Nate Vandermeer (112), Bret Foltz (119), Nick Vandermeer (160), Adam Myers (215) and Luis Reyes (285) eased the Wolves into third place at the Manning Vieau Invite in Brighton on Saturday.
All five were undefeated for the day going undefeated in their five matches.
“Overall we are looking better,” said Clarkston Varsity Wrestling Coach Derek Moscovic. “We have guys improving every day not only conditioning wise but with their technique. It is definitely an improvement when you wrestle that kind of competition and come out with five guys undefeated – that’s a good day.”
Clarkston finished with four wins over Holly, 40-30; Brighton “B” team, 73-0: Novi 50-13; and Battle Creek Lakeview, 37-23.
“It was a good performance,” said Moscovic. “We wrestled some good teams. We had a couple of guys out of the lineup – Chris Calvano and Grant Ulrich – and we were successful. We needed guys to step up, and they did.”
He noted Josh Cohoon stepped into the lineup and ended up getting a pin against Holly and pushed the Wolves ahead of Holly for the win.
Another wrestler stepping into the lineup was freshman Nolan Eriksen.
“He did a good job for us and ended up getting a few wins,” Moscovic added.
They lost to Macomb Dakota, 37-30.
“They are ranked a little bit ahead of us, and they are a really good team,” Moscovic said.
The Wolves tied for fifth place with Huron with 100 points in the Tournament of Champs in Goodrich, Dec. 29.
“For that kind of level, missing two guys and taking fifth it shows what kind of team we are becoming,” Moscovic added.
Nick Vandermeer was undefeated for the day in the 152-pound weight class. He beat St. John’s Brant Schafer, a returning state champion and ranked in first in Class B, in the semifinals. Vandermeer came back from a 7-1 deficit to win 9-7 after posting two points in the overtime period.
He continued with a win over another state champion, Addison’s Jared Bruner, 7-4, to win the championship. He received an Honorable Mention for Outstanding Wrestler for his success.
Calvano (189) placed in second after a 7-4 loss to St. John’s Payne Hayden, who is ranked 12th in the nation and is the only wrestler to beat Calvano this season and had done it twice by only a few points. Calvano finished the tournament with a 3-1 record.
Myers went 3-2 for the day taking second place after a 3-0 loss to St. John’s Blake Cooper, 4-3.
Cameron Wilkie (125) took sixth place after a loss to Birch Run’s Adam Bishop, going 2-2 for the day.
Mitchell Nelson (103), Foltz, Jake Dionne (135), Tyler Slating (140), and Reyes finished the day in seventh place when wins over their opponents in the last round.
“We had a lot of guys who got some tough matches in the first round and lost but came back to place,” said Moscovic. “I was proud of them. It is a tough tournament because we were wrestling against Class D and C teams and we don’t see them a lot.”
The boys head to Farmington Hills Harrison on Wednesday for a dual against Harrison and Lake Orion.
They head to Novi on Saturday for the Detroit Catholic Central Super Duals.
“It is one of the toughest tournaments in the state,” said Moscovic. “It is extremely competitive nationally. We are going to have our hands full. I think we can compete.”
The tournament has top-ranked teams from Michigan as well as Ohio and Illinois.
“We can do well,” added Moscovic as they get ready to see some of the teams including Bedford and Richmond. “In order to beat those teams we will have to wrestle well up and down the lineup.”