On Saturday, Feb. 18th the varsity wrestling team traveled to Adrian Madison for the MHSAA Individual Regional Tournament.  With the top four in each weight class advancing to Ford Field for the individual state championships Clinton advanced six boys to the state tournament.  On Sunday, Feb. 19th the girls competed in the all girls MHSAA Individual Regional Tournament at Birmingham Groves High School where Clinton advanced two girls to Ford Field for a total of 8 Redwolves competing March 3 & 4 for the opportunity to become an individual state champion.

Starting at the boys tournament Clinton won four regional championships.  Sophomore Braylon Long won the 113 pound Regional Championship.  Long earned a technical fall in his opening match 16-0 over Jace Vavul of Constantine. Then Braylon earned a major decision over Jak Monroe of Three Rivers, before earning another technical fall 15-0 in the finals over Ernesto Rodarte of Hartford.  Up next was Brenden Benschoter, a freshman at 120 pounds.  Brenden opened with a loss to Kaiden Reith of Brandywine before winning a tough 3-2 match over Luke Isbrecht of Watervliet.  In the match to qualify Benschoter wrestled hard but lost to Brendan Yobb of Napoleon 2-6 to end his individual season.  Throughout the year Brenden continued to get better and found himself in a valuable position within our varsity lineup.  Nate Arntz competed at 106 pounds and opened his regional tournament with a loss to Ronaldo Verga of South Haven.  Nate then won 8-3 over Maximus Pigeon of Hopkins.  In the match to qualify Nate had Malaki Mosher on his back and in trouble, but was unable to secure the pin.  Nate lost the match and ended his individual season.  Nate has worked hard to continuously improve and won over 20 matches this year to help our team.  Connor Busz won another Regional Championship for the Redwolves at 120 pounds as Clinton double entered at 120.  Connor racked up two pins before receiving a medical forfeit in the finals.  Connor pinned Luke Isbresht of Watervliet and Kaiden Rieth of Brandywine before winning the championship over Talan Flowers of Three Rivers.  You could hear chants of, where is he at, when Flowers medically forfeited to Busz.  The senior continues to lead and rack up wins for the Redwolves on the year.  

Connor Younts won a Regional Championship for the Redwolves at 126 pounds or as we call him, C2.  Connor opened with a 17-2 technical fall over Carter Hensley of Three Rivers, before pinning Alejandro Saldana of Harford in the semi finals.  In the championship match Connor won with a major decision 9-1 over Colton Kennedy of Hopkins to earn the third regional championship on the day for the Redwolves.  Senior Zak Shadley opened his tournament with a loss in the last seconds of the match 7-9 to Caden Brown of Hopkins.  Zak bounced back with a 5-0 win over Ty Fielder of Durand before losing in the blood round 1-2 to Lukas Leonard of Madison to end his individual season.  Zak finished as a three time state qualifier and a state runner up and has been a vital part of our program's success for many years.  Junior Maurice Ames earned  a second period pin over Treydan Vanderkool of Allegan, before winning 5-1 over Owen Jackson of Hopkins in the semi finals.  Maurice faced a familiar opponent from Laingsburg in Aden Baynes, as the two met in the district championship as well.  Ames was in a battle but lost to Baynes to finish as runner up at 138 pounds.  Ethan Younts had a great day and won a regional championship at 150 pounds.  The senior opened up with a pin over Jeremy Rowland of South Haven.  But the match that everyone was watching was the semi finals as Younts wrestled Louis Smith of Three Rivers who was previously 47-1 on the year.  Ethan battled and was patient, even through their injury time they took to recover from a phantom injury.  With a takedown and back points Younts completed the win to advance to the championship match.  Even through unsportsmanlike words and actions from the opposing coaches and wrestler, Younts walked away in celebration with his coaches and teammates.  His day was not finished though as he battled again against Eaton Rapids Gabe Chapates and finished his Regional Championship with a 4-3 win.  Congratulations Ethan, those who put in the work will eventually be rewarded.  At 165 pounds freshman Bryce Randolph opened his tournament with a 9-1 major decision over Leland Payne of Buchanan before losing to undefeated senior Darrin Alward of Durand.  Randolph then defeated Seth Sivak for the third time in two weeks 2-0 to advance to the third place match.  Bryce faced Landen Parker of Eaton Rapids who had beaten him the week before.  But this time Randolph came out with a 3-1 win and third place at regionals to qualify for the state championship.  Sophomore Hamza Rafferty started his day with a pin over Cael Vansandt of Brandywine in the first period.  But Rafferty lost a close 3-4 decision to Constantine’s Gregg Reed.  In his next match Rafferty was winning, but ended up losing unexpectedly to Wyatt Wahtola from Hillsdale to end his individual season.  

On Sunday at Groves High School our varsity girls competed in their MHSAA Individual Regional and the top four qualified to the state tournament at Ford Field as well. 

Freshman Gabbi Pearce started out at 125 pounds and competed against Kaitlyn Grazyk of Bishop Foley Catholic and was winning 2-0 before getting turned,and dropping her match.  The freshman gained valuable experience and with some off season work will be back ready for her sophomore year.  Junior Faith Blackburn opened her tournament with a first period pin after an opening round bye.  Faith pinned AnnMarie Gessner of Eric Mason to advance.  In the semi finals Faith lost to two time defending state champ Angelina Pena of Milan.  In her next match Blackburn picked up another pin over Tamari Khizanishvili of West Blomfield. In the third place match Faith lost to Paisley Denault of Clarkston to place fourth overall and qualify for the state championships.  Senior Michelle Arntz competed at 110 pounds and received a bye to start the tournament, then lost to Trinity Munoz of Voyageur College Prep.  Michelle then battled Saige Patterson of Springport and lost 0-7 to end her individual season.  Michelle was our girls captain and finished as a two time state qualifier.  We thank her for her constant work and being a great teammate.  Freshman Kierra Fivenson finished her season with a loss to Katelyn Cain of Shrine Catholic.  The freshman competed at 145 pounds this year and as a first year wrestler, she learned a ton and we are excited to see what off season work can bring for her future.  Senior Leanne Mercier competed at 155 pounds and received an opening round bye, before dropping a heartbreaker 2-3 to Emma Reckner of Sand Creek.  Leanne bounced back with a 9-2 win over Te’Azia Garcia of Lamphere, before falling to Marissa Richmond of Plymouth.  Leanne finished as a two time state qualifier and all state.  She was a great teammate and leader by example for the girls.  Our final wrestler was sophomore Raven Aldridge who competed at 135 pounds.  Raven pinned Cheyenne Crouch of Erie Mason.  In the next match Raven lost to Nanda Kibi of Plymouth.  Aldridge bounced back and made quick work of Abby Holbrook of Michigan Center, winning by technical fall 18-1.  In her next match Raven competed very well to upend Keaton Hood of Westland John Glenn by major decision 12-4.  In the match for third Raven saw Kibi from Plymouth again after losing to her earlier in the tournament, Aldridge was able to flip the script this time and pin her in the first period.  Raven placed third overall and qualified for the state championships.  Overall the Redwolves qualified 8 to Ford Field.  We are excited to compete and see what everyone is capable of doing when we get there.  The MHSAA Individual State Championship is Friday and Saturday March 3rd & 4th at Ford Field.