Lion wrestlers hoping to avenge loss against Humboldt

by Marianne Gasaway

Clear Lake wrestlers began the second half of their season with a North Central Conference dual meet at Humboldt, followed by a weekend invitational.

Coach Mike Lester said his team was feeling the effects of a few grapplers out with illness when they faced Humboldt.  Hopefully the team can avenge the loss when they meet the Wildcats again at the Osage duals this weekend.

“All in all we are wrestling at a high level after our short break,” said the coach.  “It will be fun to see these wrestlers develop as we work towards sectionals Feb 2. The way we are wrestling we will be a State dual team.”

Forest City Invite

Fort Dodge took the title with an impressive 232.5 points, but Clear Lake grapplers were a competitive second at the 10-team Forest City Invitational Saturday.  The Lions finished with 170 points; Creston was third with 149.5.

Eric Faught remained perfect on the season, capturing the title at 132-pounds.  Faught, who is now 19-0, recorded pins in his first two matches, then won by technical fall over Luke McKenna, of Algona, in the finals.

Braxton Doebel also finished first in his weight class.  After opening with a fall, the 152-pounder survived a sudden victory period against Carter Proffitt, of Charles City, in the semi-final round.  Each wrestler entered the match with 17 wins on the season.  Doebel got the 6-4 decision in SV-1.  In the finals, Doebel won by fall over Mason Griffin, of Emmetsburg, who went to 22-4 with the loss.  Doebel now has a record of 17-3.

Kade Hambly was also a winner for the Lions.  He pinned his way to the title at 220-pounds.  In the final he defeated eighth ranked Triston Licht, of Fort Dodge, to move to 16-3 on the season.

A trio of Lions finished second in the standings.  At 113-pounds Sam Nelson won by a 20-4 decision in the semi-finals, but lost by technical fall to undefeated Drake Ayala, of Fort Dodge, in the final.  Conner Morey had a medical forfeit in the opening round at 120-pounds, then pinned his semi-final opponent from Creston.  He lost by fall in the final to Carson Taylor, of Fort Dodge. Brian Hillyer was second at 145-pounds after winning by fall and decision in the

[wlm_nonmember]To read more of this article, please login or sign up for our E-Edition[/wlm_nonmember][wlm_ismember]

first two rounds.  Drevon Ross, of Fort Dodge, topped Hillyer in the final by major decision.

Thomas Gansen finished third for the Lions at 160-pounds. After winning by a 15-5 decision in the first round he lost to Carson Devine, of Algona, in the semi-final.  He responded with falls in the consolation final and third place match.  Dylan’s Kruckenberg was also third at 195-pounds.  He won by fall in the opening round, but was sent to the consolation bracket with a pin by Sam Chapman, of Cres- ton.  He fought back for third with a pin and decision over C.J. Niedermeyer, of North Butler.

Max Soto was also a placewinner for Clear Lake at 145-pounds.

Humboldt 38, CL 29

The Lions tangled with the Wildcats at Humboldt Jan. 3.  The meet was a close one, but Clear Lake came out on the short end of a 38-29 score.

The Lions lost the opening match at 145, but took the lead with three straight wins.  Braxton Doebel pinned his opponent at 152, followed by Thomas Gansen posting a 10-5 decision at 160 and Connor O’Tool getting an 11-7 victory at 170.

A fall and decision from Humboldt tightened the score before Kade Hambly got a pin at 220.

A pin by Sam Nelson at 113-pounds was sandwiched between four Humboldt wins, which gave them enough to hold off a late Lion charge.  Eric Faught was a winner by technical fall at 132 to close out Clear Lake’s victories.

Humboldt 38, Clear Lake 29

145: Joey Busse (H) over Max Soto (CL) (TF 21-2 4:50) 152: Braxton Doebel (CL) over Fletcher  Satern (H) (Fall 2:48) 160: Thomas Gansen (CL) over Levi Naeve (H) (Dec 10-5) 170: Connor  O`Tool (CL) over Tyler Vitzthum (H) (Dec 11-7) 182: Braxden Scott (H) over Braden Byrnes (CL) (Fall 1:47) 195: Joel Osborn (H) over Dylan Kruckenberg (CL) (Dec 12-10) 220: Kade Hambly (CL) over Colton Goodell (H) (Fall 2:46) 285: Justin Jones (H) over AJ Stevenson (CL) (Fall 0:20) 106: Dylan Vaudt (H) over Gavin Rich (CL) (Fall 0:42) 113: Sam Nelson (CL) over Cole Nelson (H) (Fall 4:49) 120: Cresten Craven (H) over Conner Morey (CL) (Dec 7-4) 126: Colby  Clarken (H) over Isaiah Smith (CL) (Dec 4-1) 132: Eric Faught (CL) over Jordan Jensen (H) (TF 19-4 4:00) 138: Timmy Larson (H) over Brian Hillyer (CL) (Fall 3:50)

[/wlm_ismember]