If there had been more matches, Crown Point senior Will Clark would’ve been ready.
But Clark, a Buffalo football recruit, has reached the end of his career on the mat.
“I’m sad that it’s all over,” he said. “I wish I could keep going. But my body is going to start feeling better now.”
Not that Clark could wrestle much better. He won his second state title on Saturday by pinning Lawrence North senior Brandon Johnson in the first period of the championship match in the 215-pound weight class in Evansville, putting the exclamation point on his high school career.
Clark was the lone wrestler from Northwest Indiana to win a state title as two-time defending team champion Crown Point (121 points) finished third behind winner Brownsburg (124.5) and runner-up Center Grove (121.5). Four other wrestlers from the area finished second: Lake Central senior Mason Jones at 106, Chesterton senior Hayden DeMarco at 132, Crown Point freshman Clinton Shepherd at 138 and Merrillville junior Adrian Pellot at 157.
Clark (33-3), who won the state title at 220 last season, said he felt relieved in the end.
“Coming to this tournament and getting it done, I can feel the weight lifted off of my chest,” he said. “Not that there was doubt in my mind, but I was a little more worried. It’s done now. I’ve got it. And not too many guys win two state championships, so I’m really excited about it.”
Clark’s apprehension stemmed from his delayed start to the season. The first official practice was Oct. 30, but Clark didn’t start wrestling until after Thanksgiving because he was busy with Crown Point’s football team, which reached the Class 6A state championship game. His first meet was the nationally renowned Walsh Jesuit Ironman in Ohio on Dec. 9.
“I had to get back in the groove of wrestling,” Clark said. “I had to get back in the swing of knowing when to warm up and how to get my mind right to wrestle.”
Clark’s only three losses this season came at that meet, and Crown Point coach Branden Lorek said Clark rediscovered his old form by simply working to unearth it.
“He just kept showing up,” Lorek said. “He didn’t complain. He didn’t take any days off. He’s always been motivated. He’s got a big heart.”
Clark had a partner for this journey, too, the same one he’s had since birth: his twin brother Paul, a three-time state qualifier who also will play football at Buffalo.
“It was a lot of hard work, and it was probably a little bit hard for him to get into that wrestling shape because of the weight class he was in,” Paul Clark said.
While Paul Clark (29-4) competed in the 285-pound weight class, Will Clark had to drop from his weight range of 225-230 during football to get to 215 for wrestling.
Will Clark said it wasn’t easy but that’s exactly why he did it.
“I showed that you can go a whole football season, take top two in the state, then go straight to wrestling and still be able to get it done,” he said. “It shows a different mindset that some people have. That just comes from my coaches and my family and the motivation I have to keep going.”
There was one lingering disappointment for Will Clark and his teammates, though: Crown Point didn’t win the team title. That was already out of reach by the time he went out for his championship match, and he used that as an extra boost.
“We wanted that three-peat,” Will Clark said. “It just sucks. But I went out there and won it for them. That gave me more motivation than what I’d had.”
After all that, Will Clark was looking forward to a day off.
“I’ve been going nonstop since, like, summertime, with these sports beating on me,” he said. “Football and wrestling are not easy on the body.”
Then Will Clark’s face lit up as he remembered Monday is President’s Day.
“And we don’t have school,” he said. “I’m going to sleep in so long.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
