Clark, Artist, Bertolino Win Intrasquad Matches

11/1/2007 – Ames, IA

The Cyclone wrestling team held their pre-season wrestle-off challenges in front of a nice size crowd of roughly 600 people tonight at the Lied Recreation Center. Four of the ten starting spots were up for grabs due to the departures of the Paulson brothers, the ‘Beast from the East’ Kurt Backes, and Grant Turner. Five of the six starters from last year breezed through their duals, while David Zabriskie edged newcomer Kyle Simonson 8-4 for the final match of the evening.

Newcomers earning spots included Tyler Clark at 125 lbs., Jon Reader at 165 lbs., Mitch Artist at 174 lbs., and David Bertolino at the 197 lb. slot. Clark wrestled a hard-fought battle with senior Ben Hanisch from Waterloo and escaped with a 2-1 decision. Neither wrestler was able to score during the first period and Clark’s reversal in the second period proved to be the winner. This weight class will likely see competition all year for the starting spot which will also include Mark Kist, a three-time state champion from Eagle Grove. Clark is a Freshman from Davenport who finished runner-up in last year’s Iowa high school state tournament at 119 pounds.

Reader dominated his match winning 15-2. He flattened Andrew Sorenson almost immediately with a Fireman’s. Reader is a Redshirt Freshman from Davison, Michigan. He was a three-time Michigan state champion and won several other national tournaments including Greco-Roman and freestyle. Reader has been ranked very high in pre-season polls, and Iowa State must receive big points and wins from Reader this year in order to surpass last year’s success.

Artist, a Redshirt Freshman from Glenwood, earned a starting spot at another highly contested weight class by beating Chris Pursel from Effingham, Kansas. Artist used several cradles and tilts to seemingly score at will when riding and won 15-7. The wrestlers were fairly evenly matched on their feet, but Artist dominated on top. Pursel, a sophomore, and Freshman Todd Becker will surely continue to fight for this spot. Becker did not wrestle due to injury.

Bertolino saw some action last year at 174 pounds, but made the jump his Senior year to the 197 pound spot, and it’s paid dividends early. Bertolino defeated Sophomore Joe Curran 7-3. Bertolino is the only senior to earn a starting spot this year, but it wasn’t pretty. The match was 4-2 late due to two stalling penalty points awarded to Curran thoughout the final period. Bertonlino received both calls while riding parallel. He released Curran after the second call to make the score 4-3 giving Curran a chance to win with a takedown, but Bertonlino beat him to the punch late securing the win. This weight class will likely see competition all year between Bertolino, Curran, and Simonson.

Iowa State Wrestling Intrasquad Results:

• 125 pounds – Tyler Clark dec Ben Hanisch 2 – 1
• 133 pounds – Nick Fanthorpe major dec Dalton Jensen 23-9
• 141 pounds – Nick Gallick major dec Joey DeMarie 13-4
• 149 pounds – Mitch Mueller major dec Brad Kruse 20-9
• 157 pounds – Cyler Sanderson tech fall Mike Finch 23-7
• 165 pounds – Jon Reader major dec Andrew Sorenson 15-2
• 174 pounds – Mitch Artisit dec Chris Pursel 15-7
• 184 pounds – Jake Verner fall Kamar Gainey
• 197 pounds – David Bertonlino dec Joe Curran 7-3
• 285 pounds – David Zabriskie dec Kyle Simonson 8-4

– Abe