Saline Wrestling Second at Orange and Blue Classic

Saline delivered a strong, balanced performance Saturday at the Orange and Blue Classic in Lincoln Park, finishing second overall with 206.5 points, just behind champion Southgate Anderson’s 211.0 in a tightly contested team race that came down to the final rounds.

The Hornets were powered by a pair of individual champions in Brice LaFleur at 120 pounds and Jericho Powe at 285. LaFleur was dominant throughout the day, going 4-0 with four falls, including pins in the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship bout. Powe matched that effort at heavyweight, also recording four falls, capped by a first-place pin over Southgate Anderson’s Johnny Pardo. Each champion accounted for 30 team points.

Saline added two third-place finishes from Jacob Clauser at 157 and Levi Choby at 175. Clauser bounced back from a semifinal loss to earn third with a pin in the placement match, while Choby fought through the consolation bracket and closed his tournament with a decision victory in the third-place bout.

Depth across the lineup proved critical as several Hornets added key placement and bonus points. Hunter Cole placed fifth at 126, while Max Bunton at 106 and Griffin Backus at 215 also finished fifth. Brady Wallen earned a sixth-place finish at 150, and Graham Nadig placed seventh at 190.

Additional points came from Bennett DeGrand at 138, Brandt Shank at 138 and Landen Parker at 144 as Saline consistently advanced wrestlers deep into the brackets and remained in the title chase throughout the day.

The Hornets took down Chelsea in a SEC battle 39-33 Thursday night.

The match came down to the final match of the night when Jericho Powe defeated Caleb Fitch with a major decision in a battle of powerful heavyweights.

Chelsea led the match 33-32, when Griffin Backus pulled out a 7-6 win at 215 to put the Hornets up 35-33 with one match to go.

The winner of the heavyweight battle would win the match, and it was Powe and the Hornets that came out on top.

Picking up wins for Saline were Max Bunton, Brice LaFleur, Anthony James, Jacob Clauser, Brody Albelo, Levi Choby, Backus, and Powe.

Wins for Chelsea went to Hunter Murphy, Max Collins, Hunter Burk, Matthew Kennedy, and Tanner Linde.