Mission accomplished: Lane Cluff places 8th at 2019 Division II State Wrestling Championships
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Before the 2019 OHSAA State Wrestling Championships began this week, Hillsboro senior Lane Cluff said he was “on a mission” in his final trip to the event, and that was to not only win a match at state, but to reach the podium and become a state placer for the Hillsboro Indians.
Cluff completed that mission over the weekend in Columbus at the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, located at The Ohio State University, as he placed eighth overall after finishing 2-3 in his third and final state wrestling championships. For the season, Cluff finishes at 50-5 overall with a four-year career win total of 152.
Cluff marks the 19th time in program history that the Indians have had a state placer, with this being the second time Hillsboro has had an eighth-place finish at state.
Now a senior, Cluff had previously qualified for the state wrestling championships during his sophomore and junior years. He wrestled four times and was unable to gain a win in each of those matches, but his senior year had a different tone to it and things changed for Cluff.
Cluff began the state wrestling championships as a Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) and sectional champion, plus a district runner-up, but starting on Thursday he began the final mission with a pin fall win — the first of his state career — over Daniel Wirth of Lisbon Beaver at the 4:28 mark of the match in the third round.
As for that match, Cluff spoke about that very first win at the state championships on Thursday.
“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 Thursday 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.”
Getting on that podium is exactly what Cluff achieved.
On Friday, Cluff wrestled three times, going 1-2 on the day, but still that second win in the state wrestling championships got Cluff to the seventh-place match on Saturday.
Cluff began Friday in the championship quarterfinals where Jack DelGarbino — the defending state champion in the 285-pound weight class — of Girard pinned Cluff at the 2:13 of the match in the second round.
Then came the consolation round two match for Cluff, where the winner was guaranteed to become a state placer and earn a spot on the podium, and Cluff took full advantage of the opportunity and won. The Hillsboro senior defeated David Hooks of Akron St. Vincent St. Mary by a 2-1 decision to earn the aforementioned state placer podium spot.
Cluff wrestled one more time on Friday in the consolation quarterfinals, but lost that match to Brenan Knueve of Wapakoneta by pin at the 34-second mark of the match in the first round.
On Saturday, Cluff wrestled his final high school match, falling in the seventh-place match by pin fall to Jacob Petit of Akron Archbishop Hoban at the 2:41 mark of the match in the second round.
Cluff completed that mission over the weekend in Columbus at the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, located at The Ohio State University, as he placed eighth overall after finishing 2-3 in his third and final state wrestling championships. For the season, Cluff finishes at 50-5 overall with a four-year career win total of 152.
Cluff marks the 19th time in program history that the Indians have had a state placer, with this being the second time Hillsboro has had an eighth-place finish at state.
Now a senior, Cluff had previously qualified for the state wrestling championships during his sophomore and junior years. He wrestled four times and was unable to gain a win in each of those matches, but his senior year had a different tone to it and things changed for Cluff.
Cluff began the state wrestling championships as a Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) and sectional champion, plus a district runner-up, but starting on Thursday he began the final mission with a pin fall win — the first of his state career — over Daniel Wirth of Lisbon Beaver at the 4:28 mark of the match in the third round.
As for that match, Cluff spoke about that very first win at the state championships on Thursday.
“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 Thursday 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.”
Getting on that podium is exactly what Cluff achieved.
On Friday, Cluff wrestled three times, going 1-2 on the day, but still that second win in the state wrestling championships got Cluff to the seventh-place match on Saturday.
Cluff began Friday in the championship quarterfinals where Jack DelGarbino — the defending state champion in the 285-pound weight class — of Girard pinned Cluff at the 2:13 of the match in the second round.
Then came the consolation round two match for Cluff, where the winner was guaranteed to become a state placer and earn a spot on the podium, and Cluff took full advantage of the opportunity and won. The Hillsboro senior defeated David Hooks of Akron St. Vincent St. Mary by a 2-1 decision to earn the aforementioned state placer podium spot.
Cluff wrestled one more time on Friday in the consolation quarterfinals, but lost that match to Brenan Knueve of Wapakoneta by pin at the 34-second mark of the match in the first round.
On Saturday, Cluff wrestled his final high school match, falling in the seventh-place match by pin fall to Jacob Petit of Akron Archbishop Hoban at the 2:41 mark of the match in the second round.