On Wednesday, Feb. 16th the wrestling team traveled to Williamston for the MHSAA Team Regional.  In the opening regional semi final match Clinton competed against Hillsdale.  Clinton came out on top 72-12 to advance to the Regional Finals.  During the Hillsdale match George Ames grabbed a pin in 1:13 at 152 to open the match on the right foot.  Next up, Kent McCombs pinned Jace Ringman in 44 seconds.  Jake Felts stepped up at 171 and earned a pin over Trevor Wagner in just 42 seconds.  Nate Smith was able to battle for us at 189 pounds to earn a pin in the second period.  Bryce Rosacrans stepped in at 215 and battled but dropped his match.  Hamza Rafferty was called in at heavyweight and wrestled well, but lost as well.  Clinton then rattled off 8 wins to finish the dual.  Pins were collected by Connor Busz at 119, Zak Shadley at 125, Maurice Ames at 135, adn Coy Perry at 140.  Other winners were Braylon Long, Connor Younts, Chase Packard, and Ethan Younts to finish the dual.  

In the Regional Finals Clinton wrestled Napoleon and competed extremely well.  Joey Preston stepped in to wrestle an undefeated wrestler at 160 pounds for his team to open the match.  Although he lost his match, he inspired his team.  His grit and toughness, along with his willingness to wrestle up for his team was awesome.  Kent McCombs moved up to 171 pounds and pinned Napoleon's Bart Laretz who was a district champ at 171 to get Clinton on the board and tie up the score at 6-6.  Nate Smith again came up big for his team with an 8-4 decision over Aiden Nugent at 189 pounds.  Wyatt Hicks then was faced with a rematch from earlier in the year, a match he lost.  Not this time though, as Wyatt picked up a huge pin at 215 pounds for his team, that ended up being a 12 point swing in favor of Clinton from the last dual we had with them.  Clinton 15 Napoleon 6.  At heavyweight Brandon Felts competed well and was up 3-0 before a small mistake cost the match.  The way he competed was what his team needs from him as we continue down the stretch. Braylon Long put some points on the board for the Redwolves as he earned a 13-3 major decision at 103 pounds over Antonio Bocenegra.  Clinton 19 Napoleon 12.  Connor Younts pinned Brendan Yobb at 112 pounds in 1:01 of the first period to continue the momentum for Clinton.  Connor Busz earned a pin in just 42 seconds and had the team and crowd on their feet.  Zak Shadley pinned Logan Hartman in 1:01 at 125 pounds, the crowd and team could feel this was a special night.  Clinton 37 Napoleon 12.  Chase Packard had a back and forth match with Deegan Herman and earned a close 4-3 decision at 130.  Maurice Ames picked up yet another quick pin in just 43 seconds over Shawn King at 135 pounds.  Coy Perry earned a 12-2 major decision over Ian Albert at 140 pounds as well.  Clinton 50  Napoleon 12.  Ethan Younts wrestled at 145 and earned a pin in 1:18 over Hunter Callahan.  Gage Blackburn finished the dual at 152 pounds and lost to Mason Roth.  Final Score Clinton 56 Napoleon 18.  Clinton won their 6th straight Regional Championship and 7th in the last 9 years.  The team will wrestle at Kalamazoo K Wings Stadium on Friday, Feb. 25th at 4:30pm against Gladstone in the MHSAA Team State Quarterfinals.  With a win Clinton would wrestle the winner of the Alma/Montrose Match in the State Semi Finals Saturday, Feb. 26th at noon.  With another win Clinton would wrestle in their fourth straight state finals and will be going after their third state championship Saturday at 3:45pm.  We home to see a large Clinton crowd in support of our wrestlers.