Wrestlers advance to Regional Dual

The Clear Lake wrestling team placed first Saturday in the Sectional meet held at Hampton and advanced six wrestlers to District action this week.

As Sectional winners, the Lions qualified for the Regional dual at Humboldt last night (Tuesday, Feb. 10).  Clear Lake will wrestle Perry at 6 p.m. and then face the winner of the Ballard and Pocahontas match.  The winner among the four teams will compete in the State 

Dual Meet Tournament Wednesday, Feb. 18 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The Lions have qualified for the State Duals 11 times in the past 25 years, which places them in the top five in the state in years qualifying.  (Details of the Dual meet will appear in next week’s Reporter).

“All 14 kids placed in the top five Saturday and that is why we won Sectionals and qualified for Regional duals,” said Coach Gary Weber.  “Our six wrestlers who qualified for Districts did awesome, but so did our eight wrestlers who placed to give a total team effort. Our junior varsity worked out with the varsity last week and really pushed them, so they, too, were a big part of winning the Sectional tournament.   I also have to compliment all of our coaches for all of the work and time they put in to help these young men reach their goals.  We have a ridiculously good coaching staff and they work their tails off.”

Six Lion wrestlers punched their ticket to the District meet this Saturday at Webster City.  Wrestling will begin at noon.  First and second place finishers in each weight class will advance to the State Meet Feb. 19-21.

Brennen Doebel (35-1 at 113-pounds), Ryan Schmalen (32-1 at 120-pounds), Ryan Leisure (35-1 at 126-pounds), Ryan Faught (25-7 at 145-pounds) and Ace Walton (20-14 at 195-pounds) all placed first at the Sectional Meet, while Spencer Orr (20-18 at 138-pounds) took second.

Here are Coach Weber’s comments about each of the Lion wrestlers who competed at the Sectional meet:

106: Ben Hillyer, fourth place.  Ben has improved tremendously this year.  We worked on the switch last week and he executed it perfectly in his first round match.  He had a couple tough calls go against him or he would have had a wrestleback on Saturday.

113: Brennen Doebel, first place.  Brennen had two pins and is ready to do some damage at State!

120: Ryan Schmalen, first place.  Ryan is 100 percent healthy now and is ready to make his run at a state title.

126: Ryan Leisure. first place. Ryan also had two pins and is ready to make his State title run.

132: Dylon Crotty, third place. Dylon was in the wrestleback for second place and nearly qualified for Districts. He is just a freshman and has a bright future in front of him.

138: Spencer Orr, second place. Spencer’s only loss was to state-ranked Pierce Gelhaus, of Forest City.  He qualified for Districts and has a good chance of making it to State.

145 Ryan Faught, first place. The Forest City kid forfeited to Ryan in the finals, so he only had one match Saturday but is Sectional champion.

152: Brad Hillyer, third place.  Brad lost in the semi finals to the first seed, Luke Bahr, who was 30-1.  It looked like he was going to get a wrestleback, but Bahr was beaten in the finals and Brad had to settle for third place.  Brad improved this year as much as any wrestler that I have ever coached. He is a great kid and we are proud of him.

160: Kaleb Froiland, fourth place.  Kaleb had a huge pin in the first period with his patented cradle. He scored valuable team points to help the team advance.

170: Logan Wilcke, third place.  Logan had the toughest weight of the tournament with two  ranked wrestlers at his weight.  He lost a close semi final match and did not get a wrestleback.  Logan is 27-10 and is having a great year.  It would have been nice to get him down to State.

182: Dalton Mennenga, fifth place.  Dalton wrestled very well and lost a close match to a kid with 19 wins. Dalton is a 160-pounder, but moved up to help the team. Both TJ Hauser and Rowdy Yates suffered season-ending injuries. I feel bad for those two young men. They put a lot of work in, and for them to not get a chance to compete was very unfortunate. They talked to the team last Friday and did a very nice job.

195: Ace Walton, first place.  Ace had two one-point wins to bring home the Sectional title.  Our assistant coaches have done an awesome job of helping Ace with his technique and it showed up on Saturday. Ace has spent a lot of time in the weight room and it is paying dividends.

220: Kyle Willms, fourth place. Kyle had five guys with winning records at his weight, so it was not easy. He is just a sophomore so he has two big years ahead of him.

285: Nate Benson, fourth place.  Nate had one of the best matches of the tournament with a big pin over the Forest City kid who has 20 wins.  Nate is out for wrestling for the first time in high school and was actually the crowd favorite many times.  He always gives it his best and everybody appreciates that.

