and send the Redskin fan-base that made the trip into a massive celebration. Hudson's top ranked 112 pounder earned a pin in the final bout to make the score 36-27. Connor Busz, AJ Baxter, Kent McCombs, Brayden Randolph, and Logan Badge all went 3-0 for the weekend. Noah Deshano in his final weekend in a Redskin singlet went 2-0. ZaK Shadley, Spencer Konz and Will Felts also won twice for the weekend. It was an all out team effort to win the title as everyone did their jobs to make it happen!. The team finishes the season 31-5 in the team portion. 13 wrestlers will travel this weekend to Ford Field for the individual portion of the state meet and their shot at individual titles.