Lion wrestlers third at Conference Tournament

Clear Lake senior Eric Faught earned his third North Central Conference title and freshman Sam Nelson picked up his first at Saturday’s conference tournament held in Humboldt.

The Lions finished third as a team.  Clarion-Goldfield-Dows captured the title and Webster City  finished as runner-up.

“Overall, we had an amazing showing at the NCC,” said Coach Mike Lester.  “The wrestlers are wrestling at a very high level going into this last stretch of the season.  We are excited to fine tune our skills and compete great this week and then on to sectionals.”

After hosting Mason City for a dual meet Monday, the Lions will conclude the regular season with a triangular Wednesday at Lake Mills.  Clear Lake will host their Class 2A Sectional Meet Saturday, Feb. 3.

Faught improved his record to 39-0 by pinning his way through the NCC tournament.  The 126-pounder stuck Bryce Witham, of Algona, in the quarterfinals in 1:07.  It took 1:33 to take Noah Carlson to his back in the semi-finals and 1:07 to finish off Quinton Buresh, from Iowa Falls-Alden, in the championship match.

Coach Lester said Sam Nelson continues to show his dominance with his great positioning and smart wrestling techniques.

Wrestling at 106, Nelson needed just :40 seconds to defeat Jackson Kobe, of Iowa Falls-Alden, in the opening match.  In the semi-finals he pinned Ryan Puckett, of St. Ed’s in 2:59 and in the championship he defeated Tyler Stein, of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, 6-1.

At 138, Jackson Hamlin had an outstanding tournament, avenging a loss from Thursday night against Iowa Falls-Alden to advance to the finals.

“Jackson’s mindset really propelled him to the finals, where he wrestled a very sold match,” said Coach Lester.  Hamlin was defeated in the championship by Reed Abbas, of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, 13-5.

Ben Finn pinned his way to the finals and eventually lost an exciting match to take second place.  Finn, a 160-pounder, pinned Harrison Hayes, of Webster City, and Mitchell Priebe, of Algona, on his way to the finals. Reymundo Vasquez, from C-G-D, earned a 12-9 victory over Finn in the title match.

Kade Hambly was another Lion in the championship.  Hambly made it to the finals at 195 by beating the number one seed, Caleb Olson, from Webster

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City, in dominating fashion.  He opened the tourney with a 3-0 decision over Salvador Fregoso, of C-G-D, then toppled Olson, 10-3 in the semis.  His first place match with Dalton Chipp, of Hampton-Dumont, went to sudden victory, where Chipp got the 7-5 win.

NCC Tournament

106: Quarterfinals - Sam Nelson (CL) over Jackson Kobe (Iowa Falls-Alden) (Fall 0:40); Semifinals - Nelson over Ryan Duckett (St. Ed’s) (Fall 2:59); 1st Place Match - Nelson over Tyler Stein (Clarion-Goldfield-Dows) (Dec 6-1).

113: Quarterfinals - Conner Morey (CL) received a bye; Semifinals - Remington Hanson (C-G-D) over Morey (Fall 3:33); Morey over Zach Packard (Humboldt) (Fall 3:15).

126: Quarterfinals - Eric Faught (CL) over Bryce Witham (Algona) (Fall 1:07); Semifinals - Faught over Noah Carlson (St. Ed’s) (Fall 1:33); 1st Place Match - Faught over Quinton Buresh (IF-A) (Fall 1:07).

132: Quarterfinals - Darin Lemke (IF-A) over Bryan Hillyer (CL) (MD 10-0); Cons. Round 1 - Hillyer over Hunter Berry (Algona) (Dec 7-4); Cons. Semis - Hillyer over Parker Allen (Hampton-Dumont) (M. For.); 3rd Place Match - Zach Kollmorgen (H) over Hillyer (Dec 7-0).

138: Quarterfinals - Jackson Hamlin (CL) over Timmy Larson (H) (Fall 4:52); Semifinals - Hamlin over Riley Burke (IF-A) (Dec 4-1); 1st Place Match - Reed Abbas (C-G-D) over Hamlin (MD 13-5).

145: Quarterfinals - Braxton Doebel (CL) over Daltyn Peck (Webster City) (Fall 2:18); Semifinals - Joey Busse (H) over Doebel (MD 9-1); Cons. Semis - Doebel over Caleb Talbot (A) (MD 15-2); 3rd Place Match - Doebel over Cayden Howland (IF-A) (TF 16-1 5:11).

152: Quarterfinals - Rhys Glidden (CL) over Levi Henderson (IF-A) (Fall 4:57); Semifinals - Luke Rohmiller (WC) over Glidden (Dec 9-3); Cons. Semis - Glidden over Davion Goodell (H) (TF 16-1 4:23); 3rd Place Match - Austin Chase (A) over Glidden (Fall 2:27).

160: Quarterfinals - Ben Finn (CL) over Harrison Hayes (WC) (Fall 1:26); Semifinals - Finn over Mitchell Priebe (A) (Fall 0:47); 1st Place Match - Reymundo Vasquez (C-G-D) over Finn (Dec 12-9).

170: Quarterfinals - Chance Poley (CL) over Trey Barz (H-D) (TF 15-0 4:59); Semifinals - Mason Carpenter (C-G-D) over Poley (Fall 0:42); Cons. Semis - Poley  over Levi Naeve (H) (Dec 6-0); 3rd Place Match - Poley over Trey Barz (H-D) (TF 15-0 4:30).

