Wrestlers post 12-11 record heading into break

(Above) Clear Lake’s Dalton Grell picks up some back points on his way to defeating Algona’s Calvin Kruse by a 9-6 decision at 170 pounds.  -Reporter photos by Chris Barragy

The Clear Lake team won four and lost four meets during the past week to put their record at 12-11 heading into Christmas break.

“The kids and coaches did a great job the first month of the season— 23 duals in three weeks is a crazy amount of meets,” said Coach Gary Weber.  “When I began coaching in 1982, a team could only have nine duals in a year!”

The week started Thursday at home. The Lions had a great showing, beating Algona, 44-16, and pulling out a come-from-behind win over Hampton, 39-30, after trailing 30-3.

“Our kids did a great job,” said Weber.  “In particular Ryan Leisure moved up a weight class to beat a very good ranked wrestler by 15 points.”

The win gave Clear Lake possession of the traveling trophy known as “Floyd of Swaledale” for the 10th consecutive year.

“Hampton is one of our rivals, so it is always nice to get a win,” added Weber.

On Friday, the Lions traveled to Waterloo for the 32-team Battle of Waterloo tournament.  Only the top teams in Iowa are invited. The Lions went 2-4 in the two-day tournament.

Friday, the Lions lost 55-15 to the number one seed, Davenport Assumption. Winning for the Lions was Eric and Ryan Faught and Ryan Leisure.  Eric Faught and Leisure both beat ranked wrestlers.

The second dual pitted Clear Lake against Lake Mills. The match came down the the final weight and Lake Mills won, 39-30.

The third match of the day the Lions beat Waterloo East, 48-30. The highlight of the meet was Cooper Merrill and Ryan Leisure both recording :09 second pins.

Saturday started with a 39-31 loss to Pleasant Valley.

Next, the Lions lost another close battle, 40-26, to Cedar Falls.

The Lions ended on a good note with an extremely exciting 42-39 win over West Delaware.  The meet came down to the last match, with the Lions trailing, 39-36.  Kaleb Froiland was down 2-0 heading into the second period. He chose the top position and once again put on his patented cradle and pinned his opponent to give Clear Lake the win.

“It was nice to see Kaleb be the hero,” said Weber.  “He is a senior who has paid his dues and is having a great senior year.”

Coach Weber noted the team has been without seniors Ace Walton, Carter Garrington and Braxton Doebel for much of the month.  Still, the Lions have been impressive.

“We could be a very good team by February,” he added.

The coach provided this breakdown of each weight class:

106: Eric Faught, 13-0. Eric has beaten two ranked wrestlers from Southeast Polk and Davenport Assumption. He moves up to 113 when we need him to.

113: Bryan Hillyer.  He only weighs 105 and often a wrestles 113.  He is working hard.

120: Jackson Hamlin.  Jack is one of hardest fighters. He is a big reason we beat West Delaware, because he didn’t get pinned.

126: Aaron Canchola. Aaron showed improvement this week. He had a beautiful throw for a pin against West Delaware to help the team win.

132: Will Kirshbaum. Will is 13-5 in his sophomore year and has a bright future.

138: Ryan Leisure. Ryan has done an exceptional job moving up to 145 to help his team.

138: Ben Finn. Ben slides into the 138 weight when Leisure moves up and has come up with several big wins to help the team.

145: Kaleb Froiland. Kaleb has a super start to the season. He not only wins, but pins with his patented cradle.

152: Ryan Faught.  Ryan has been finding a way to win close matches the past two weeks. He is listening to his coaching staff and showing improvement.

160: Cooper Merrill.  Coop has had a couple of injuries, so we rested him for two weeks. Saturday he had two big pins to help his team.

170: Dalton Grell. Dalton only weighs 163 and wrestles up a weight class to help his team.

182: Dalton Mennenga. Dalton is just a sophomore and continues to work hard.

195: Kade Hambly. Kade weighs 173 and wrestles 195.  He has hadseveral big wins wrestling up 22 pounds and is only a freshman.

220: Spencer Christensen is filling in for Ace Walton.  He picked up his first varsity win Saturday and is gaining valuable experience. He also is just a freshman.

285: Kyle Willms.  Kyle is maturing into a very good wrestler. It sounds like a broken record, but he, too, is often giving up 60 pounds by wrestling heavyweight.

