Pinning the competition

Grapplers celebrated victory after two meets this week.
Grapplers won over Troy-Athens 56-12 and Lake Orion 34-26 in their Double Dual at Avondale on Wednesday.
Alex Popp set the tone for the meet. Popp was the first to compete with Troy Athens and pinned his opponent two minutes into the first period for the 135 weight class.
Jeff Sloney (103), Zak Roberson (112), Ty Foltz (119) , and Matt Deitz (125) continued the trend pinning their Troy-Athens opponents in their first period.
Clarkston continued to rule over Troy-Athens, scoring points and pinning their competitors.
‘We definitely wrestled better. It’s always nice to win. But we have to get our mind set the right way, we should be fine,? said Coach Joe DeGain.
‘This is a great group of kids. This is a great group of wrestlers, very talented wrestlers. We need to really wrestle and their nose into things and bang things out. Once our guys decide to do that, they’re going to be okay. It comes in spurts, right now. We need to make sure it’s there for all six minutes of the match.?
In their match against Lake Orion, the Dragons were a fierce competition.
‘Matt Dietz came through against Lake Orion with a pin that won the match,? said DeGain.
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At the Herman Wilkinson Classic on Saturday, Clarkston took second place with a score of 196. Eaton Rapids won the competition with 211 points.
‘The guys have been doing great,? said Coach Joe DeGain.
‘We won matches we were suppose to and we won matches we were the underdogs in.?
Eleven wrestlers placed in the their weight class.
Alex Popp (135) and Adam Lauzen (171) took first place in the competition.
In second place were Zak Roberson (112), Erik Butterfield (160), and Bryant Craft (189).
Jeff Sloney (103), Matt Deitz (125) and Sloan Hadsall (215) placed in third place.
Matt Vandermeer (152) placed in fourth, Evan King (145) placed in fifth, and Chris Burkhart (140) placed in seventh.
Fifteen schools competed in the Herman Wilkinson Classic in Howell.
On Wednesday, the Wolves will host a Double Dual. They will compete against Avondale and Waterford-Kettering. The competition begins 5:30 p.m.
On Friday, they will compete against Detroit Central Catholic High School at home. The competition begins at 5:30 p.m.