Three Lions finish as runnerup at NCC meet

Max Currier tuned up for a strong NCC tournament performance with a close Mason City match.-Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.

by Marianne Gasaway

Clear Lake sent three wrestlers to the finals, but were denied any individual championships at the North Central Conference Wrestling Tournament held Saturday at Iowa Falls.

Connor Morey (132), Thomas Gansen (160) and Dylan Kruckenberg (195) all earned runner-up finishes for the Lions.  Five additional grapplers made the podium.  Max Currier was third at 113; Connor O’Tool was fourth at 170; Isaiah Smith was fifth at 138; Carter Markwardt was sixth at 126; and Austin Larson was sixth at 182.

Iowa Fall-Alden edged Clarion-Goldfield for the tournament title, 198.5 to 192.5.  Humboldt was third at 187.5, followed by Hampton-Dumont-CAL (175), Algona (158), Webster City (11.5), Clear Lake (102) and St. Edmond (14).

“Overall, top to bottom I felt we wrestled well,” said Coach Doug Munn.  “We turned several matches around from early season losses and competed as I would expect. The NCC tournament, year in and year out, tends to be one of the toughest in the state.  In 53 years there has only

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been 10 three-time conference champs, with Clear Lake having three of them.  We put three in the finals, but came up short by not crowning any champs.”

The coach commended Morey, Gansen and Kruckenberg for their performances in the finals.

Morey recorded a fall over Hayden Thompson, of Algona, in 5:32 in his opening match at 132 and was a winner by major decision (11-3) against Chase Rattenborg, of Webster City, in the semifinals.  Jacob Martzahn topped Morey in the finals, 11-1.

Gansen reached the finals with a first round fall over Grant Webster, of St. Ed’s. In the semi-finals he earned a 5-0 win over Luke McKenna, of Algona. In the championship, Levi Naeve, of Humboldt, edged the Lion senior, 4-3.

Kruckenberg made his way to the finals with a first round fall over Tanner McKimmey, of Humboldt and second round 4-3 decision against Logan Walker, of Hampton-Dumont.  In the finals, Cole Lewis, of Algona, was a 7-3 winner.

Currier started strong at 113-pounds with a fall in 3:39 against Brayden Henely, of Webster City, however Tyler Stein, of Clarion-Goldfield sent Currier to the consolation bracket with a 7-1 decision.  The Lion freshman came back to post major decisions over Jacob Michaelson, of Iowa Falls-Alden, and Jase Goodell, of Humboldt, to finish third.

At 126-pounds, Carter Markwardt lost his opening match to Cale Kirstein, of C-G-D, then won his consolation match over Ryan Zutleau, of Webster City by fall.  After a loss to Colby Clarken, of Humboldt he was back on the mat with Kirstein in the fifth place match and was pinned.

Isaiah Smith started off with a loss at 138 against Jordan Jensen, from Humboldt, but recorded a pin in the consolation bracket again Gavin Bowman, of Algona.  He lost his next match to C-G-D’s Remindton Hansen by fall, but won his fifth place match over Jordan Vankham, of Webster City, by fall.

Connor O’Tool won his first match of the day, but then moved to the consolation bracket, where he battled back for a fourth place finish at 170.  After his 4-3 win against Braxton Scott, from Humboldt, he was pinned by eventual champion Kyler Hadwinger, from IF-A.  A 4-2 victory against Cael Arenas, from C-G-D put him in the third place match against Collin Murphy, from Algona.  That match was decided by a 3-0 score.

Austin Larson dropped his opening match by an 11-7 score to Camden Hanson, from C-G-D, but got a fall against Truman Klein, from Webster City.  He was edged in the fifth place match at 182 by Nic Warrington, of IF-A.  Warrington got the win in sudden victory, 4-2.

“Our younger kids got the feel of what it’s going to take to compete in this conference and I got a great feeling from their attitude that bigger and better things are just around the corner,” said Coach Munn.

Next up for the Lions is a road trip on Thursday to Garner, followed by the Clear Lake Mighty Lions Tournament on Saturday.

“Our youth tournament, I feel, is one of the best in the state and is one of our best fundraisers.  We tend to bring in anywhere from 250 to 300 kids from multiple states,” said Munn.  “We hope to see a lot of Clear Lake supporters on Saturday.”

CL 49, Mason City 25

The Lions stepped outside of North Central Conference competition last week to tangle with the Mason City Mohawks.  Clear Lake won nine matches — three by fall and four by forfeit, on their way to a 49-25 victory.

“Our dual with Mason City was exciting, as always, with a couple of great match-ups,” said Coach Munn. “Max Currier took a returning state finalist down to the whistle before losing by one.  I felt our kids came out with a lot of intensity knowing that we were facing Mason City.”

Hunter Rieck started the Lions out by pinning Ben Lorence at 152, followed by Thomas Gansen’s major decision at 160.  Gansen was a 15-2 winner over Riley Monahan. Connor O’Tool added six more points to the Clear Lake lead at 170 with a fall over Aidan Colby in 3:53.

Following three straight forfeits, Mason City got on the scoreboard with wins at 285, 106 and 113.  After another Mohawk forfeit at 120, Carter Markwardt earned a win for the Lions at 126.  He pinned Gunner Oelberg in 0:33.  Caden Jones also got a Lion win at 145.  He downed Chase Olsen 6-4 in sudden victory.

Clear Lake’s junior varsity got the night rolling by going 5-0.

In addition to the dual against the Mohawks, it was also Parents Night in the Lions gym and the program honored its outgoing seniors.  “Throw in “Coaches vs. Cancer” night, for which nearly $500 was raised, and you have a full evening,” joked Coach Munn. “We were also honored to have Steve Shannon and Patti Theiss step in and be our honorary captains that evening.  The Theiss family has been a staple and a huge supporter in our community for a long time.  We lost a great man this past year in Dave Theiss and we felt this was the least we could do to honor Dave and the Theiss family for everything they’ve done for Clear Lake.”

CL 49, Mason City 25

152: Hunter Rieck (CLLA) over Ben Lorence (MACI) (Fall 1:46) 160: Thomas Gansen (CLLA) over Riley Monahan (MACI) (MD 15-2) 170: Conner O`Tool (CLLA) over Aidan Colby (MACI) (Fall 3:53) 182: Hunter Trenary (CLLA) over (MACI) (For.) 195: Austin Larson (CLLA) over (MACI) (For.) 220: Dylan Kruckenberg (CLLA) over (MACI) (For.) 285: Carter Gorder (MACI) over Alex Flickinger (CLLA) (Fall 2:33) 106: Kale DiMarco (MACI) over Marcus Skidmore (CLLA) (Fall 0:59) 113: Jace Rhodes (MACI) over Max Currier (CLLA) (Dec 6-4) 120: Roman Gabrielson (CLLA) over (MACI) (For.) 126: Carter Markwardt (CLLA) over Gunner Oelberg (MACI) (Fall 0:33) 132: Connor Wiemann (MACI) over Conner Morey (CLLA) (Fall 5:04) 138: Cooper Wiemann (MACI) over Isaiah Smith (CLLA) (MD 19-7) 145: Caden Jones (CLLA) over Seth Ihlenfeldt (MACI) (SV-1 6-4)

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