Lions place third at Forest City

The Clear Lake wrestling team traveled to Forest City for the eight-team Forest City Invite Saturday. The Lions finished in third place, just 9.5 points out of first. Charles City edged Oelwein by a point to win the title. 

Four Lions claimed titles: Brennen Doebel, Ryan Schmalen, Ryan Leisure and Ryan Faught.  Leisure was voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament after beating second ranked John Etherington, of Charles City, 5-0. 

Logan Wilcke and Rowdy Yates both placed second for the Lions.

“We continue to show improvement, which is what our staff is looking for,” said Coach Gary Weber.  “We do expect to win tournaments so our staff has some work to do to help our kids achieve their goal.”

Here are Coach Weber’s comments about his wrestlers’ performances at the tournament:

106: Ben Hillyer, third place.  Ben is starting to gain confidence and it is showing up in his wrestling

113: Brennen Doebel, first place. Brennan beat a ranked wrestler 12-0 in the finals and was disappointed.  We like that attitude. 

120: Ryan Schmalen, first place.  Ryan beat two quality opponents on Saturday which will help him down the road

126: Ryan Leisure, first place. Ryan wrestled with a lot of intensity in the finals, which is good to see.

132: Christiano Gonzalez. Chris took fourth place after losing two close matches. This is his first year on varsity and he continues to improve.

138: Spencer Orr. He has had a tough stretch of competition and he continues to battle, which is nice.

145: Ryan Faught, first place. Ryan wrestled smart in overtime and beat a very good Charles City wrestler in overtime.

152: Brad Hillyer, fifth place. Brad pinned a kid from St. Ansgar that he lost to in the first meet of the season.

160: TJ Hauser.  TJ got third place Saturday and showed great confidence. He is going to finish the season strong.

170: Logan Wilcke, second place.  This was Logan’s first time down to 170.  He will be tough to beat at this weight.

182: Rowdy Yates, second place.  Rowdy lost to a very good Joe Teage, of Algona, in the finals. Teague is ranked second.

195: Ace Walton, third place. Ace is 15-8 and having a good season. He is very coachable.

220: Kyle Willms. Kyle took 4th place at a very tough weight.  He is only a sophomore and has a winning record at 220 which is pretty good.

285: Nate Benson.  Nate had a tough draw with the number one seed in the first round. Nate is one of our best fighters and we are proud of his effort.

Forest City Invitational Tournament Results for Clear Lake

106 - Ben Hillyer (8-17) placed 3rd and scored 11.50 team points. Quarterfinal - Ben Hillyer (Clear Lake) 8-17 received a bye. Semifinal - Austin Parmely (Oelwein) 19-7 won by fall over Ben Hillyer (Clear Lake) 8-17 (Fall 1:50) Cons. Semi - Ben Hillyer (Clear Lake) 8-17 received a bye.

    3rd Place Match - Ben Hillyer (Clear Lake) 8-17 won by tech fall over Devan Hackenmiller (Saint Ansgar) 6-8 (TF-1.5 4:19 (18-0))

113 - Brennen Doebel (25-0) placed 1st and scored 23 team points. Quarterfinal - Brennen Doebel (Clear Lake) 25-0 received a bye. Semifinal - Brennen Doebel (Clear Lake) 25-0 won by fall over Will Kirschbaum (Forest City) 7-10 (Fall 0:31)1st Place Match - Brennen Doebel (Clear Lake) 25-0 won by major decision over Tanner Lundgren (Emmetsburg) 17-5 (MD 12-0)

120 - Ryan Schmalen (24-1) placed 1st and scored 21 team points. Quarterfinal - Ryan Schmalen (Clear Lake) 24-1 received a bye. Semifinal - Ryan Schmalen (Clear Lake) 24-1 won by major decision over Nate Lasher (Charles City) 9-5 (MD 12-4). 1st Place Match - Ryan Schmalen (Clear Lake) 24-1 won by decision over Brennon Ryan (Oelwein) 24-5 (Dec 7-2)

126 - Ryan Leisure (24-1) placed 1st and scored 22 team points. Quarterfinal - Ryan Leisure (Clear Lake) 24-1 received a bye.

Semifinal - Ryan Leisure (Clear Lake) 24-1 won by injury default over Jake Miller (Emmetsburg) 15-6 (Inj. 0:00) 1st Place Match - Ryan Leisure (Clear Lake) 24-1 won by decision over Johnny Etherington (Charles City) 13-2 (Dec 5-0)

132 - Christiano Gonzalez (7-5) placed 4th and scored 11 team points. Quarterfinal - Chase Hershey (Oelwein) 14-15 won by decision over Christiano Gonzalez (Clear Lake) 7-5 (Dec 6-4). Cons. Round 1 - Christiano Gonzalez (Clear Lake) 7-5 won by major decision over Conner Crosgrove (Emmetsburg) 7-8 (MD 15-5). Cons. Semi - Christiano Gonzalez (Clear Lake) 7-5 won by major decision over Dillon Van Oosbree (Emmetsburg) 6-4 (MD 11-3). 3rd Place Match - Maverick Freerksen (Forest City) 12-13 won by decision over Christiano Gonzalez (Clear Lake) 7-5 (Dec 13-11)

