Three Lions, one Cardinal advance to State wrestling

Clear Lake will send three wrestlers to the State Meet and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura will be represented by one.

All three Lions advancing were champions at their weight at the Class 2A District 1 meet held Saturday at Parkersburg.  Clear Lake will be represented by Sam Nelson at 106 pounds, Eric Faught at 126, and Kade Hambly at 195.  GHV’s Jared Shaw was runner-up at 152-pounds to advance.

Nelson, a freshman with a  record of 41-7, defeated Osage’s Avery Abeen for the second time this season in the finals.  Nelson lost his first match against Abben early in the year at the Osage Duals, but defeated him at both Sectionals and Districts.

“Sam did a great job staying in great position and capitalizing on back points,” said Coach Mike Lester. “Sam has his eye set on a state title.”

Junior Eric Faught continued his pinning technique through the District tournament.  Top ranked Faught improved to 48-0 with a fall in 3:54 over Mason Cleveland, from New Hampton-Turkey Valley, at 126.

“Eric controlled the whole match in the finals and wore his opponent down, which opened him up to get the pin,” said Lester.

At 195-pounds,  Kade Hambly used a major decision over NH-TV’s Max Schwickerath in the first round.  The win set up a North Central Conference Tournament rematch in the championship.  In late January, Hampton-Dumont’s Dalton Chipp edged Hambly 7-5 in sudden victory to claim the NCC title at 195.

“With a rematch in the finals, Kade stuck to the game plan and won a District title.  He wrestled one of his best days at Sectionals to pave his way to state,” said Coach Lester.

Clear Lake’s  Jackson Hamlin (138) and Braxton Doebel (140) finished in third place, falling just shy of a

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

State berth.  Hamlin met Roland-Story’s Koby Hassebrock on the mat to determine second place.

“Jackson closed the gap with Hassebrock in the wrestle-back, but feel short,” explained Coach Lester, pointing to Hassebrock’s 8-1 victory over Hamlin in the Sectional title match. Hassebrock got the win at Districts by a 4-0 score.

Doebel lost to number one rated Noah Fye, of NH-TV, in the championship by at 2-0 decision.

“Braxton wrestled a smart match against Fye, almost getting the win,” said Lester.   In the wrestle-back, Doebel wrestled Mooberry, from Osage, for the third time this season.  Like Nelson, he lost to the Osage senior at a dual meet, but defeated him a Sectionals.  Mooberry won the rubber-match at Districts by a 10-6 score.

“He came out great with a takedown in :20 seconds.  After a reversal and quick two back points, the match started to slip away,” said the coach.

Clear Lake’s Connor Morey and Ben Finn lost their first round matches and won their second match.  Both finished third when the front side of their brackets did not work out in their favor and did not allow them to wrestle-back for a chance to go to State.

GHV’s Jared Shaw made it to State by virtue of a runner-up finish at 152.  Clear Lake’s Rhys Glidden was fourth at the weight.

Shaw earned an 8-2 decision over NH-TV’s Clayton Taylor in the semifinals, then fell to Dylan Koresh, of Charles City, in the first place match, 9-1.

Also competing at the District Meet for the Lions was Dalton Mennenga (182) and Jake Keith (285).  Both wrestlers finished fourth at their weight.

[/wlm_ismember]