Seven CL grapplers still in hunt for State berth

By Marianne Gasaway

Seven Clear Lake wrestlers will be on the mats Saturday vying for a State Tournament berth.  The Lions finished third at the Class 2A Sectional held Saturday in Osage.  Five grapplers won titles, while two others advanced with second place finishes.

The Lions finished third in the team race behind Osage and Hampton-Dumont.  Osage topped the field with 217.5 points, while the Bulldogs had 217.  Clear Lake was next with 203-points.  Charles City was fourth with 174.5 points, followed by Forest City with 110 and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura with 100.

Clear Lake Coach Mike Lester said he was a bit disappointed to not qualify for the regional dual tournament, despite having the highest number of District qualifiers. “Now the focus goes to our District wrestlers and preparing our younger wrestlers for next season,” said Lester.

Undefeated and top ranked Eric Faught (32-0) led the Lions with a pair of falls at 132.  As the top seed at the weight he received a first round bye, then pinned Tom Cavazos, from Hampton, in the semi-finals in 2:37 and Bronson Forsyth, of Charles City, in the finals in 1:18.

Sam Nelson (27-6) was also a winner for the Lions at 113.  Nelson won by fall over Ethan Sesker, of Forest City, in the semi-finals, then posted a 7-4 decision over Joe Jacobs, from Osage in the first place match.

Bryan Hillyer (23-12) was the champion at 138-pounds.  Hillyer had a first round bye, then won by a 3-2 decision over Luke Brown, of GHV, in the semi-finals.  He earned the Sectional title in exciting fashion.  He won run sudden victory over Brody Roll, of Osage, 10-8.

“Hillyer wrestled his heart out to win his Sectional bracket,” said Lester.  “He was down early, but battled his way back to get an overtime situation which he recorded the takedown to win.”

At 182, Dylan Kruckenberg (23-11) pinned his way to the Sectional title.  He topped Owen Muller, of Osage, in 3:05 the semifinal and Jack Sindlinger, of Charles City, in 3:58 in the first place match.

“Dylan has shown improvement as we progressed through the season, which is paying off,” said the coach.

Kade Hambly (28-5) was the champion at 220-pounds.  Hambly won by fall in both of his matches.  In the semifinal he downed Race Van Dusseldorp, of GHV, in 0:47.  In the final Wyatt Folkerts, of Hampton, was taken to his back in 1:36.

Braxton Doebel (29-4) advanced to Districts with a runner-up finish at 152-pounds.  Doebel won his semi-final match against Colin Muller, of Osage, by f