Wrestlers wrap up regular season with close win over Algona

The Clear Lake wrestling team finished its regular season Thursday night with a 36-33 win over Algona.  The victory lifted the Lions’ record to 5-3 in the North Central Conference and 15-15 over all. 

“That is a very good regular season with the schedule we wrestled,” said Coach Gary Weber.  “This team beat ranked teams in, Emmetsburg, Osage, Denver-Tripoli and Fort Dodge St.Edmonds.  We 

upped the strength of our schedule and our staff believes it will pay dividends at Sectionals.”

The  Lions travel to Osage Saturday for the six-team Sectional tournament beginning at noon. Osage, Clear Lake, Forest City, Central Springs, Garner-Hayfield/Ventura and St. Ansgar/Riceville are the six teams. The top two teams will advance to the regional dual Tuesday night, Feb. 5.

“We think we have a shot at winning the tournament,” said Weber.

Against Algona, Andres Gonzalez, Ryan Schmalen and Brennen Doebel all had big pins for the Lions.  The team also picked up points on forfeits awarded to Ryan Faught, Brice Wilcke and Spencer Orr.

“It shows how important all of our kids are to our team. By filling all the weight classes we were able to come away with a big win,” said Weber.  “Obviously the three guys getting pins was huge, but Ace Walton wrestled admirably, losing just 5-0.  Ace only weighs 175 and is wrestling 195 against upperclassmen.”