Livonia Clarenceville head coach Aaron Davis is flanked by two of his assistants, Nick Elam (left) and John Clarey.

2010-11 Wrestling Preview:
Livonia Clarenceville

  This season begins as a fusion of new talent and coaching with a handful of seniors and familiar coaches.  Anthony Salciccioli, who was head coach for the past seven years, opted to step down in order to spend more time with his young children.  He will, however, remain involved as an assistant coach.  Other assistant coaches from last year will be back.  John Clarey and Nick Elam are starting their fourth season as assistants and Osama Musela begins his second.  Taking over as head coach will be Aaron Davis.

  Although Davis is a newcomer to Clarenceville wrestling, he is not new to coaching.  He has roughly 18 years coaching experience, mostly at Garden City High School, and many of those years he was head coach.  His objectives sound identical to those of Coach Salciccioli at the beginning of last season; teaching fundamentals, establishing strong work ethic in the room, and cultivating a positive mental approach for success on the mat and in the classroom. 

  “We will insist on our wrestlers using strong fundamentals – no more reliance on home run moves like headlocks and spladles.”  Coach Davis continues, “our kids will be stronger and better conditioned than they have been in the past.”

  Coach Davis has kept the study room sessions that were implemented last year, but has introduced practice techniques that he used while at Garden City.  He also plans on having successful wrestlers from other programs come in and drill with his younger wrestlers.

  Clarenceville had no seniors on the team last year, so there were no losses to graduation.  However, a football injury has sidelined last year’s 189 pounder, Travis Edwards, most likely for the entire season.

  The Trojans will be led by their four senior captains, Anthony Giordano, Brendan Groves, Coy Sillanpaa, and Jeremy Smith.  Sillanpaa had some key wins and was named MVP of the Metro Conference tournament and Giordano placed sixth at the Wayne County tournament and was a regional qualifier. 

  Sophomore Michael Weiss was Livonia City Champion and a regional qualifier.  Other returning varsity wrestlers that the coaches are counting on for wins are sophomores Aaron Bibik, Justin Carl, and Alec Jones.

  Clarenceville has had another strong turnout of freshmen and the 32 kids currently in the room is the highest number in many years.  The Trojans are two deep at most weights and Coach Davis is confident they will field a full line-up throughout the entire season.  One freshman, Jacob Boettcher, has had significant competitive wrestling in youth leagues.

  With all the youth on the team, most varsity spots will not be determined until later.  However, below is my projected Trojan varsity line-up:

103 –Daniel Popkov (So)

112 – Michael Weiss (So)

119 – Ian Bunker (So) or Shane Martin (So)

125 – Shane Martin (So) or Joey Walker (Fr)

130 – Alex Arnaut (Fr) or Steven Spens (Fr)

135 – Alex Arnaut (Fr) or Steven Spens (Fr)

140 – Jacob Boettcher (Fr)

145 – Coy Sillanpaa (Sr), captain

152 – Aaron Bibik (So)

160 – Brendan Groves (Sr), captain

171 – Justin Carl (So)

189 – Alec Jones (So)

215 – Jeremy Smith (Sr), captain

285 – Anthony Giordano (Sr), captain

  Coach Davis is still learning his wrestlers’ names and assessing team talent, so it is premature to publicly state team goals.  However, his optimism with what he has seen so far is apparent.