Four Lion wrestlers advance to District meet

(Above) Clear Lake’s Sam Nelson, who wrestles at 126-pounds, was runner-up at Sectionals and will move on to District competition on Saturday.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Four Clear Lake wrestlers will advance to Saturday’s District meet for a chance to qualify for the 2020 State Meet.  Max Currier, Sam Nelson, Conner Morey and Dylan Kruckenberg each finished as runner-up in their weight classes at Saturday’s Sectional meet in Clear Lake

“Sectionals is always a great event and having it home makes it even more exciting,” said Clear Lake Head Coach Doug Munn.  “As a staff we felt our kids from top to bottom wrestled pretty well.  Unfortunately, we had some kids whose brackets were stacked with some really good kids and we were unable to get through, but overall we finished about where we thought we would.”

Osage was the clear winner Saturday with 235.5 points, followed by Forest City with 203.5.  Algona and Hampton-Dumont followed with 162 points apiece.  Clear Lake was fifth with 133 points and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura was sixth with 107.

Currier, a freshman, started the day with a bye in his 113-pound weight class.  He proceeded to record a fall over Jack Showalter, of Hampton-Dumont in 5:13, but was narrowly defeated in the championship match, 4-2, by Kellen Moore, from Forest City. 

“Max lost a tough match in the finals to a top 10 ranked guy and was right in it until the end, but came up just short,” explained Coach Munn.  “Max is in a good spot at Districts and hopefully we get another shot at Moore.”

Nelson, who has missed much of the season with an injury, also had a first round bye at 126.  In the semi-finals the Clear Lake junior pinned Ethan Sesker, of Forest City, in 3:01.  He matched up with Joe Sullivan, from Osage in the championship round and was downed by major decision, 12-4.

“It was great to see Sam Nelson back on the mat and knock some of the dust off.   Another week in the room and he should be running on all cylinders,” said Coach Munn.  “He’s a tough competitor and knows what it takes to get to the next level and we’ll expect that out of Sam this Saturday.”

Morey, a senior, advanced to the semi-finals at 132 after receiving a bye in the quarterfinals.  He reached the championship with a 5-2 victory over Jacob Martzahn, of H-D.  Averee Abben, from Osage got the win in the finals by major decision, 13-2.

“Connor may have wrestled one of his best tournaments to date.  Had a thrilling win in the semi’s with a kid who’s beaten him twice this year. Connor’s always had the skills and he went out and showed them today,” said Munn.

Cole Lewis, of Algona, needed a sudden victory period to win the title at 195 over Kruckenberg.  Lewis ultimately won the match, 11-9.  The Clear Lake senior had an opening bye, followed by a 17-3 major decision over Logan Walker, of H-D, in the semi-final.

“Dylan also may have put his best tournament together,” added Munn.  “He’s picked the right time of year to peak.”

The Lions will compete in the District meet in Algona Saturday to earn the right to advance to the State Tournament.  

“If we wrestle like I know we can, we have a very good shot at going four-for-four down to the State Tournament,” said Coach Munn.

Other Lions earning placements at the Sectional meet included: Marcus Skidmore, fifth at 106; Roman Gabrielson, sixth at 120; Isaiah Smith, fourth at 138; Caden Jones, 6th at 145; Hunter Rieck, fifth at 152; Thomas Gansen, third at 160; Conner O’Tool, fourth at 170; Austin Larson, sixth at 182; Alex Flickinger, fifth at 285.