Clinton, Addison, Hudson to wrestle in team regionals
Three Lenawee County teams remain after the district round eliminated two-thirds of the area teams with Clinton, Hudson and Addison coming out with championships.
The Division 3 No. 4 ranked Redwolves faced the biggest challenge of the three to claim titles as they defeated Onsted (62-15) and a strong Madison team (55-16).
"What Madison is doing right now is awesome," Clinton coach Casey Randolph said. "We had to earn every bit of this district. We had to fight every match and that's a testament to those kids and coaching staff."
While deserving of a district title, the Trojans aren't in the regionals and Clinton is along with the Tigers and Panthers, who will face each other in the regional semifinal.
Here's a look at the team regional matchups.
Division 3 at Williamston
Clinton will head to the Lansing area where it'll meet up with host Williamston Wednesday for the semifinal.
The Redwolves enter the regional led by senior leaders in Connor Younts (132 pounds), Maurice Ames (138), Dylan Badge (144) and Wyatt Hicks (215).
"Those are program kids," Randolph said. "It's important those kids have success for staying the course."
Clinton also has a group of underclassmen who look to keep the Redwolves in the state title picture for years to come.
Junior Braylon Long (126), sophomores Cliff Jones (157), Tanner Bolton (157), Bryce Randolph (165) and John Keibler (190) and junior Hamza Rafferty (285) help fill up a solid lineup for the Redwolves that's starting to come together after injures plagued the team early on.
"Tanner Bolton had surgery during football season," Randolph said. "We didn't get him until January, so for him to come out here and battle, that win (against Madison) was huge. The toughness he showed, the mat awareness, the savvy, amazing."
On the other side of the bracket awaits either Eaton Rapids or Napoleon.
Division 4 at Addison
No. 1 Hudson will look to add another regional title to the trophy case, going for a 17th-straight regional title and appearance in the state tournament.
It'll start the regional against an old rival in Addison.
The Panthers won a district title by defeating Hanover Horton, 45-33. Addison trailed 27-21 with five matches to go before getting a pinfall by Joe Clark (175) after three-straight voids.
Addison has been on the rebuild for a few years, but the Panthers are growing with seven 20-win wrestlers, six of which are underclassmen.
Freshman Mike Beard (126), sophomore Iverson Espinoza-Rojo (126), junior Caleb Potts (132), junior James Randles (144), junior Byron Creech (165) and junior Joe Clark (175) will look to take on the veteran Tigers along with senior Jaxon Whittemore (165).
Hudson is led by seniors Cole Marry (150), Coy Perry (157), Austin Marry (165), Logan Ryan (190) and Bradley Bertram (190) while junior Cameron Miller (285), Jacob Pickford (175), Julien Kimling (132) and sophomore Nicholas Sorrow (126) bolster a powerful, veteran filled lineup.
The winner of the all-Lenawee semifinal will take on the winner of Leslie and Perry for a spot in the state tournament at the Wings Event Center.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Clinton, Addison and Hudson set for team wrestling regionals
