McClain wins 100th match and 150 lb. title

By Cort Reynolds

ELMORE__The Ada High School boys wrestling team finished a solid 10th at the 27-school Woodmore Invitational last Friday and Saturday, January 5-6.

Bulldog senior Clayton McClain won the 150 lbs. bracket crown and, in his third match of the day, became the third Ada grappler to record 100 career wins.

“One hundred wins is a major milestone in wrestling,” said Ada head coach Eric Perkins. “If not for the pandemic limiting matches his freshman year, Clayton would have been there a long time ago.”

McClain went a perfect 7-0 at the two-day event.

“He controlled every moment of every match he wrestled up to the championship,” said Perkins. “In that finals match, he gave up an early takedown and a couple near fall points to fall behind 4-0. 

“Against a high-level wrestler (Caiden Maze) that is a pretty big hole to be in,” he continued. “He didn't panic, he wrestled his match from that point forward and not only came back to win, but from the second period to the very end of the third he outscored his opponent 10-1 on his way to a 13-8 decision.

“This was against someone who beat him twice at this tournament a year ago,” he added.

Liam Vieira finished second in the 144 lbs. bracket, authoring a 6-1 record with six pins. He lost by pin in the title bout to defending state champion Haiden Orr of Van Buren.

“Liam wrestled well,” said Perkins. “When he is at his best, he is a challenge for even some of the best wrestlers. He controlled every match he wrestled up to the championship match, where he wrestled a defending state champion and didn't look at all out of place in that spot.”

Landon Simon went 4-3 with four pins to finish fifth in the 215 lbs. division.

Silas Riblet tied for seventh place in the 113 lbs. bracket with a record of 3-3 at the event.

Wyatt Fisher fashioned a 4-4 mark in the 132 lbs. class.

“Wyatt had a really good weekend,” Perkins noted. “He has been so close to winning for most of the year and finally got his first one on Friday night. He wrestled really well on Saturday; he wrestled a lot more relaxed.”

Woodmore won the team title with 253.5 points to edge second-place Archbold (241.5). Ada scored 112.5 points.

“We had a pretty successful weekend as a team,” summed up Perkins. “Some of our more experienced wrestlers got to face some quality competition, and some of our newer guys took some steps towards success themselves. 

“It was a long weekend; we were there late Friday night with a quick turnaround and a full day of wrestling on Saturday,” he continued. “Our wrestlers did a great job of staying focused and staying ready to give a great effort every time they went out there.”

Ada wrestles at Fostoria with Otsego Wednesday evening, January 10. The Bulldogs return to the mat Saturday, January 13 at Celina at 11 a.m.