138 - Spencer Orr (14-12) placed 4th and scored 13 team points. Quarterfinal - Spencer Orr (Clear Lake) 14-12 won by major decision over Cutter Bruce (Saint Ansgar) 19-10 (MD 14-0) Semifinal - Pierce Gelhaus (Forest City) 21-3 won by tech fall over Spencer Orr (Clear Lake) 14-12 (TF-1.5 4:00 (16-0). Cons. Semi - Spencer Orr (Clear Lake) 14-12 won by fall over Joe Lowman (Emmetsburg) 8-7 (Fall 5:09). 3rd Place Match - Carter Block (Oelwein) 22-9 won by fall over Spencer Orr (Clear Lake) 14-12 (Fall 5:52)

145 - Ryan Faught (15-4) placed 1st and scored 22 team points. Quarterfinal - Ryan Faught (Clear Lake) 15-4 received a bye. Semifinal - Ryan Faught (Clear Lake) 15-4 won by fall over Dayben Smith (Saint Ansgar) 17-14 (Fall 1:39). 1st Place Match - Ryan Faught (Clear Lake) 15-4 won in tie breaker - 1 over Jake Niichel (Charles City) 23-7 (TB-1 2-1)

152 - Brad Hillyer (10-16) placed 5th and scored 8 team points. Quarterfinal - Cole Stanford (Oelwein) 24-7 won by major decision over Brad Hillyer (Clear Lake) 10-16 (MD 10-2). Cons. Round 1 - Brad Hillyer (Clear Lake) 10-16 won by fall over Ethan Mayer (Saint Ansgar) 10-17 (Fall 5:45). Cons. Semi - Brandon Childs (Charles City) 16-4 won by fall over Brad Hillyer (Clear Lake) 10-16 (Fall 4:29). 5th Place Match - Brad Hillyer (Clear Lake) 10-16 won by decision over Easton Jacobs (Forest City) 8-17 (Dec 6-2)

160 - TJ Hauser (3-7) placed 3rd and scored 14 team points. Quarterfinal - TJ Hauser (Clear Lake) 3-7 received a bye. Semifinal - Josh Strohman (Algona) 18-5 won by fall over TJ Hauser (Clear Lake) 3-7 (Fall 2:31). Cons. Semi - TJ Hauser (Clear Lake) 3-7 won by fall over Alexander Hepperle (Oelwein) 12-17 (Fall 0:52). 3rd Place Match - TJ Hauser (Clear Lake) 3-7 won by fall over Landon Josten (Forest City) 10-16 (Fall 0:47)

170 - Logan Wilcke (20-5) placed 2nd and scored 18 team points. Quarterfinal - Logan Wilcke (Clear Lake) 20-5 received a bye. Semifinal - Logan Wilcke (Clear Lake) 20-5 won by fall over Austin Duffy (Oelwein) 22-7 (Fall 4:14). 1st Place Match - Beau Sorenson (Forest City) 20-3 won by decision over Logan Wilcke (Clear Lake) 20-5 (Dec 3-0)

182 - Rowdy Yates (11-5) placed 2nd and scored 16 team points. Quarterfinal - Rowdy Yates (Clear Lake) 11-5 received a bye

 Semifinal - Rowdy Yates (Clear Lake) 11-5 won by decision over Robby McKeeman (Oelwein) 11-14 (Dec 7-3). 1st Place Match - Joe Teague (Algona) 19-1 won by fall over Rowdy Yates (Clear Lake) 11-5 (Fall 0:26)

195 - Ace Walton (15-7) placed 3rd and scored 12 team points. Quarterfinal - Ace Walton (Clear Lake) 15-7 received a bye.Semifinal - Nick Jacobs (Charles City) 17-11 won by decision over Ace Walton (Clear Lake) 15-7 (Dec 5-1). Cons. Semi - Ace Walton (Clear Lake) 15-7 received a bye. 3rd Place Match - Ace Walton (Clear Lake) 15-7 won by fall over Noah Paulson (Forest City) 7-11 (Fall 2:00)

220 - Kyle Willms (12-11) placed 4th and scored 14 team points. Quarterfinal - Kyle Willms (Clear Lake) 12-11 won by fall over Mitchell Smits (Saint Ansgar) 20-12 (Fall 5:59). Semifinal - Travis McMillan (Oelwein) 28-1 won by fall over Kyle Willms (Clear Lake) 12-11 (Fall 1:19). Cons. Semi - Kyle Willms (Clear Lake) 12-11 won by fall over Luca Kremer (Emmetsburg) 6-10 (Fall 1:07). 3rd Place Match - AJ Maloy (Charles City) 24-3 won by fall over Kyle Willms (Clear Lake) 12-11 (Fall 3:02)

285 - Nathan Benson (4-12). Quarterfinal - Chandler Holmes (Algona) 19-3 won by fall over Nathan Benson (Clear Lake) 4-12 (Fall 3:47). Cons. Round 1 - Greg Bishop (Saint Ansgar) 7-4 won by fall over Nathan Benson (Clear Lake) 4-12 (Fall 5:36)