CL 39, Hampton-Dumont 30

152: Ryan Faught (CL) over Caleb Chaney (Dec 7-1) 160: Isaac  Shelton (HD) over Cooper Merrill (Dec 13-7) 170: Corbin Jobe (HD) over Dalton Grell (Dec 4-1) 182: Logan  Chipp (HD) over Dalton Mennenga (Fall 2:38) 195: Miles Fristo (HD) over Kade Hambly (Fall 5:42) 220: Emilio Valenzuela (HD) over Spencer Christensen (Fall 1:10) 285: Pablo Gonzalez (HD) over Kyle  Willms (Fall 3:35) 106: Bryan Hillyer (CL) by forfeit; 113: Eric Faught (CL) by forfeit; 120: Jackson Hamlin (CL) over Parker Allen (Dec 11-4) 126: Aaron Canchola (CL) by forfeit; 132: Will Kirschbaum (CL) over Robert Alert  (Fall 1:38) 138: Ben Finn (CL) over Joe Schall (MD 11-3) 145: Ryan Leisure (CL) over Carter Barkema  (TF 17-2 4:10)

CL 44, Algona 16

138: Ben Finn (CL) over Carson Devine (Dec 11-6) 145: Ryan Leisure (CL) over Austin Chase (Fall 2:10) 152: Darek Garman (AL) over Kaleb Froiland (Dec 5-2) 160: Ryan Faught (CL) over Tomah Leamah  (UTB 5-4) 170: Dalton Grell (CL) over Calvin Kruse (Dec 9-6) 182: Noah Murphy (AL) over Dalton Mennenga (Dec 5-4) 195: Noah Murphy (AL) over Kade Hambly (MD 9-1) 220: Dominick Etherington (AL) over Spencer Christensen (Fall 2:31) 285: Kyle  Willms (CL)

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over Josh Wegener  (Fall 0:38) 106: Bryan Hillyer (CL) over Bryce Witham  (MD 10-0) 113: Eric Faught (CL) over Cameron Peterson (Fall 0:00) 120: Jackson Hamlin (CL) over Alex Bronson (Dec 4-0) 126: Aaron Canchola (CL) over Brett Bleur (MD 17-6) 132: Will Kirschbaum (CL) over Mitchell Priebe  (Fall 1:08)

