Clarkston won its sixth straight Oakland County Wrestling Championship on Saturday, using a come-from-behind effort to top Lake Orion and relegate the Dragons to second place once again.
The Wolves 291 points were just 21.5 better than Lake Orion’s total over the two days of competition. Oxford finished third with 217 points.
‘It’s disappointing because we were right there until the end,? said Lake Orion Coach Doug Kline.
The Dragons had a slim lead on the Wolves heading into Saturday’s matches.
Friday’s action was split among two sites (South Lyon and Clarkston) and the two rivals did not meet-up until the final day of action at Clarkston.
The Dragons sent ten wrestlers into medal contention, but only four came away with wins in the final matches of the day.
‘They’re ready, they just didn’t get the job done,? Kline said. ‘It seems like we get this close. We can’t get over the hump.?
In spite of the disappointing finish, Kline found a silver lining when addressing his team.
‘You can’t lose in the finals if you’re not there,? he told them. ‘That’s (Clarkston) who we’ve got to beat. That’s the standard bearer.?
The Dragons had one first-place finisher in the meet, in 152-pounder Jake Varilek.
Varilek went 5-0 on the weekend, scoring a technical fall over Ortonville Brandon’s Andrew Hyde in the title match. The Lake Orion junior is now 18-1 on the season.
?(This is) another big tournament,? he said. ‘It’s a confidence booster.?
The Dragons had three second place finishers in Josh Romeo (112 pounds), A.J. Pratt (130 pounds), and Allen Sigler (160 pounds).
Sigler’s loss in the title match was a critical one, as Clarkston’s Bryant Craft scored a one-point escape in the final minute to win 1-0.
Spenser Grzadzinski (103 pounds) and Evan Gros (189 pounds) won their third place matches for the Dragons, with teammates Jake Arnold (140 pounds), Justin Ruddy (125 pounds) and Morgan Maciejewski (171 pounds) finishing fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Doug Mack took eighth place at 119 pounds to round out the Lake Orion medalists.
‘At least this year we made a good run of it and scared them,? Kline said of the Dragons? ongoing battle with Clarkston. ‘The bad news is they know we’re here.?
Lake Orion and Clarkston will meet up at least two more times this season, once in the OAA I regular season, and again at the league tournament.
‘We still have to wrestle hard, (we) can’t let it go to our heads,? Varilek said.
The team doesn’t compete again until the new year, but Kline plans on attending the Clarkston/Davison meet on Thursday for scouting purposes.
Clarkston News staff writer Paul Kampe contributed to this story.