Playoffs inch closer

Speeding through to the upcoming Oakland Activities Association meet on Feb. 3, Clarkston did not overlook its final two league opponents of the regular season on Jan. 24.
The Wolves (21-3) defeated Rochester and West Bloomfield in the final double-dual meet of the season at Rochester Adams to maintain their undefeated league mark, 7-0.
After jumping out to a 22-0 lead in the first match behind pins from Mike Maguire (125 pounds), Alex Popp (130) and Tyler Schneider (135), Clarkston nearly let the Falcons (16-12, 2-2 OAA) back into the contest.
Nick Kaczanowski (140) scored a 7-4 decision over Erik Butterfield and Tim Pettit (145) pinned Evan King, cutting Clarkston’s lead to 22-9.
A pin from Colton Tweed (152) and a major decision won by Bryant Craft (160) stopped the run and pushed the Wolves up to a 32-9 lead.
At 189 pounds, Adam Lauzun wrestled up a weight class and pinned Tom Hart in 1:33.
Later, Layne Upcott pinned Kory Milmine in 1:03 at 215 pounds.
Clarkston assistant coach Derek Moscovic said the Wolves moved Lauzun up in weight to balance the competition the Falcons brought at the higher weight classes.
‘We bumped him up to try and get some of their tougher guys who wrestle 189 (pounds),? Moscovic said.
‘He wrestles well at any weight class.?
The Falcons picked up points down the stretch with decisions at 171 pounds and 112 pounds and Dave Sexton pinned Steve Cooper (275) at 1:27, but Clarkston held on for a 47-21 victory.
‘Our guys never gave up, they fought hard and they were always in the matches,? Rochester coach Frank Lafferty said.
‘They know they can’t stop wrestling until the end of the match or the end of the period.?
The experience against a highly regarded Clarkston team will help his relatively young team, Lafferty said.
‘They learned they can wrestle with anybody tonight.?
The Wolves defeated West Bloomfield handily in the second match of the night, 57-3. Clarkston opened with a 17-0 lead behind decisions from Maguire, Popp, Schneider and Butterfield’s pin of Devin Odabachian.
The Lakers? only points came when Sam Davenport (145) took a 7-3 decision over King.
Craft pinned Shane O’Neill at 2:49 and Cooper bounced back to pin Jeremy Zickerman at 1:26.
Lauzun, county champion at 171 pounds, pulled out a close 4-2 decision against Zoran Lazar, who was second only to Wayne Sanders of Rochester Adams at 189 pounds at the Oakland County meet in December.
‘That was an exciting win for Adam, he’s never beaten that guy before and Adam’s won a couple good, big matches for himself this year’the past couple times he’s lost a couple one-point decisions and it was nice for him to get that monkey off his back in a close decision,? Clarkston coach Joe DeGain said.
Kevin Judd (171), wrestling in Lauzun’s usual weight class, earned his second victory of the season, a 6-5 decision over Chris Heald.
‘He’s doing a good job of stepping in for us helping out where we need him,? DeGain said.
On Feb. 3, Clarkston travels to the county dual tournament in Roseville. One week later, the Wolves go to the OAA league meet at Lake Orion High School. Their closest competition should come from the Dragons themselves, a team Clarkston defeated 36-23 earlier in the season.
‘We should be in good shape, we’ve won all the league (dual) meets. The next two-and-a-half weeks, we’re going to spend a lot of time (with) really hard conditioning and tough practices and we’ll run that up until the league meet,? DeGain said.
‘Leagues are important, it’s fun, but the real thing to prepare for is districts, regionals and states,? DeGain said.
DeGain sees room for growth before the playoffs.
‘We’re wrestling well and it was good because we won, but we’re still seeing some areas we can improve on,? he said.