BATTLE OF WATERLOO

Quarterfinal: Assumption defeated Clear Lake 55-18

106 - Eric Faught (CL) over Matthew Randone, Dec 8-2

113 - Jacob Felderman (A) over Bryan Hillyer , Fall 5:09

120 - Jacob Fenske (A) over Jackson Hamlin, Inj 0:47

126 - Sean Casey (A) over Aaron Canchola, TF 15-0

132 - Will Kirschbaum (CL) over Adam Laubenthal, Fall 0:36

138 - Ryan Leisure (CL) over Kirk Mommsen, Dec 10-4

145 - Patrick Schwartzhoff (A) over Kaleb Froiland, TF 16-0

152 - Ryan Faught (CL) over Julien Broderson, DQ

160 - Nick Johnson (A) over Cooper Merrill, Fall 1:27

170 - Joe Argo (A) over Dalton Grell, Fall 1:54

182 - Chris Bridges (A) over Dalton Mennenga, Fall 0:59

195 - Brock Timmons (A) over Kade Hambly, Fall 2:52

220 - Noah Broderson (A) over Spencer Christensen, Fall 0:38

285 - Travis Bruns (A) over Kyle Willms, Dec 1-0

Semi: Lake Mills defeated Clear Lake 39-33

106 - Eric Faught (CL) over Caiden Jones, Fall 5:26

113 - Alex Martinson (LM) over Bryan Hillyer, Fall 4:22

120 - Cael Boehmer (LM) over Jackson Hamlin, Dec 7-0

126 - Javi Gallardo (LM) over Aaron Canchola, Dec 7-6

132 - Will Kirschbaum (CL) over Zach Johnson, Dec 7-4

138 - Ben Finn (CL) over Maverick Schmitt, Fall 0:45

145 - Ryan Leisure (CL) over Drae Love, Fall 2:47

152 - Max Bergo (LM) over Kaleb Froiland, Fall 4:50

160 - Ryan Faught (CL) over Spencer Jensen, Fall 3:17

170 - Gabe Irons (LM) over Dalton Grell, Fall 5:37

182 - Jacob Leibeg (LM) over Dalton Mennenga, Dec 6-2

195 - Cole Bergo (LM) over Kade Hambly, Fall 1:33

220 - Slade Sifuentes (LM) win by forfeit

285 - Kyle Willms (CL) over Cory Mathahs, Fall 2:20

7th Place Match: Clear Lake defeated Waterloo East 48-30

132 - Will Kirschbaum (CL) over Antonio Rodriguez, Fall 3:11

138 - Ryan Leisure (CL) over Ryan Valenzuela, Fall 0:10

145 - Kaleb Froiland (CL) over Jeremiah Jordan, Fall 1:07

152 - Ryan Faught (CL) over Nathan Nielson, Fall 1:05

160 - Cooper Merrill (CL) over Dylan Pryor,  0:10

170 - Dalyne King (WE) over Dalton Grell, Fall 2:45

182 - Eric Gleiter (WE) over Dalton Mennenga, Fall 2:45

195 - Payne Johnson (WE) over Chance Poley, Fall 1:56

220 - Nekema Carter (WE) over Spencer Christensen, Fall 1:00

285 - Omar Begic (WE) over Kyle Willms, Dec 3-0

106 - Eric Faught (CL) over Chryshaun Taylor, Fall 1:07

113 - Brayden Good (WE) over Bryan Hillyer, Dec 4-0

120 - Jackson Hamlin (CL) over Ethan Cahoe, Fall 3:18

126 - Aaron Canchola (CL) over Isaiah Allen, Fall 0:38

Pool 7 - Clear Lake is guaranteed 3rd place

Match #1 Round 1: Pleasant Valley defeated Clear Lake 39-31

106 - Eric Faught (CL) win by forfeit

113 - Bryan Hillyer (CL) win by forfeit

120 - Jackson Hamlin (CL) over Turner Hal, Maj 11-3

126 - Matt Robertson (PV) over Aaron Canchola, Fall 4:20

132 - Will Kirschbaum (CL) over Simon Wilson, Fall 3:34

138 - Ben Finn (CL) over Alisha Smith, Fall 0:32

145 - Spencer Nevills (PV) over Ryan Leisure, Fall 1:39

152 - Christian Foote (PV) over Ryan Faught, Dec 7-1

160 - Ryan Loyd (PV) over Cooper Merrill, TF 16-0

170 - Devon Stock (PV) over Dalton Grell, Maj 16-5

182 - David Carr (PV) over Dalton Mennenga, Fall 1:13

195 - Chance Cary (PV) over Kade Hambly, Fall 1:11

220 - Spencer Christensen (CL) over John King, Dec 3-2

285 - Brady Bormann (PV) over Kyle Willms, Dec 6-0

Match #2 Round 2: Cedar Falls defeated Clear Lake 40-26

145 - Kaleb Froiland (CL) over Jacob Taylor, Fall 2:15

152 - Ryan Faught (CL) over Tanner Doyle, Fall 4:35

160 - Nathan King (CF) over Cooper Merrill, Fall 2:42

170 - Bryce Pilcher (CF) over Dalton Grell, Fall 1:22

182 - Justin Campbell (CF) over Dalton Mennenga, Dec 7-2

195 - Adrian Diaz (CF) over Kade Hambly, Maj 16-6

220 - Josh Post (CF) over Spencer Christensen, Dec 4-2

285 - Kyle Willms (CL) over Rafael Reyes, Fall 0:37

106 - Eric Faught (CL) over Jakey Penrith, Fall 1:35

113 - Christian Simpson (CF) over Bryan Hillyer, Maj 11-0

120 - Gabe Penrith (CF) over Jackson Hamlin, Maj 16-4

126 - Caleb O`connor (CF) over Aaron Canchola, Fall 5:15

132 - Brock Weidenbacher (CF) over Will Kirschbaum, Maj 9-1

138 - Ryan Leisure (CL) over Ryan Roth, Dec 12-6

Clear Lake’s team score was adjusted by -1.000 for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Match #3 Round 3: Clear Lake defeated West Delaware 42-39

152 - Ryan Faught (CL) over Nick Casey, Fall 0:45

160 - Cooper Merrill (CL) over Jordan Bries, Fall 2:12

170 - Coy Roussell (WD) over Dalton Grell, Fall 1:52

182 - Brett Rausch (WD) over Dalton Mennenga, Fall 0:22

195 - Brady Antons (WD) over Kade Hambly, Fall 1:39

220 - Sam Johnson (WD) over Spencer Christensen, Fall 0:38

285 - Kyle Willms (CL) over Kaleb Zieser, Fall 3:54

106 - Bryan Hillyer (CL) win by forfeit

113 - Eric Faught (CL) over Jeff Ilgen, Fall 0:56

120 - Brad Rausch (WD) over Jackson Hamlin, Dec 4-1

126 - Aaron Canchola (CL) over Jordan Rausch, Fall 2:39

132 - Mitchel Mangold (WD) over Will Kirschbaum, Fall 1:04

138 - Owen Ward (WD) over Ben Finn, Fall 3:50

145 - Kaleb Froiland (CL) over Rikki Million, Fall 3:10

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