BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Clarkston grapplers are heading to the MHSAA Wrestling Team State Finals after defeating Oxford and Utica Ford for the regional title on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
The Wolves secured their spot in the regional competitions this week after success in the MHSAA Wrestling Individual District and Team District meets.
Seniors Jacob Billette, Conor Donahue and Devin Trevino finished as champions of their weight classes during the individual district meet at Clarkston last Saturday.
Seniors Ethan Polick, Cole Wiegers, junior Jacob Jones, sophomores Ashton Anderson and Grady Castle finished in second place and senior Mac Hanselman finished in third place.
“They performed well,” said Joe Wood, head coach for Clarkston Varsity Wrestling. “They wrestled well. The kids who did place were on top of their game so we were happy about it. We expected them to do well.”
Donahue, in the 135-pound weight class, defeated Rochester’s Kevin Gibbons with a fall, 1:18; Utica’s Gary Nilson, 4-1; and teammate Castle in the championship round, 5-0.
Billette (145) defeated Troy’s Hunter Kelly with a fall, 1:52; Sterling Heights Stevenson’s Owen Williams by a major decision, 13-0; Waterford Kettering’s Junior Martin with fall, :43; and Oxford’s Joe Vackaro with a fall, 1:11.
Trevino (160) defeated Rochester’s Anthony Piccirilli with a fall, :48; Rochester’s Maurice Swain, Jr. with a fall, :32; Oxford’s Thomas Wandrie, 5-1; and Utica’s Nic Elliot, 6-5.
Anderson (119) defeated Utica’s Hayden Willing with a fall, 1:15; and Oxford’s Matthew Curtis, 2-0. He lost to Oxford’s Jack Thompson, 4-2.
Wiegers (125) defeated Utica’s Zach Pacheco with a fall, 1:51; Oxford’s Sal Vackaro with a fall, 4:36; and Utica’s Noah Tgiros with a fall, 2:48. He lost to Waterford Kettering’s Mark Brado by a technical fall, 16-0.
Castle (135) defeated Waterford Mott’s Brendan Donnelly with a technical fall, 17-2; and Oxford’s Nathan Call with a fall, 2:54. He lost to teammate Donahue.
Polick (140) defeated Utica’s Antonino Parrinello with a technical fall, 15-0; Waterford Kettering’s Jake Johnson with a fall, 3:16; and lost to Utica’s Zach Wells by a fall, 4:25.
Jones (215) defeated Utica’s Mark Nikollaj, 7-1; Rochester’s Timothy Anderson, 2-1; and lost to Oxford’s Austin Schlicht, 3-0.
Hanselman (130) defeated Lake Orion’s Kai Smith with fall, :52; Rochester’s Brandon Troy with a major decision, 12-2; Waterford Mott’s Nick Colon with a technical fall, 16-1; and Oxford’s Liam Hillary, 5-3.
He lost to Waterford Kettering’s TJ Daughetry, 4-1.
The boys won the MHSAA Wrestling Team District championship at Troy on Wednesday with wins over Waterford Mott and Waterford Kettering.
“We went out there and performed really well,” Wood said. “Everyone did what they were supposed to do and we were really happy with the outcome.
Clarkston won every match as they defeated Waterford Mott, 83-0.
Hanselman, Anderson, Wiegers, Jones (285), Collin Trevino (171), Hayden Payne (189), Drew Stark (215) and Gabriel Gipe (112) won their matches with a void.
They won five matches with pins. Castle had a fall over Brendan Donnelly in the 135-pound weight class, 1:31, to get the pins going. Donahue (140) was next onto the mat with a 2:33 fall over Keegan Moorer. Billette pinned Solomon Swayne, :30; Trevino pinned Masada Bartley, 1:09; and Dru Martin (103) pinned Gabe Dunn, 1:45. Polick (145) won his match with a 15-0 technical fall over Jared Frania.
The Wolves defeated Waterford Kettering, 52-21.
They won eight matches with pins made by Castle against Johnson, 2:48; Polick (145) against Martin, 2:48; Billette (152) against Allen Martin, 1:21; Trevin against Jack Wilson, 1:19; Jones (215) against Spencer Steward, 3:07; Anderson against Jacob Corcoran, 1:59; Wiegers against Teshawn Johnson, 3:37; and Dru Martin against Seth Ly, 5:30.
Frank Davis (189) won his match against Tyson Rohner by a 11-1 major decision.
Clarkston hosts the individual regional meet on Saturday with the starting weight class at 130 pounds. See more about regionals in next week’s edition.
“Regionals are going to be tough,” said Wood. “Just going to wrestle. We will see. Anything can happen. Wrestle hard.”

  District, Wrestling