by Marianne Gasaway
Clear Lake will be represented by three wrestlers at the Iowa State Wrestling Tournament this week.
Max Currier, Aiden Hippen and Kaleb Hambly advanced through a tough district tournament at Iowa Falls-Alden Saturday.
“Districts was a very emotional day for us,” said Coach Evan Johnson. “We had a number of kids who came up just short, but still competed very well. I know that they were disappointed that their ultimate goal didn’t become a reality, but we have come such a long way as a team in a very short time. They have so much to be proud of and so much to build on for next year.
As the eighth seeded wrestler in the 132-pound bracket, Currier received a first round bye in the field of 24 competitors. The CLHS senior will begin his quest for a State placement by taking on the winner of the ninth-seed Carter Lamont (37-6), of Vinton-Shellsburg, vs. 24-seed Ryan Wilson (24-20), of Crestwood-Cresco. This is Currier’s third trip to the State tourney. He placed seventh last year.
Hippen, a freshman, and Hambly, a senior, are both making their first appearance at State.
Hippen (33-11) is the 19th seed in the 138-pound weight class. He will open the tourney facing another freshman, 14th seed Tucker Wheeler (40-12), from PCM, Monroe.
Hambly, a senior, will compete at 182-pounds as the 14 seed with a 25-6 record. He will take on 19th seeded Gabe Poolman (24-8), a senior from Spirit Lake Park, in the first round.
“They are all very excited to go down to Des Moines and make some noise,” said Coach Johnson.
Class 2A quarterfinals and consolations begin at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16. Semi-finals are slated for 1:30 p.m. Friday, with consolation semi-finals and finals starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. Finals for all classes begin at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.
Results by weight
(unless otherwise noted, wrestlers received first round bye)
113: Semifinals – Mack Morgan (EG) over Jeseb Prestholt (CL) (Fall 0:15); Cons. Semis – Prestholt received a bye; 3rd Place Match – Garrett Tusler (O) over Prestholt (Fall 3:44)
126: Quarterfinals – Walker Ashton (BCLUW-SH) over Noah Potter (CL) (Fall 1:04); Cons. Round 1 – Potter received a bye; Cons. Semis – Hayden Schafer (EG) over Potter (Fall 2:21).
132: Semifinals – Max Currier (CL) over Cooper Thacker (EG) (Fall 0:17); 1st Place Match – Anders Kittelson (O) over Currier (TF 21-5 4:27); 2nd Place Match – Currier over Chance Cordes (BCLUW-SH) (Fall 0:42).
138: Quarterfinals – Aiden Hippen (CL) over Ryan Busch (BCLUW-SH) (Fall 1:19); Semifinals – Kaden Hanson (CGD) over Hippen (Fall 5:56); Cons. Semis – Hippen over Keaton Mulford (IF-A) (MD 15-2); 2nd Place Match – Hippen over Darren Adams (O) (Fall 5:30); 3rd Place Match – Hippen over Dustin Dawson (EG) (Fall 1:57).
145: Semifinals – Caleb Seaba (CGD) over Tyler LeFevre (CL) (Fall 2:42); Cons. Semis – LeFevre over Will Henle (IFA) (Fall 2:17); 2nd Place Match – Caleb Seaba (CGD) over Tyler LeFevre (Clear Lake) (NC); 3rd Place Match – LeFevre over Connor Christopher (EG) (Fall 2:47).
152: Quarterfinals – Christian Dunning (CL) over Aaron Halverson (IF-A) (Fall 4:43); Semifinals – Chase Thomas (O) over Dunning (Dec 7-1); Cons. Semis – Dunning over Wyatt Guiles (BCLUW-SH) (Fall 1:13); 3rd Place Match – Cale Kirstein (CGD) over Dunning (Fall 1:49).
160: Quarterfinals – Carter Perry (CL) over Reece Demuth (EG) (Fall 1:42); Cons. Semis – Perry over Kaiden McWilliams (BCLUW-SH) (Fall 1:14); 2nd Place Match – Mack Seaba (CGD) over Perry (NC); 3rd Place Match – Perry over Aidan Richards (IF-A) (Dec 6-0).
170: Quarterfinals – Hayden Rieck (CL) over Alex Paxson (BCLUW-SH) (Dec 10-7); Semifinals – Micheal Ohotto (GHV) over Rieck (Dec 5-2); Cons. Semis – Rieck over Trevor Bailey (IF-A) (Fall 2:34); 3rd Place Match – Nash Lienemann (CGD) over Rieck (Dec 11-6).
182: Semifinals – Kaleb Hambly (CL) over Mason Allen (CGD) (MD 9-1); 1st Place Match – Hambly over Parker Moritz (GHV) (Fall 0:39).
195: Semifinals – Jack Mendoza (EG) over Jake Trenary (CL) (Dec 5-2); Cons. Semis – Trenary (over Jacob Hansen (GHV) (Fall 3:40); 2nd Place Match – Jack Mendoza (EG) over Trenary (NC); 3rd Place Match – Trenary over Erick Perez (CGD) (Dec 11-6).
220: Semifinals – Ashtin Willms (CGD) over Dylan Evenson (CL) (MD 13-2); Cons. Semis – Evenson over Andrew Robinson (EG) (Fall 2:43); 2nd Place Match – Willms (CGD) over Evenson (NC); 3rd Place Match – Evenson over Trenton Robinson (GHV) (Fall 5:06).
285: Semifinals – Sean May (BCLUW-SH) over Aaron Richtsmeier (CL) (Fall 3:32); Cons. Semis – Jesus Baez (EG) over Richtsmeier (Fall 3:07).