“We had a great day as a team.  It is very rewarding to see young men work hard all year and then come together as a team like we did Saturday,” added Coach Weber.

Results for Clear Lake

106 - Ben Hillyer (14-23) placed 4th.  Quarterfinal - won by major decision over Alec Fett (F.C.) 15-28 (MD 8-0); Semifinal - Dante Tacchia (IF-A) 20-2 won by fall over (1:59); 3rd Place Match - Parker Allen (H-D) 31-19 won by decision (Dec 7-5).

113 - Brennen Doebel (35-1) placed 1st.  Quarterfinal - received a bye; Semifinal - won by fall over Alex Bronson (Algona) 7-25 (0:46); 1st Place Match - won by fall over Todd Raisch (IF-A) 17-20 (1:14).

120 - Ryan Schmalen (32-1) placed 1st.  Quarterfinal - received a bye; Semifinal -  received a bye; 1st Place Match - won by fall over Andrew Dornbeir (GHV) 24-12 (1:22).

126 - Ryan Leisure (35-1) placed 1st. Quarterfinal -  received a bye; Semifinal -  won by fall over Mitchell Priebe (Algona) 4-28 (0:25); 1st Place Match - won by fall over Dillon Rubow (IF-A) 20-20 (1:31).

132 - Dylon Crotty (3-4) placed 3rd. Quarterfinal - won by fall over Derek Brown (GHV) 6-25; Semifinal - Carter Barkema (H-D) 34-7 won by fall (0:40); 3rd Place Match -  won by decision over Austin Chase (Algona) 3-23 (Dec.15-12); 2nd Place Match - Maverick Freerksen (F.C.) 24-27 won by fall (5:42).

138 - Spencer Orr (20-18) placed 2nd. Quarterfinal - received a bye; Semifinal - won by fall over Nick Jaber (IF-A) 17-16 (1:22); 1st Place Match - Pierce Gelhaus (F.C.) 38-5 won by major decision (MD 13-1); 2nd Place Match - won by rule over Jaber (IF-A) 17-16. (Winning by rule means the wrestlers have already faced each other and do not have to wrestle again).

145 - Ryan Faught (25-7) placed 1st.  Quarterfinal - received a bye; Semifinal - won by fall over Caleb Chaney (H-D) 13-21 (3:08); 1st Place Match - won by forfeit over Austin Lewis (F.C.) 20-5.

152 - Brad Hillyer (12-26) placed 3rd. Quarterfinal - won by major decision over Trevor Devine (Algona) 7-12 (MD 8-0); Semifinal - Luke Bahr (IF-A) 31-2 won by fall (3:19); 3rd Place Match - won by decision over Landon Josten (F.C.) 24-25 (Dec 9-6);  2nd Place Match - Luke Bahr (IF-A) 31-2 won by rule.

160 - Kaleb Froiland (5-22) placed 4th. Quarterfinal - won by fall over Easton Jacobs (F.C.) 10-22 (5:26); Semifinal - Josh Strohman (Algona) 34-9 won by fall (0:54); 3rd Place Match - lost by decision (Dec 10-3).

170 - Logan Wilcke (27-10) placed 3rd. Quarterfinal -  won by fall over Noah Murphy (Algona) 13-20 (1:54); Semifinal - Cade Baker (GHV) 44-3 won by decision (Dec 13-7); 3rd Place Match - won by decision over Michael Kent (IF-A) 29-12 (Dec 5-1); 2nd Place Match - Baker (GHV) 44-3 won by rule.

182 - Dalton Mennenga (0-12) placed 5th.Quarterfinal - Grady Umbarger (GHV) 19-23 won by decision 0-12 (Dec 5-2); Cons. Semi - received a bye;  5th Place Match - received a bye.

195 - Ace Walton (20-14) placed 1st.  Quarterfinal - received a bye; Semifinal - won by decision over Dominick Etherington (Algona) 8-22 (Dec 5-2); 1st Place Match - won by decision over Connor Smith (GHV) 35-13 (Dec 3-2).

220 - Kyle Willms (17-13) placed 4th.  Quarterfinal - won by fall over Dane Whipple (GHV) 9-29 (1:12); Semifinal - Kendrick Suntken (H-D) 29-3 won by fall (1:31); 3rd Place Match - Tommy Cramer (IF-A) 24-14 won by fall (1:55).

285 - Nathan Benson (4-23) placed 4th. Quarterfinal - won by fall over Adam Eden (F.C.) 19-24 (3:14);  Semifinal - Mario Pena (H.D.) 43-1 won by fall (5:28);  3rd Place Match - Zack Duncan (IF-A) 22-16 won by decision(Dec 5-0).