On Saturday, Dec. 17th the Clinton Wrestling Program hosted two tournaments that ran simultaneously.  A boys JV individual tournament and a girls varsity individual tournament.  For the second week in an row freshman Brenden Benschoter won his weight class at 126 pounds for the boys JV tournament.  He collected two pins leading him into the finals where he secured a 1-0 win for the tournament championship.  Freshman Tanner Bolton lost his opening match, then won three in a row to place 3rd overall at 132 pounds.  Freshman Landon Lakatos picked up two pins a in a row before dropping a 0-6 match in the semi finals.  In the match for 3rd he scored late in the match to secure a 7-6 win and third place overall at 190 pounds.  For the girls Michelle Arntz placed second at 110 pounds after picking an opening round pin.  Freshman Gabbi Pearce placed at her first high school tournament by placing fourth overall at 125 pounds after securing a gritty 9-3 in one of her matches.  Sophomore Raven Aldridge placed second overall after picking up a technical fall and a pin during her first two matches.  In the finals Raven battled but lost to the defending state champ and Iowa commit to finish as runner up at 135 pounds.  Freshman Kierra Fivenson placed fourth overall at 145 earning her second medal in a row.  Leanne Mercier finished in fourth place after picking up two pins along the way, before dropping a close 2-3 match for third at 155 pounds.  Luther Fultz, Carson Ehnis, and Aiden Johnson all competed well and gained valuable experience on the day as well.  The Clinton program will open up LCAA action on Wednesday at Columbia Central as they will face Columbia at 5:30pm, followed by Hudson.  

The girls varsity wrestling team traveled to Monroe St. Mary's Catholic Central on Friday, Dec. 9th for their first tournament of the year.  The girls placed 2nd overall behind several champions.  Junior Faith Blackburn placed 1st at 130 pounds after pinning her opponent from Utica in just 21 seconds.  Faith them pinned her opponent from Whittmore Prescott in just 1:40 to claim the tournament championship at 130 pounds.  Sophomore Raven Aldridge picked up the tournament championship at 135 pounds after defeating Kayla Winget with a first period pin. In the finals she earned a hard fought 3-1 win over Serenity Hayes to finish her day.  Freshman Kierra Fivenson earned a third period pin in her first high school match over her opponent from Wayne at 145 pounds.  In the finals Kierra lost to her opponent from Whittmore Prescott to finish in 2nd place on the day.  Junior Jayden Rosza dropped her opening match at 145 pounds, but bounced back to earn a first period pin over her opponent from Wayne to earn 3rd place.  Senior Leanne Mercier picked up the tournament championship at 155 pounds after collecting an opening match win 6-0 over her opponent from Erie Mason, then pinning Riley Smith of Holt in the third period.  Senior Michelle Arntz lost a tough opening round match, then picked up a 2nd period pin over her opponent from Holt to put her in the match for 3rd place.  Michelle battled but lost in her final match to finish 4th overall at 110 pounds.  Gabbi Pearce competed in her first high school competition as a freshman and battled hard at 130 pounds but fell short of placing.     Boys JV Wrestling Competes at Westland John Glenn Tournament The boys JV wrestling team competed at Westland John Glenn in an individual JV tournament and we came away with several placers.  Brenden Benschoter picked up the tournament championship at 126 pounds after earning three straight pins on the day.  Tanner Bolton earned runner up at 132 pounds after picking up a 7-0 win in his opening match and a 9-7 overtime win that put him in the finals.  Tanner lost in the finals.  Aiden Weaver finished as the runner up at 144 pounds after picking up a first period pins in his first two matches.  Aiden lost in finals to Oscar Burns.  Landon Lakatos stormed to the finals with a first period pin, and a hard fought 3-2 win.  Landon lost in the finals to finish as the runner up at 190 pounds.  AJ Johnson, Carson Ehnis, and Luther Fultz all competed well but fell short of placing on the day.   Both teams will be back in competition Saturday, Dec. 17th at Clinton for the Clinton Girls Varsity Individual Tournament and a separate Boys JV Individual Tournament, both starting at 9am.