By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
 Oxford — Clarkston Varsity Wrestling finished the two-day Oakland County Tournament in second place with eight athletes finishing in the top eight on Saturday.
Preston LeFevre finished as champion in the 113-pound weight class with a 15-0 technical fall over Oxford’s Dominic Benjamin.
“He had two pins and two technical falls to win the title,” said Brian Gibbs, head coach, adding the win over Oxford sealed the second place in the tournament over the Wildcats by one point. “We had a lot of points scored. I thought we did well.”

Archer Anderson (120), Cayden Strong (150) and Brock Trevino (190) finished in second place.
“Brock was looking good,” Gibbs said. “He got caught in the finals against a good kid from South Lyon but he was looking good all weekend. Cayden looked good in 150. He came up short in the finals against Luke Johnson from Oxford. Then, Archer looking good all weekend then wrestling a really tough former state champion from Pontiac, Adam Polk. He fell short there but he wrestled well all weekend as well.”
Nate Carter finished in fourth place in the 132-pound weight class with a loss to South Lyon’s Aiden Meyers
Brady Vogt (126) finished in fifth place with a fall over Avi Shah from Troy.
Ethan LeFevre (157) and Camden Neumann (285) finished in seventh place. Ethan won with a pin against Detroit Catholic Central’s AJ Nicosia. Neumann won by forfeit over Stoney Creek’s Roman Lambert.The Wolves finished the first day of the tournament with 12 wrestlers advancing to the next day after they competed on Friday at home.
Gibbs added just like other teams at the county team they were battling adversity with some of their starters and seniors out.
“We were one of the only teams to send out a full team to the county tournament,” he said. “We played the hand we were dealt and had every opportunity to win it and ended up falling short.”
The top ten teams out of 35 were South Lyon in first place with 226.5 points; Clarkston, second, 217.5; Oxford, third, 216.5; Waterford Kettering, fourth, 172.5; Lake Orion, fifth, 165.5; St. Mary Preparatory, sixth, 153; Stoney Creek, seventh, 136.5; Rochester Adams and Brother Rice tied at eighth, 136; and Holly, tenth, 135.
The Wolves finished the first day of the tournament with 12 wrestlers advancing to the next day after they competed on Friday at home.
The Wolves had three wrestlers finish in the top three at the Clinton Girls tournament. Freshman Paisley DeNault finished as champion in the 130-pound weight class.
“I’m happy with her,” said Gibbs. “It was her first time wrestling this year, but she’s definitely a proven wrestler on the national scene.”
Senior Lillian Francy (105) and freshman Molly Labate (115) finished in third place in their weight classes.
“Molly’s only loss was to a top-ranked girl in the state,” Gibbs said. “It was her first time wrestling ever so definitely proud of her. She went 3-2. Lillian is a state qualifier returner. She went 3-1. I am definitely happy with how they performed.”
The Wolves head to the Medina Invitational in Ohio on Wednesday, Dec. 28.
“The first month and a half months of the season is individual based,” said Gibbs. “We have a lot of individual tournaments. It’s good for our individuals to go out and get the ranking wins for later on down the road.
“It’s a tough schedule. We go down to Ohio for the Medina tournament which will be 45-50 Ohio schools right after Christmas. Then, we come back up and wrestle at the Detroit Catholic Central Invitational which is probably the toughest in the state of Michigan tournament. We are just gearing up our individuals and getting them ready for that.”
The Wolves host the Clarkston Duals on Saturday, Jan. 14.
“We are bringing in eight teams who are all the top in their respected division,” Gibbs said. “It should be a really good day.”

  Oakland County, Wrestling