The Clinton Wrestling Team traveled to Westland John Glenn for their opening tournament of the year and placed third overall in the 10 team dual tournament.  Clinton is currently ranked 5th in the state in division 3 and competed against a division 1 field on the day.  Opening the day Clinton defeated Rochester 59-16 with a dominant opening match for the Redwolves.  Nate Arntz opened the day with a pin at 106 pounds.  Zach Taylor followed that up with a pin of his own at 113 pounds.  Another Freshman Joe Hodges earned a quick pin at 120 pounds in just 37 seconds.  Junior Braylon Long racked up the points in a 16-0 technical fall at 126 pounds.  Connor Younts earned the pin at 132 pounds.  Maurice Ames made it back to back pins for the redwolves at 138 pounds.  Then senior Dylan Badge made it three pins a row at 144 pounds.  AJ Johnson dropped his match 5-13 at 150 pounds.   Cliff Jones picked up a first period fall at 157 pounds and Bryce Randolph picked up a forfeit win at 165.  John Keibler dropped his match at 175 pounds as did Will Hawkins at 190 by decision 9-12.  Senior Wyatt Hicks lost a closely contested match at 215 pounds 4-7 before Hamza Rafferty finished the match with a redwolf pin at heavyweight.  

In round two Clinton competed against Waterford Kettering and came away with a dominant win 53-20.  Zach Taylor started the match off at 113 and earned his second pin of the day.  Joe Hodges lost at 120 pounds, before Braylon Long’s pin put the redwolves back on top 12-6 for the dual.  Connor Younts scored 17 points in his match at 132 pounds to earn a technical fall 17-2 win.  Maurice Ames grabbed his second pin of the day at 138 pounds after picking up three takedowns and a couple sets of back points.  Dylan Badge earned another pin at 144 and his second on the day.  AJ Johnson lost his match at 150 pounds.  Cliff Jones came out on top of a barn burner of a match and won 4-2 at 157 pounds.  Bryce Randolph picked up a first period pin at 165 to get his day going.  Landon Lakatos showed some grit as he lost at 175 pounds but through his battle shaved the team some points.  Will Hawkins dropped his match by technical fall 1-16 at 190.  Wyatt Hicks got on track with a pin at 215 pounds in the first period.  Hamza Rafferty picked up a forfeit win at Heavyweight, and Freshman Hudson Miller earned a scrappy win at 106 pounds, winning 14-7 to close the dual.  

In round three Clinton wrestled host John Glenn who is currently ranked 8th in division one and Clinton fell just short 33-34.  This match Joe Hodges opened the wrestling at 120 pounds and dropped his match.  But Clinton would win four in a row to jump out to a commanding lead, starting with Braylon Long at 126 pounds getting the pin.  Connor Younts followed that up with a pin of his own at 132 pounds.  Maurice Ames grabbed his third pin of the day at 138 pounds and Dylan Badge won a gutsy match in overtime at 144.  Badge was tied at 8-8 going into overtime and got the takedown to secure the win.  AJ Johnson dropped his match at 150 pounds and Cliff Jones had a one point lead with seconds left in his match at 157 pounds and gave up a last second takedown to lose 4-5.  Bryce Randolph earned an 8-3 win at 165 pounds over his state ranked opponent.  Landon Lakatos again showed some grit and saved the team some bonus points and dropped his match 5-16.  Will Hawkins and Wyatt Hicks lost their matches at 190 and 215 pounds. Hamza Rafferty won his match at heavyweight in dramatic fashion as he won in double overtime with an escape to win it 5-4.  Nate Arntz dropped a close match 6-9 at 106 pounds before Zach Taylor finished the dual with a pin at 113 pounds.

In round four Clinton faced division 1 Macomb Dakota who is ranked 3rd in the state and gave them everything they wanted, with the team score 33-36 going into the finals match.  Clinton lost the dual 42-33 but a couple of missed opportunities was the difference in the dual.  Bryalon Long started this dual off at 126 pounds with a first period pin.  Connor Younts picked up a pin in the third period at 132 pounds.  At 138 pounds Maurice Ames dropped a close match to another state ranked opponent 6-7.  Dylan Badge dropped his match 0-6 at 144 pounds, as did AJ Johnson at 150 pounds.  Cliff Jones got Clinton back on track with a 10-5 win at 157 pounds.  Bryce Randolph pinned his state ranked opponent at 165 pounds.  John Keibler was given the nod at 175 pounds and dropped his match, as did Will Hawkins at 190 pounds.  Wyatt Hicks and Hamza Rafferty both lost their matches at 215 and heavyweight.  Nate Arntz put Clinton back in the win column with a pin at 106 pounds.  Clinton dropped the final two matches at 113 with Hudson Miller and at 120 with Zach Hodges. 

In the final match of the day Clinton defeated Southgate Anderson 60-18.  Earning wins during by pin were: Connor Younts at 132, Maurice Ames at 138, Dylan Badge at 144, Cliff Jones at 157, Bryce Randolph at 165, Wyatt Hicks at 215, Hamza Rafferty at Hwt, Nate Arntz at 106, and Brylon Long at 126.  Other winners were Joe Hodges by major decision 13-4 at 120 and Zach Taylor 9-7 at 113.  Next the Redwolves travel to Mason High School on Wednesday, Dec. 13th to compete against Portland and Haslett at 5:30.  On Saturday the boys travel to Hartland High School for an individual tournament starting at 9am.