Clare’s wrestling team lost 46-30 to Gladwin in dual match action on Thursday.
Down 12-0, Zach Betzer wrestled at 152 pounds against Owen Ritchie, but was pinned in the second period to put Gladwin up, 18-0. Logan Emery put the first points on the board for Clare at 160 after pinning Demetri Trice in the 2nd period. Eric Litke wrestled a tough match at 171 pounds but lost 14-4. Brandon Ayris pinned Tristan Mitchell at 189 pounds, and Brenden Hensley picked up six by void for Clare at 215 to make it 22-18. At heavyweight Bob Green of Clare was pinned by Nick Ritchie to tack on another six for the flying G’s. After a double void at 103, the hosts got two pins to put Gladwin ahead 40-18. Antonio Bastuba put another six on the board for Clare to bring the Pioneers within 10, 40-30. Six more points picked up for Gladwin by void at 140 ended the match.
“This was a really big night for our wrestling team, we had the table set to beat Gladwin and make a run at contending for the Jack Pine Conference title this year,” said Clare coach Kyle McKay. “Unfortunately, we dumped a couple matches that should have been definite wins for our guys, and it was just something that we were unable to recover from. Gladwin came out to wrestle and they got the job done.”