BY JEFF PATRUS
Clarkston News Staff Writer

It was a good night for the Clarkston swimming team in general, and Greyson LaHousse and Nick Riegel in particular.
The Wolves earned a key league victory with a 102-84 win against host Royal Oak Dondero Thursday. In that meet, LaHousse and Riegel set new school records.
LaHousse triumphed in the diving event with a score of 220 points, while Riegel won the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:23.
The Wolves earned six other first place finishes on their way to the win. The 200 yard medley relay team of Riegel, Nick Curdy, Ryan Kurrle and Louis Seaman finished with a time of 1:55.17, while Nick Oldenburg took the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 2:05.18.
Kurrle also triumphed individually, winning the 100 yard flystroke with a time of 1:07, while the 200 yard freestyle relay team of Seaman, Oldenburg, Jeff Driscoll and Curdy won with a time of 1:44.03.
Rounding out the list of Clarkston winners was Derek LaHousse in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:05, and Seaman in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:14.48.
Two days earlier, the Wolves could not settle the issue with visiting West Bloomfield, as the teams finished tied at 93 Jan. 14.
A scoring question came up in the meet’s sixth event, the 100 yard butterfly. Although Clarkston’s Keith Voorheis finished with the fourth-best time (1:07.51) and West Bloomfield’s John Essad the fifth-best time (1:07.74), the official ruled Essad the fourth-place finisher and Voorheis the fifth-place finisher, by virtue of a timing error.
“The official saw it differently than the clock,” Clarkston coach Kenwyn Chock said. “We have to go by what the official says.”
Had the original times held up, West Bloomfield would have led Clarkston by only two points, 48-46. Instead, the Lakers held a 49-45 advantage after that event. In addition, the Wolves would have ultimately won the meet 94-92 instead of finishing in a tie with the Lakers.
The Wolves took the early 8-6 lead in the 200 yard medley relay, as the team of Troy Quantz, Jeff Driscoll, Derek LaHousse and Dan Reed won that event with a time of 1:49.97.
The Lakers answered with a win in the 200 yard freestyle to take a 16-14 lead, as West Bloomfield’s Donald Matthews set a pool record in that event with a time of 1:55.66.
West Bloomfield continued to hold onto their lead, capturing the 200 yard individual medley and the 50 yard freestyle to take a 35-27 lead. However, the Wolves cut into the Laker lead in the diving event, as Greyson LaHousse and Bobby Johnson took the first two spots with scores of 173.65 and 155.65, respectively, cutting the Laker lead to 41-37.
From there, West Bloomfield’s Joe LaPalme finished first in the 100 yard butterfly, while Clarkston’s Nick Riegel and Derek LaHousse finished second and third, as the Lakers took the 49-45 advantage.
The Lakers would also triumph in the 100 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle to increase their lead to 68-58.
However, the Wolves would make their move in the 200 yard freestyle relay, as the team of Derek LaHousse, Reed, Nick Riegel and Ryan Kurrle took first with a time of 1:36.79, trimming the Lakers’ lead to 74-66.
Clarkston then took three of the top four places in the 100 yard backstroke, as Troy Quantz finished first, Nick Oldenburg third and Evan Schneider fourth, leaving the Lakers with only a 79-77 lead.
In the next event, the 100 yard breaststroke, the Wolves took the lead for the first time since the opening event. Jeff Driscoll won that event with a time of 1:10.42, while Nick Curdy took second with a time of 1:10.77 and Mike Nelson fourth with a time of 1:13:15, giving the Wolves an 89-83 lead with only the 400 yard freestyle relay remaining.
However, the Lakers’ team of Matt Bouner, Joe LaPalme, Lawrence Lee and Donald Matthews finished ahead of the Wolves’ team of Nick Riegel, Kurrle, Quantz and Louis Seaman for first place in the relay. The Lakers also placed the team of Will Ebert, James Hemberg, Eric Matthews and Ken Tang in third, giving them the two points necessary to tie Clarkston.
Clarkston returned to action with a visit Tuesday to Troy Athens. They return home for a Thursday meet with Farmington Hills Harrison, beginning at 6:30 p.m.