182: Quarterfinals - Joel Osborn (H) over Dalton Mennenga (CL) (Dec 8-2); Cons. Round 1 - Mennenga received a bye; Cons. Semis - Colby Lienemann (C-G-D) over Mennenga (Dec 5-1); 5th Place Match - Mennenga over Hunter Collicott (WC) (MD 16-8).

195: Quarterfinals - Kade Hambly (CL) over Salvador Fregoso (C-G-D) (Dec 3-0); Semifinals - Hambly over Caleb Olson (WC) (Dec 10-3); 1st Place Match - Dalton Chipp (H-D) over Hambly (SV-1 7-5).

220: Quarterfinals - Brandon Johnson (H) over AJ Stevenson (CL) (Fall 1:14); Cons. Round 1 - Stevenson received a bye; Cons. Semis - Kain Nelson (C-G-D) over Stevenson (Fall 2:31); 5th Place Match - Stevenson over Gavin Meints (Algona) (M. For.).

285: Quarterfinals - Justin Jones (H) over Jake Keith (CL) (Fall 3:07); Cons. Round 1 - Keith received a bye; Cons. Semis - McKade Eisentrager (IF-A) over Keith (Clear Lake) (Dec 3-0); 5th Place Match - Keith over Kale Kramer (A) (MD 9-1).

Lions pin their

way past

H-D, IF-A

The Lions warmed up for Saturday’s conference meet with a pair of dual wins over two NCC teams.  The Lions traveled to Iowa Falls-Alden Thursday, Jan. 19, to wrestle IF-A and Hampton-Dumont.

Clear Lake used seven pins to post a 45-23 victory over IF-A.   Chance Poley (170), Kade Hambly (195), Jake Keith (285), Sam Nelson (106), Eric Faught (126), Rhys Glidden (152) and Ben Finn (160) all won by fall.  In addition, Braxton Doebel recorded an 8-2 decision at 145.

“The Lions are really finding their stride in with pinning combinations,” said Coach Mike Lester.  “Our shape in this dual really helped, as we were able to wear them down and get falls in the third.  Jake Keith had a nice come from behind fall to excite the night.”

The referee slapped the mat six more times for the Lions in their match with Hampton-Dumont.  Clear Lake rolled, 61-13.

Nelson (106), Faught (126), Jackson Hamlin (138), Glidden (152), Finn (160) and A.J. Stevenson (220) all pinned their opponents.

A major decision by Chance Poley at 170, and 12-6 decision by Dalton Mennenga at 182 contributed to the lopsided win.  The Lions also received points for three Bulldog forfeits.

CL 61, H-D 13

106: Sam Nelson (CLLA) over Abe Scheideman (HADU) (Fall 3:12) 113: Conner Morey (CLLA) over (HADU) (For.) 120: Jaycob Martzahn (HADU) over (CLLA) (For.) 126: Eric Faught (CLLA) over Tomas Cavazos (HADU) (Fall 0:54) 132: Parker Allen (HADU) over Bryan Hillyer (CLLA) (MD 9-0) 138: Jackson Hamlin (CLLA) over Pedro Castillo (HADU) (Fall 1:52) 145: Braxton Doebel (CLLA) over (HADU) (For.) 152: Rhys Glidden (CLLA) over Bryan Flores (HADU) (Fall 2:22) 160: Ben Finn (CLLA) over Josh Kew (HADU) (Fall 1:32) 170: Chance Poley (CLLA) over Trey Barz (HADU) (MD 14-3) 182: Dalton Mennenga (CLLA) over Logan Walker (HADU) (Dec 12-6) 195: Dalton Chipp (HADU) over Kade Hambly (CLLA) (Dec 4-3) 220: AJ Stevenson (CLLA) over Carter Lahner (HADU) (Fall 1:34) 285: Jake Keith (CLLA) over (HADU) (For.)

CL 45, IF-A 23

170: Chance Poley (CLLA) over Alberto Salmeron (IFA) (Fall 5:59) 182: Riley McWherter (IFA) over Dalton Mennenga (CLLA) (Fall 1:23) 195: Kade Hambly (CLLA) over Nicholas Hamilton (IFA) (Fall 0:48) 220: McKade Eisentrager (IFA) over AJ Stevenson (CLLA) (Dec 7-6) 285: Jake Keith (CLLA) over Victor Sanchez (IFA) (Fall 2:27) 106: Sam Nelson (CLLA) over Jackson Kobe (IFA) (Fall 0:47) 113: Jack Ites (IFA) over Conner Morey (CLLA) (Dec 9-2) 120: Mason Kent (IFA) over (CLLA) (For.) 126: Eric Faught (CLLA) over Quinton Buresh (IFA) (Fall 4:26) 132: Darin Lemke (IFA) over Bryan Hillyer (CLLA) (Dec 4-1) 138: Riley Burke (IFA) over Jackson Hamlin (CLLA) (Dec 4-0) 145: Braxton Doebel (CLLA) over Cayden Howland (IFA) (Dec 8-2) 152: Rhys Glidden (CLLA) over Levi Henderson (IFA) (Fall 5:57) 160: Ben Finn (CLLA) over Kyler Hadwiger (IFA) (Fall 1:14) (IFA straps -1.00)

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