On Saturday, Jan. 7th the Clinton Varsity Boys Wrestling Team won the 16 team 47th Annual Dave Elliott Memorial Tournament by scoring 227 points to runner up New Boston Huron's 165.  Rounding out the team scores in the top five were, Woodhaven with 142, Airport with 114.5, and Manchester with 111 points.  

Clinton had five tournament champions, led by lower weight most valuable wrestler Connor Busz as he defeated Wesley Edie of Grass Lake who was previously undefeated and the number one wrestler in division four at 120 pounds.  Connor picked up three pins before winning 4-0 in the championship match at 120 pounds.  Sophomore Braylon Long grabbed a tournament championship of his own at 113 pounds.  Braylon opened up with a pin, followed by a technical fall, then a major decision win 13-4 in the finals over Carson Gremmel of New Boston Huron. Connor Younts collected the tournament championship at 126 pounds after earning two pins in a row, then a technical fall in the semi finals.  Before earning a major decision win 10-2 over Koen Huepenbecker of Woodhaven.  Zak Shadley had a dominant performance at 132 pounds for the tournament championship as well.  Zak picked up three pins in a row, before earning a major decision 10-2 over Vincent Navarro of Lincoln Park in the finals.  Clinton's last champion was freshman Bryce Randolph at 157 pounds, as he picked up an opening round pin, followed by a 10-5 win in the semi finals.  In the finals Bryce won 7-2 over Gunner Carson of Manchester.  Bryce was voted the upper weight most valuable wrestler for the tournament to give Clinton both the lower and upper weight awards for the day.  Junior Wyatt Hicks came to wrestle and put together his best performance of the year as he finished runner up at 215 pounds.  Wyatt came into the tournament seeded sixth and put together two pins in a row after an opening round bye.  In the finals Wyatt battled, but dropped a 2-7 decision to Wyatt Marentette of New Boston Huron.  Sophomore Hamza Rafferty wrestled to a 5th place finish at heavyweight on the day.  Hamza opened the tournament with a pin, but lost in the quarterfinals.  He bounced back with two more pins, and pinned Rylan Kruse of Cass City for 5th place overall.  Nate Arntz battled at 106 but was unable to place on the day.  Junior Maurice Ames picked up three pins in a row to put himself in the championship match at 138 pounds.  In the finals Maurice dropped a hard fought match 7-10 to finish as tournament runner up.  Freshman Clifford Jones wrestled at 144 pounds and finished in third place.  Clifford was the sixth seed for the tournament and battled his way into the semifinals with a 17-9 major decision, and a 13-9 decision, before dropping his semifinal match.  Cliff bounds right back to pick up a 7-1 win and 3rd place overall.  Senior Ethan Younts dropped a tough 2-4 match to open the tournament, but battled back with three wins in a row, including two by pin to finish in 5th place at 150 pounds.  Freshman Brenden Benschoter competed at 120 pounds in a loaded bracket and came away with a 6th place finish in his first varsity individual tournament.  Some great progress was shown during the day and the coaches were very pleased with the teams efforts on the day.  It was a great day of wrestling at home in honor of the late Dave Elliott.

The Girls Varsity Wrestling Team traveled to Grand Haven for an individual tournament and ended up with two placers on the day.  Sophomore Raven Aldridge was the top placer for Clinton as she earned a runner up finish at 135 pounds.  Raven collected two wins by pin before dropping her championship match to Terra Booe of Allendale to finish runner up. Senior Michelle Arntz wrestled well during the day earning a 4th place finish at 110 pounds.  Michelle picked up two pins during the day and dropped her final match to finish her day. Senior Leanne Mercier competed at 155 pounds and finishing in third place overall.  After dropping her opening match, Leanne picked up a close 1-0 win and a pin in her final match.  Freshman Gabbi Pearce competed at 125 pounds, and freshman Kierra Fivenson competed at 145 pounds, both wrestled hard but fell short of placing.  Next up for the team in an LCAA match up at Blissfield on Wednesday, Jan. 11th starting at 5:30pm.  Then the girls travel to Fowlerville HS on Friday night for a tournament starting at 5pm.  The boys travel to Traverse City for a team tournament at The Grand Traverse Resort Saturday, Jan. 14th starting at 9am.  Thank you to everyone that helped the Dave Elliott tournament run smooth and get out early.