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WRESTLING: Nationally-ranked Davison ends Clarkston’s season in state quarterfinals

Dan Stickradt | February 28, 2020 | Comments (0)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

KALAMAZOO — Call it the luck of the draw, or shall we say seed in this case.

For the second straight campaign, seventh-seeded Clarkston saw its team season come to an end against a highly-touted opponent in a 54-3 setback against No. 2 Davison in the Division 1 team state quarterfinals at Wings Arena.

Last season, Clarkston lost to top-ranked and eventual state champion Novi Detroit Catholic Central in the quarterfinals (63-6).

To put things in perspective, Catholic Central not only has the No. 1 seed this year and Davison the second seed, but CC is ranked fifth nationally and Davison is 12th in the nation. State semifinalist Brighton is also ranked in the Top 50 nationally.

“And we actually wrestled very hard today,” noted third-year Clarkston head coach Joe Wood, a 2003 Clarkston graduate who is in his third season with the Wolves after one year as the head coach at Troy and six years as an assistant at league rival Oxford.

“We had six matches where we lost by three points or less,” added Wood. “It’s not like we got pinned every time out there. We won just one match, but several matches were very close.”

Clarkston, which finished the regular season ranked eighth in the final coaches poll and was both the OAA Red Division and Oakland County Championships runners-up this season, actually took a 3-0 lead when Jacob Jones (285) posted a 3-1 decision over Davison’s Tyler Jelinek.

Davison (19-2) came back and won five of the next six matches only by decision with one technical fall in the mix against the Wolves (21-5), good for a 20-3 advantage by the mid-point of the meet.

The Cardinals pulled away steadily after that point, recording three technical falls, two pins, one major decision and one decision over the final seven matches.

“It was close halfway through, but Davison is very good there in the upper weights. They really pulled away from us,” said Wood. “We kept it close for a while.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished the past couple of years. We are headed in the right direction,” added Wood, who also had 10 regional qualifiers and seven state qualifiers on his roster this season.

There were also five seniors who were regular starters this season in dual matches.

While Clarkston has won 18 straight district titles, the Wolves went through a regional title drought of 12 years before winning back-to-back regional crowns in 2019 and 2020. Previously, Clarkston last reached the state tournament back in 2007, when the Wolves fell short in the state semifinals.

Clarkston last won a state title in wrestling in 1991, while the Wolves were the state runner-up in 1995. The program also lost in the semifinals or quarterfinals several times.

“We have goals to try to make it here every year, and hopefully one day have the team to win it. That’s what we’re building towards,” noted Wood. “It’s been a while insect we’ve been to that point. We hope to be there again.”

MHSAA DIVISION 1 STATE QUARTERFINALS

DAVISON 54, CLARKSTON 3

(Feb. 28 at Wings Arena)

285: Jacob Jones (C) d. Tyler Jelinek 3-1; 103: Aden Williams (D) d. Dru Martin 8-6; 112: Caden Horwath (D) tech. fall Auggie Anderson 19-3; 119: Cameron Freeman (D) d. Darian Shelton 4-2; 125: Andrew Chambal (D) d. Ashton Anderson 5-4; 130: Kyle White (D) d. Nicholas Franco 10-7; 135: Jaron Wilson (D) d. Owen Masters 5-2; 140: Evan Herriman (D) maj. dec. Presley Pearce 11-2; 145: James Johnston (D) tech. fall Connor Ulrich 16-0; 152: Josh Barr (D) p. Grady Castle 3:55; 160: Jay Nivison (D) tech. fall Hayden Payne 18-2; 171: Alex Faundo (D) tech. fall Collin Trevino 26-10; 189: Max Callahan (D) d. Frank Davis 4-2; 215: Jimmy Colley (D) p. Drew Stark 3:23.