After winning their 6th MHSAA Regional Championship in a row the Clinton Wrestling Team competed at the Team State Championships at Kalamazoo's K Wings Stadium on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25th & 26th.  Clinton made the elite eight appearance for the 7th time in 9 years as they competed against Gladstone in the state quarterfinals.  Clinton entered the Team State seeded second and Gladstone was seeded 7th.  Clinton defeated Gladstone 51-24 to advance to the state semifinals.  In the quarterfinal match against Gladstone Connor Younts started off at 112 pounds from the random weight class draw and dropped the opening match 3-0 to Drew Henson after giving up a reversal in the third period, followed by a stalling penalty.  Connor Busz competed at 119 pounds and came through with a pin in the first period over Eli Terrien.  Zak Shadley went into overtime in a controversial match, as he battled his heart out for his team.  As the match progressed into overtime it appeared to most that Zak had gotten a takedown and the match should be over, but Zak did not get the call and his opponent came out of it on top to end the match.  Tough loss for Zak has it appeared he did everything to win, but just didn't get the final call.  He handled it with great character and came back to support his team.  Chase Packard put Clinton back on the board after a 5-1 win at 130 pounds over Austin Solis.  Clinton 9 Gladstone 6.  Maurice Ames picked up a couple of takedowns and a set of nearfall points before collecting the pin at 135 pounds for the Redwolves over Hunter Solis in 1:32.  Coy Perry picked up another quick pin at 140 pounds in just 1:13 over Adam Balanger as well.  Clinton 21 Gladstone 6.  Ethan Younts grabbed a takedown and nearfall points before the final pin in 1:11 over Bryce Carlson at 145 pounds.  Joey Preston picked up the fourth first period pin in a row over Owen Mattonen in 1:30 at 152 pounds. Clinton 33 Gladstone 6.  Kent McCombs wrestled at 160 pounds and after picking up the first takedown, Kent turned his opponent in a tilt three separate times all for near fall points before getting the pin in 1:54 over Andrew Sargent.  Freshman Jake Felts battled at 171 but lost his match to Cole Potier.  Clinton 39 Gladstone 12.   Nate Smith wrestled at 189 and grabbed a takedown and nearfall points in the first period before pinning Bret Seger in 3:10.  Wyatt Hicks dropped his match at 215 pounds to Hunter Potier.  Hamza Rafferty was pinned by Brett Boudreau at heavyweight before Braylon Long finished the dual with a pin at 103 pounds. Braylon picked up the takedown and some nearfall points before pinning Aven Spriks in 1:22.  Final Score:  Clinton 51  Gladstone 24.  

In the State Semifinals or Final Four Clinton battled the 3 seed Alma in a great high school dual.  Clinton started off dropping the first three matches to dig themselves a hole before battling back and almost defeating Alma.  Chase Packard started the dual at 130 pounds and lost by pin to Buddy Leonard.  Coy Perry wrestled at 135 pounds and picked up a 4-1 lead going into the second period, but gave up a reversal in the second to make the score 4-3 going into the third period.  Coy made a slight mistake and lost by pin over Gianni Tripp.  Maurice Ames battled the entire match at 140 pounds fighting off his back and picking up and escape and a takedown in the second period, but came up short 11-5.  Ethan Younts got the Redwolves on the board at 145 pounds as he won close 3-0 decision over Landon Bethke.  Clinton 3 Alma 15.  Joey Preston wrestled with some emotion at 152 pounds as he earned a 12-6 win over Harrison Seeley.  Kent McCombs competed at 160 pounds as two of the top ranked wrestlers battled it out.  Kent started to pull away after a scoreless first period.  Kent was able to pick up a 13-4 major decision over Cole O'Boyle after picking up three different sets of nearfall points.  Clinton 10 Alma 15.  Jake Felts dropped his match at 171 pounds after battling for position in the first period, he fell to Jadon Marrow.  Logan Badge competed at 189 against another top ranked opponent and battled until the end but dropped a 7-5 decision to Jacob Munger.  Wyatt Hicks dropped his match to Adam Garcia at 215 pounds.  Clinton 10 Alma 30.  Then the Clinton rally started as Brandon Felts picked up a pin at heavyweight in 1:38 over Caden Adams.  Braylon Long pinned Sophia Clapp in just 19 seconds at 103 to continue to close the gap.  Clinton 22 Alma 30.  Connor Younts then wrestled a top five ranked opponent in Isaiah Mullins and picked up the opening takedown in the first period.  Connor then gave up a reversal, but was able to escape before the period ended to make the score 3-2 in favor of Connor at the end of the first period.  Mullins earned an escape in the second period but neither wrestler was able to secure a takedown in the second period.  Connor then picked up the winning escape right before time expired to win 4-3 and keep the Clinton come back alive.  Clinton 25 Alma 30.  With two matches to go Connor Busz picked up an 8-0 major decision win over Daniel Rosales after collecting two takedowns and a set of near fall points.  Clinton 29 Alma 30.  The last match of the night was at 125 pounds as Zak Shadley was faced with the number 2 ranked wrestler in the state, Fabien Fucando.  Zak made this match a war and left it all on the mat for this team.  Zak picked up the opening takedown but was reversed and gave up some nearfall points but fought it off to earn an escape before the first period ended.  The only points allowed in the second period was a reversal by Fucando. Zak gave it everything for his team and came close but lost his match.  Alma defeated Clinton 33-29 to advance to the state championship match.  This match was a great battle and a great high school championship match, by two great teams.  Clinton's season ended with a final record of 31 wins and 4 losses and their 5th final four appearance in a row.  A great year full of accomplishments.  Though we are not satisfied with the end results, there are many great memories and championships to cherish from this season.  We have the MHSAA Individual State Finals at Ford Field on Friday, March 4th and Saturday, March 5th.  Clinton has qualified 14 wrestlers to compete for an individual state championship at their perspective weight classes.  We have 10 boys and 4 girls that will be competing this weekend.  Please wish them luck as they chase their dreams of an individual championship.  These are the individual qualifiers:  Freshman Braylon Long at 103, Sophomore Connor Younts at 112, Junior Connor Busz at 119, Junior Zak Shadley at 125, Senior Chase Packard at 130, Sophomore Coy Perry at 135, Sophomore Maurice Ames at 140, Sophomore Joey Preston at 145, Senior Kent McCombs at 160, and Senior Logan Badge at 189.  For the girls Sophomore Faith Blackburn at 130, Freshman Raven Aldridge at135, Junior Leanne Mercier at 155, and Sophomore Jayden Rozsa at 170.  Good luck to all.