Senior Jeff Sloney faced tough opponents when he headed to Goodrich for the annual Tournament of Champs.
But he took it as a grain of salt as he took second place in his 130-pound weight class. On his way to his finish he beat Detroit Catholic Central’s Logan Marcicki, ranked fourth in Division 1, in the quarterfinal, taking him down with six seconds left in the third period.
Next, Sloney took on returning State Champion Jordan Bosma from Hesperia and ranked first in the Division 4 for 135-pound. He beat him 5-3 in overtime.
Sloney lost to Dundee’s Joe Rendina, returning state champ, 15-2. The win put Rendina as the second four time TOC Champion.
Clarkston finished sixth for the day behind five ranked teams and had eight wrestlers place.
Matt Vandermeer also finished in second, losing to Jordon Thomas of Greenville, a returning state champ and currently ranked seventh in the nation and first in Division 2.
Vandermeer, ranked first in Division 1, kept Thomas to scoring three points on him, a large feat since he has one by pins or technical falls this season. Vandermeer lost, 3-1.
Mike Henige (160), ranked fifth in Division 1, took fourth after a loss to Detroit Catholic Central’s Andrew Ericksen, ranked seventh in Division 1, 12-2.
Scott Devos (285) also placed the fourth spot during the tournament after losing to John Marogen of Dundee, 4-2.
Cameron Wilkie (119), Nick Vandermeer (135) and Ethan Frick (189) finished in sixth.
Greg Miller (103) placed in eight in his first varsity tournament aftter losing to Addison’s Jacob Voss, ranked sixth in Division 4.
The boys beat Lapeer East on Dec. 22, winning 12 of the 14 meets, 66-9.
The wrestling team heads to Rochester on Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
“We are looking better all the time with guys changing weight classes and getting into midseason,” said Coach Andy Auten.