Lions top IF-A; fall to Clarion-Goldfield-Dows

Clear Lake spilt a pair of North Central Conference wrestling duals at home Thursday. The Lions wrestled Iowa Falls-Alden and defending state champion Clarion-Goldfield-Dows.

Clear Lake beat Iowa Falls, 55-22, but lost to Clarion, 42-27.
“We lost, but it was once again a great high school experience for our kids. Our crowd was fantastic and the gym was electric,” said Coach Gary Weber. “We really do have the best fans in the state.”

 The highlight of the night was Ryan Schmalen’s 3-2 win over state champion Josh Portillo. Schmalen was rated fourth in Class 2A at 120-pounds, while Portillo was the top ranked wrestler in Class 1A at 120. Portillo did not lose as a sophomore last year in winning the state championship for the Cowboys at 113 pounds and had not lost against an Iowa opponent until Schmalen stopped him.
“Our crowd and kids really got behind Ryan and I think that helped him,” added Weber.
CGD won the other dual by a 60-15 margin over Iowa Falls-Alden. 

Webster City Duals
The Lions went 3-1 Saturday at the Webster City Duals. Coach Gary Weber noted the team was wrestling with a few regular starters out, but still managed to beat three big schools.
Clear Lake beat Dallas Center Grimes, 51-29; Ankeny, 45-30; and Waukee, 45-24. Host Webster City beat the Lions 38-26.
“The kids once again wrestled very hard. That is the key ingredient. The coaches can help with technique,” said Coach Weber.
Here are the coach’s comments from the week:
106: Ben Hillyer. Ben showed a lot of improvement this week. He pinned his opponent from Ankeny, which really sparked our team and helped us beat a very big school.
113: Brennen Doebel. Wow! 15-0 and beat state runner-up Jacob Allison of Waukee, 8-5, with a four-point move in the last :10 seconds. 
120: Ryan Schmalen, 15-0. Big win Thursday night. He also moved up a weight class Saturday to help the team.
126: Ryan Leisure, 15-0. Ryan continues to dominate as the number one ranked wrestler in the state. What impresses me is that he is willing to move up a weight class to help his team.
132: Marcus Soto. Marcus had two really big wins Saturday. He is new to our program after moving here from Des Moines and is a very nice young man. We are glad to have him in our program. - Read More Via e-Edition