Clark leads PCM wrestlers at Cliff Keen Independence Invitational

INDEPENDENCE — The Cliff Keen Independence Invitational might be the toughest tournament the Mustangs compete in this season.

The two-day event featured 30 teams, at least five ranked squads, a plethora of ranked wrestlers and even programs from out of state.

And Kaden Clark navigated through all of it with a perfect 6-0 day as he was the champion at 285 pounds on Dec. 7.

Tucker Wheeler suffered his first losses of the season but finished fourth at 157, Kaliber Fry was ninth at 126 and Jeffery McDanel also scored a top-15 finish as the Mustangs placed 20th as a team with 143 points.

PCM entered 10 wrestlers in the tournament. The top 10 finishing teams did not have fewer than 13 wrestlers for the event.

Class 2A No. 5 Clark (9-0) posted six pins in winning the 285 bracket. He was 6-0 with four first-period pins.

Fourth-ranked Wheeler (8-2) dropped his first match of the season to an out-of-state wrestler but then fell 7-1 to Class 1A No. 3 Tieran Boots of Lisbon in the third-place match.

Wheeler’s day also included one pin, two technical falls and a pair of decisions.

Class 2A No. 12 Fry (8-1) finished ninth at 126 but only lost once on the weekend. He was 5-1 with two pins, one technical fall and two major decisions.

McDanel and Sawyer Bouwkamp both wrestled at 165. McDanel (7-3) finished 13th after going 4-3 with one pin, two technical falls and one medical forfeit. Bouwkcamp (6-2) won three times, scored two pins and ended up 17th.

The other top finishes came from Danson Drake, Harrison Brinegar, Kaiden Valcore and Bentlee Sloan.

Drake was 18th after finishing 3-3 with three pins at 175, Brinegar was 20th with two pins at 150 and Valcore ended up 21st with two pins and one technical fall victory.

Sloan finished 25th at 138. He was 3-3 with three pins.

Class 1A No. 2 Alburnett won the tournament title with 348 points. The rest of the top five featured 3A No. 4 Carlisle (308.5), Fennimore, Wis. (294.5), 2A No. 7 Burlington Notre Dame (294) and host Independence (253).

Clear Creek-Amana (228.5), Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (224), 1A No. 6 Denver (215), 2A No. 10 Algona (209) and Pleasant Valley (205) completed the top 10.