By John Raffel
Corrrespondent
CLARE — Clare’s wrestling team has qualified five individuals to the Division 3 state individual wrestling finals on Feb. 28 and March 1 at Detroit’s Ford Field.
The five placed in the top four of their individual weight classes in the Division 3 regional on Saturday.
Bryson Hernandez at 144 pounds led the way with a first-place effort. He beat Peyton Black of Negaunee 18-3 in the quarterfinals, decisioned Bruyn Hauger of Boyne City in the semifinals 16-12 and beat Daniel Rosales of Alma 8-1 in the finals.
Devin Wheeler at 120 pounds took second place. He beat Evan Fradette of Cheboygan 18-1 in the quarterfinals, blanked Owen Lewicki of Graying 8-0 in the semifinals and lost 10-9 to Ethan Palmateer of Gladden in the finals.
Logan Christensen also took second place for Clare. He beat Conner Britton of Gladstone 16-0 in the quarterfinals and pinned Reed Degroot in the semifinals in 1:58. He lost 9-6 to Hunter Sanford of Mason County Central in the title match.
Collin Hewitt at 150 pounds took third place. He lost his first match 5-3 to Tyler Bray of Kingsford. Then he won three straight to take third. He beat Chase Swanson of Cheboygan 15-l, decisioned Gabe Wolverton of Reed City 8-6 and beat Bray in a rematch, 6-5.
Ryan Moreno took third place at 132. He beat Thomas Gilette of Ogemaw Heights 15-0, lost to Tegan Ray of Kingsford 9-4, decisioned Wyatt Forvilly of Gladstone in 34 seconds and pinned Halen Boos of Hart in 1:18.
