CL grapplers fall to St. Eds, 34-31

The Clear Lake wrestling team gave it all they had Thursday evening, but came up three points short in their first match of the season.  The visiting Fort Dodge St. Edmond Gaels won the last match of the night to pull out the win, 34-31.

    “St. Ed’s qualified for the State Duals last year, so we lost to a pretty good team.  They have four ranked wrestlers, so we did not do a bad at all” stated Clear Lake Coach Gary Weber.
     The meet started at 220 pounds, where Clear Lake was forced to forfeit; Brock Brandt is out of the lineup due to a nose injury.  The favor was returned at 285, where Mitchel Jordon also received a forfeit.  At 106 pounds, St. Ed’s has the fifth ranked wrestler in the state. Clear Lake’s Ryan Schmalen gave him all he wanted, but lost 10-6. 
    Freshman Brennen Doebel wrestled at 113 after weighing in at just 89 pounds.  “Brennen is the perfect example of what our coaching staff wants, great effort.  He gave up 25 pounds and did not get pinned, saving two very valuable team points,” said Coach Weber.  Matt Bieber won by major decision, 18-6, at 120 pounds scoring numerous takedowns.  At 126, Blake Kelso wrestled with a lot of intensity and won by technical fall, 21-6. 
    Junior Carson Farmer looked strong, winning by pin in just 1:07 of the first period.  Jacob Baker wrestled 138 and also won by major decision, 19-6.  Aaron Boeshart drew one of St. Eds’ ranked wrestlers and was pinned in 3:37. Connor Nosbisch was also pinned  at 152.  John Glynn wrestled 160 and lost by decision, 5-0.  Brice Wilcke had  a very exciting match, escaping with  just :10 seconds left in the match to win 3-2. 
    The highlight match of the night was at 182, where both wrestlers were ranked.  Logan Kellogg, ranked second in the state, scored a takedown with :12 seconds left to beat ranked Vinney Harvey, 3-1.
    Clear Lake had the lead 31 -28 heading into the last match of the night.  Noah Holt gave it all he had in his first varsity match, but the sophomore was pinned in 2:56 and St. Ed’s won the meet.
    “Our guys wrestled hard,” said Weber.  “We emphasize all the time that all we look for is great effort and the kids for the most part did that.”
 

Wrestlers place 2nd at Early Bird Tourney
     The Clear Lake wrestling team placed second out of 11 teams Saturday at the 40th annual Earlybird Wrestling Tournament at Manly.
    “Our kids did a great job!  We dominated the third period with our superior conditioning and that was so fun to see,” said Coach Weber.  “These kids have worked their tails off the past three weeks and it is so fun to see them reap the rewards of their efforts.”
    New Hampton walked away with the title with 222.5 points; the Lions nipped Forest City, 172-171, for second place.  Estherville was fourth, Clarksville fifth, Iowa Falls sixth, Central Springs seventh, St. Ansgar-Riceville eighth, Rockford ninth, Garner 10th and West Fork 11th.
     Three Lions were crowned champions. Ryan Schmalen at 106, Carson Farmer at 132 and Logan Kellog at 182. A fourth Lion, Brice Wilcke, made the finals but was beaten and placed a respectable second.
    “We had a great day.  For this team to get second was like winning it.  We wrestled just about as well as we could. Once again, our kids gave great effort and that is what we ask. They are such a fun group of kids to - Read More Via e-Edition