Senior Matt Vandermeer and junior Scott Devos left their mark on the mats Friday night going undefeated during the OAA Red Championship at Oxford High School.
Vandermeer took the first place finish in his 171-pound weight class with a defeat over Lake Orion’s Adam Gros, 9-3, putting his record this season at 40-3.
Devos (285) pinned Troy Athens John Daniel with 1:01 left in the second period to take the championship.
Clarkston finished third overall in the league with 163.5 points.
Oxford, the meet host, took bragging rights and their first OAA league title with 266 points. Rochester finished in second, 168.5, Rochester Adams in fourth, 125.5, and Avondale in fifth, 89.
“We could have easily finished in second,” said Clarkston Varsity Wrestling Coach Andy Auten. “But those are both good teams that finished ahead of us. We had about three guys who I thought would make the finals that didn’t.”
Mike Henige (160) and Ethan Frick (189) finished in second place and went 2-1 for the night.
Henige beat West Bloomfield’s Pat Russell and Rochester’s Cody DeVoe before losing to Oxford’ Ben Ralston on a technical fall, 20-5.
Frick beat Oxford’s Matt Anger and Avondale’s James McCoury before a loss to Mitch Ladd from Lake Orion, 13-6.
“Some of the guys did great,” said Auten. “Ethan started his day by beating first seed Anger – a guy he has lost to twice this season.”
Jeff Sloney (130), Nick Vandermeer (135) and Ty Foltz (140) took third place and went 3-1 for the meet.
Sloney beat Ryan Howcraft from Rochester Adams in a major decision, 12-0. Vandermeer beat Grant Sharkey from Avondale, 11-0 while Foltz had a 11-4 win over Oxford’s Wesley Maskill.
Brett Foltz (103), Cameron Wilkie (119) and Mitch Manns (215) finished fourth and were 1-2 for the day.
Clarkston finished 4-3 in the OAA Red.
The boys head to MHSAA Wrestling Districts this week. They face off against Waterford Kettering on Thursday for the Team District meet.
“Kettering won their league so we need to wrestle well in order to beat them,? said Auten. “If Ty is ready to go then we are in good shape – healthy and at the weights we need to be. He may have been hurt in the finals.”
“Kettering has improved over the season since we wrestled them in early December,” added Pete Vandermeer, parent and Clarkston Wrestling enthusiast. “They are definitely going to come as hard as possible at us due to hosting and being the first match. They want to revenge the loss earlier at our place and they are well coached. I am sure they have made all their adjustments to throw the best game at us.”
The meet against the Captains begins at 5:30 p.m. at Waterford Kettering High School.
The winner wrestles Waterford Mott.
The boys head to Walled Lake Central on Saturday morning for their Individual District meet.
They will compete against Lake Orion, Rochester Adams, Pontiac, West Bloomfield, Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott, Troy, Walled Lake Central, Walled Lake Western, Walled Lake Northern, North Farmington, Hartland, Milford and White Lake.
The top four wrestlers for each weight class moves on to the regional meet next week.