Hillsboro’s Lane Cluff wins in Division II State Championship preliminaries
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — The time has finally come for Hillsboro senior Lane Cluff. His first two trips to the Division II State Wrestling Championships didn’t go his way, but on Thursday he gained his first-ever win at the state level, winning by pin fall in the 285-pound weight class and advancing to the championship quarterfinals.
Cluff — now 49-3 overall — won by pin fall in the championship preliminaries over Daniel Wirth of Lisbon Beaver (36-9) in the third round at the 4:28 mark of the match at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, at Value City Arena on the campus of The Ohio State University.
“It was the same thing we have worked on all year,” Cluff said of his state match. “We went out there and wrestled like we have been all year, got to the legs and used conditioning to stay longer than he did.
“Coach is always on us about how it is about whoever is in the most shape at the end of the period and the match is going to get the win. All the work after matches and in practice Coach has us do helped us, and it helped us on capitalizing on mistakes.”
The Hillsboro senior Cluff trailed early by a 2-0 score but was able to score a point on an escape for a 2-1 deficit to end the first round.
In the second two-minute round, Cluff tied the match at 2-2, then took the lead with 55 seconds left in the round off a takedown. Wirth made it a 4-3 score with an escape of his own, only to see Cluff score two more points on a takedown with the clock reading 19 seconds.
Entering the third round with a 6-3 lead, Cluff didn’t sit back. Rather, he became even more aggressive with a big slam with 1:50 left in the match and third round, followed by eventually turning over Wirth and gaining the win by the aforementioned pin fall.
Cluff spoke about gaining his first win at state in what is his third trip as a state qualifier.
“It is amazing,” he said. “It is amazing to look up into the stands at who have traveled with you all season and not have to disappoint them. We get to come back tomorrow and wrestle two more matches at least and keep working to get to the podium.
“I want to thank Coach for all the hard work and dedication he gives me in the room and the time that both of them (head coach Greg Rhoads and coach Nathan Hey) give me, and we want to get on that podium this year.”
This season, Cluff is a Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) champion, a sectional champion and a district runner-up. The win by Cluff puts him at 151 career wins.
The Division II championship quarterfinals begin on Friday, March 8 at 10:35 a.m. Cluff will face defending state champion Jack DelGarbino of Girard.
Cluff — now 49-3 overall — won by pin fall in the championship preliminaries over Daniel Wirth of Lisbon Beaver (36-9) in the third round at the 4:28 mark of the match at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, at Value City Arena on the campus of The Ohio State University.
“It was the same thing we have worked on all year,” Cluff said of his state match. “We went out there and wrestled like we have been all year, got to the legs and used conditioning to stay longer than he did.
“Coach is always on us about how it is about whoever is in the most shape at the end of the period and the match is going to get the win. All the work after matches and in practice Coach has us do helped us, and it helped us on capitalizing on mistakes.”
The Hillsboro senior Cluff trailed early by a 2-0 score but was able to score a point on an escape for a 2-1 deficit to end the first round.
In the second two-minute round, Cluff tied the match at 2-2, then took the lead with 55 seconds left in the round off a takedown. Wirth made it a 4-3 score with an escape of his own, only to see Cluff score two more points on a takedown with the clock reading 19 seconds.
Entering the third round with a 6-3 lead, Cluff didn’t sit back. Rather, he became even more aggressive with a big slam with 1:50 left in the match and third round, followed by eventually turning over Wirth and gaining the win by the aforementioned pin fall.
Cluff spoke about gaining his first win at state in what is his third trip as a state qualifier.
“It is amazing,” he said. “It is amazing to look up into the stands at who have traveled with you all season and not have to disappoint them. We get to come back tomorrow and wrestle two more matches at least and keep working to get to the podium.
“I want to thank Coach for all the hard work and dedication he gives me in the room and the time that both of them (head coach Greg Rhoads and coach Nathan Hey) give me, and we want to get on that podium this year.”
This season, Cluff is a Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) champion, a sectional champion and a district runner-up. The win by Cluff puts him at 151 career wins.
The Division II championship quarterfinals begin on Friday, March 8 at 10:35 a.m. Cluff will face defending state champion Jack DelGarbino of Girard.