The varsity wrestling team traveled to Brighton for a dual tournament and came away with some valuable experience.  Clinton opened the tournament with a win against DeWitt 53-18.   Winners for the dual were Gradyn Whelan at 190 with a 4-0 win.  Landon Lakatos at 215 with a first period pin.  Hamza Rafferty picked up his 100th career win as a wrestler in style as he picked up a pin, just 40 seconds into his match.  This is a huge accomplishment to earn 100 wins in high school and the season is still young for Rafferty to add to his career total.  Damion Fivenson picked up a win at 106 pounds, then Wyatt Cooley earned a 12-4 major decision win at 113.  Zach Taylor earned  a pin at 120 pounds, while Brock Worden won at 126 pounds.  One of the highlights of the dual was freshman Grady  Aldridge picking up his first career varsity win with a 19-1 technical fall at 132 pounds.  Braylon Long dropped a great match 2-4 in a battle of two highly ranked wrestlers.  Braxton Randolph picked up a technical fall 16-0 at 144.  Isaac Keibler won by pin at 150 pounds.  Keegan Keith dropped his debut at 150 pounds and John Keibler dropped his match at 165 pounds 8-15.  Jayden Duplessis finished the dual at 175.  In the second match of the day Clinton took on Division 1 number 2 team in the state and it showed.  It was a great experience for the young Redwolves to see where they have to aspire to be.  Picking up wins in the dual were Zach Taylor at 113 pounds 11-6 and Braylon long 13-3 at 138 pounds.  In the third round Clinton faced Portage Northern and got back to winning ways with a 61-17 win.  Hamza Rafferty started the dual with a pin at Hwt. Damion Fivenson picked up another win at 106 for the Redwolves.  Wyatt Cooley picked up the win at 113 before Zach Taylor got the pin at 120 pounds.  Brock Worden was putting points on the board earning a 15-0 technical fall.  Braylon Long earned another 15-0 technical fall at 138 pounds.  Isaac Keibler picked up the win at 150 pounds with a pin.  Austin Putnam earned a pin at 157 pounds for the Redwolves after a first period takedown and a set of nearfall points.  John Keibler picked up an 11-4 win at 165 pounds.  Gradyn Whelan picked up the fall at 190 pounds and Owen Wright picked up a first period pin at 215 pounds to finish the dual.  

The fourth dual of the day and the last dual within our pool was against Greenville who is ranked in the top 10 of division 2.  We had a great battle that went back and fourth but Clinton lost a close one 33-42.  Clinton got on the board with a pin by Wyatt Cooley at 113 pounds, followed by a technical fall by Zach Taylor at 120 pounds that put Clinton up 11-6 after forfeiting at 106 pounds to give Greenville its first points opening the dual.  Max Delphy dropped his match at 132 pounds in his first year wrestling.  Freshman Jaxon Phillip picked up a pin at 138 pounds bringing the team score to Clinton 17 Greenville 18.  Senior Braylon Long stepped up to 144 pounds and earned a hard fought win 7-0 to put Clinton back in the lead 20-18.  Braxton Randolph dropped his match at 150 pounds, then Isaac Keibler picked up a great win at 157 pounds 14-8.  Austin Putnam and John Keibler lost back to back matches at 165 & 175, before Gradyn Whelan picked up a 14-3 major decision at 190 pounds.  Owen Wright dropped his match at 215 against the number one wrestler in the state with a great battle.  Rafferty closed out the dual with a pin for the Redwolves at Hwt.  

In the final match of the night Clinton crossed over to compete against Grand Ledge from the opposite pool and dropped the match 22-47.  Wyatt Cooley dropped his match at 120 pounds and Brock Worden lost a close match at 126 pounds 2-4.  Jackson Phillip stepped in again at 138 and battled for the Redwolves but lost his match.  Senior Braylon Long stepped back up at 144 pounds and earned an 8-5 win to get some points back on the board for the Redwolves.  Clinton lost four matches in a row before winning 4 of the last 5 matches to finish the dual.  Again Freshman Gradyn Whelan defeated a top ten ranked opponent at 190 pounds in a close match 7-6.  Landon Lakatos and Hamza Rafferty both won at 215 and Hwt.  Zach Taylor finished the dual with a 14-6 major decision win at 113 pounds against an opponent he lost to last year.  Overall the Redwolves competed hard with a very young line up and many having to step in for sickness and injury for the day.  We look forward to our continued development as a team and getting everyone healthy and where they need to be.  This week the Redwolves travel to Bronson for a single dual on Wednesday, Dec. 18th.  Then travel to Martin on Saturday, Dec. 21st for a team dual tournament that will be action packed.  Monday, Dec. 23rd our JV will head to Columbia Central for an individual tournament.  We look forward to the upcoming competitions.