“Hard Work Pays Off”
Levi Gall Wins State, Makes History!
Clarkson junior Levi Gall’s journey to becoming a state wrestling champion started at districts on February 14th and 15th. The Clarkson-Leigh Wrestling team traveled to Greeley to compete in the Class D district at Central Valley School. There were 24 teams that competed there. With a small team, Clarkson-Leigh finished 15th out of 24, with Central Valley winning first place.
Gall punched his ticket to state in the 285-lb weight class. After a bye for match 1, he went on to win four matches over the course of the weekend to win the heavyweight district title. He defeated Kyan Sones of Meridian as his final match.
The rest of the Patriots had a decent showing at districts as well even though Gall was the only state qualifier. Junior Brett Wemhoff, also in the heavyweight class, lost his first match and was out of the bracket. Wrestling at 106, Coal Fernau won his first match, but lost his second. Hunter Gall also won his first in 165, but lost his second.
“It was a good district weekend,” Head Coach Ryan Molacek said. “It's tough for all of the boys whose season has finished, but us coaches are incredibly proud of what they accomplished. Levi had a great weekend at districts as he was district champion and recorded his 100th career victory.”
But Gall wasn’t done with his winning crusade. He traveled to CHI Center in Omaha for the second year in a row for the Class D State Wrestling February 20-22.
Gall made quick work of his first two matchups at state, earning pins first against Kenan Hasenauer of Pleasanton and next against Connor Sullivan of Archbishop Bergan on Thursday.
For his third match on Friday in the semifinals, he went against Caden Zutavern of Sandhills/Thedford, earning the win.
For his final matchup, he overcame great adversity to defeat senior Colin Vrbka of Shelby-Rising City for the State Championship! Levi was 0-2 against Vrbka in the regular season, but none of that mattered at state. After suffering a big gash to his forehead at the end of the third period, he went on to defeat Vrbka in overtime 4-1, earning the gold medal.
Levi ended the season with an impressive 49-3 record. This marks the second-ever state medal winner for the Patriot wrestling program, and the first-ever state champion!
“We were all hoping Levi could do some damage at the state tournament,” said Coach Molacek,” and we are all so proud of him for what he accomplished.”
When asked how he felt about winning a state championship,” Levi responded very simply: “Hard work pays off.”
Congratulations Levi on your history-making season!