BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
It was a busy week going into the postseason for Clarkston Varsity Wrestling as they claimed their 15th consecutive district championship and eight grapplers qualified for the individual regional meet.
“With the season we are having and the recent outbreak in schools, we are playing it as safe as possible,” said Brian Gibbs, head coach, adding they had to forfeit in some weight classes.
Clarkston won the MHSAA Division 1 Team District 105 championship with a 40-39 win over Waterford Kettering, March 17.
“Darian Shelton fighting against a pretty tough kid and only giving up a regular decision at 119 started it off,” said Gibbs.
Ashton Anderson (130) had a fall over Carter Melonio with 1:36 remaining in his match. Gabriel Gipe followed it with a fall over Camren Malone in the 140-pound weight class in the third period.
Clarkston took the next three matches with wins from Ethan Lefevre (145) with a 19-10 major decision over Sam Degain; Logan Miracle (152) fall over Citori Ruhl, 5:37; and Grady Castle (160) fall over Jack Wilson, 2:29.
The Captains took the next four weight classes with voids to close in on the score.
“We knew the math,” Gibbs said. “We knew with only a few matches left and us getting a void in the last one. We did what we had to do to play it safe.”
Brady Vogt finished the night for the Wolves with a void in the 103-pound weight class. Auggie Anderson (125) also posted a win with a void.
The Wolves started the night with a 48-25 win over Troy in the district semifinal.
A highlight from the dual was from Ashton Anderson who posted his 150th win with a pin on Christian Kress, 43 seconds into the match.
Gibbs said 150 wins is big especially with the wrestling season cut back two weeks a few years ago.
“Our season is extremely short now,” he added. “Back in the day you would see people get 50 to 60 matches a year. Now they walk into the state tournament with 30 to 35.”
Those are for a regular year, this winter season was cut down and the number of matches in a day is also cut due to COVID restrictions.
Vogt opened the match with six points with a void in 103-pound weight class.
Auggie Anderson scored his six points quickly with a pin on Adam Cooper in the first 22 seconds of the match.
Four more Wolves won their matches with pins: Lefevre (140) over Benjamin Pryde; Gipe (145) over Nathan Shi; Miracle over Adrian Janarthanan; and John Lord (160) over Nick Stromberg.
“One kid who has proven his ground the last few weeks of the year is John Lord,” Gibbs added. “He got a win tonight against Troy and he’s looking sharp. He is peaking at the right time.”

Ryan Rector (130) won his match against Evan Zagacki, 9-8; and Drew Stark (189) won his match against Max Stromberg, 6-3.
Clarkston had eight wrestlers finish in the top four at the individual district meet on Saturday. Grady Castle (152), Hayden Payne (171) and Auggie Anderson (130) finished as district champions in their weight classes.
John Lord (160), Collin Trevino (215) and Ashton Anderson (125) finished in third place as Drew Stark (171) and Gabriel Gipe (140) finished in fourth place.
Castle won his championship with a 6-1 win over Utica’s Kyle Walsh. He also had wins over Stoney Creek’s Stanley Czabanski, with a technical fall, 16-1; fall over Lake Orion’s Abe Lubbert, 52 seconds; and 7-2 win over Romeo’s Tyler Pressel, 7-2.
Payne won his championship with a 12-3 win over Romeo’s Joseph Hauler. He also had wins over Troy’s Parth Vijay with a fall, 1:02; and Rochester’s Anthony Piccirilli, 15-6.
Auggie Anderson won his championship with a fall over Waterford Kettering’s Carter Melonio, 3:37. He also had falls over Utica’s Hunter Thomson, 4:23; and Kettering’s Jacob Postle, 3:53.
Lord won the third place match with a fall over Romeo’s Carson Kohl, 2:54. He had a fall over Stoney Creek’s Jake Schuman, 3:28; and fall over Utica’s Kaiden Bayer, 15 seconds. He lost to Utica’s Gary Nilson by a technical fall, 15-0.
Trevino won his third place finish in overtime against Rochester’s Nick Terenzi, 4-2. Trevino opened the day with a 2-1 loss to Terenzi. He went on to post wins over Oxford’s Mark Peter’s, 4-2; and Rochester’s Josh Smith, 5-1.
Ashton Anderson had a fall over Utica’s Reese Willing, 2:15, to win third place. He had falls over Lake Orion’s Ryder Smith; and Utica’s Sebastian Prisbe. He lost to Utica’s Tamin Machart, in overtime, 4-2.
Stark went 2-2 for the day for his fourth place finish. He had falls over Lake Orion’s Timo Nurmi, 38 seconds; and Stoney Creek’s Sam Allen, 16 seconds. He lost to Waterford Kettering’s Drake Spencer by a pin; and Troy’s Max Stromberg by a pin.
Gipe went 3-2 for the day for fourth place. His three wins were with falls over Rochester’s Cruz Mendenz, 2:46; Waterford Kettering’s Camren Malone, 1:49; and Utica’s Ryan Yantus, 4:42. He lost to Romeo’s Connor Kohl, 6-2; and Rochester’s Sam Pizzo, 5-3
Ryan Rector (130) went 2-2 for the day. He had falls over Troy’s Christian Kress, 3:31; and Romeo’s Rylan Watson. He lost to Kettering’s Melonio by a technical fall, 19-2; and a fall to Utica’s Hunter Thomson, 1:44.
Brady Vogt (103) went 1-2 for the day. He had a fall over Lake Orion’s Chad Parker, 53 seconds. He lost to Romeo’s Owen Youngblood, fall 2:53; and Oxford’s Koen Eberhard, 5-3.
Darian Shelton (119) also went 1-2 for the day. He won his first match over Stoney Creek’s Nick Grazzitta, 5-0. He lost to Troy’s Justin Surrett, 5-0; and Rochester’s Aaron Wildrick, 4-1.
Ethan Lefevre (145) lost his first match to Romeo’s Marcus Donovan, 6-1.
The Wolves compete in the MHSAA Division 1 Wrestling Team Regional 102 on Wednesday at Clarkston. They compete against Romeo in the semifinals, 5:30 p.m. The winner moves on to the championship meet at 7 p.m.
They compete in the MHSAA Division 1 Wrestling Individual Regional 1 at Davison on Saturday.

  Clarkston Varsity Wrestling, district championship, Wrestling