2008-09 SEASON RECAP

Cougars take 3rd at National Championships
Tyrell Fortune wins 285 National Championship

February 28, 2009
Rochester, MN -- The Cougars lived up to the hype - The squad was ranked 3rd in the final NJCAA poll and they battled hard to walk away from Rochester with the NJCAA Div I third place hardware. It was Clackamas' best finish at nationals since 1989 when the Cougars took 2nd and the third best in school hisotry (Cougars won the National Championship in 1971).

The Cougars narrowly missed second place by a margin of 2.5 points as Region 18 rival Idaho College earned that distinction with 89.5 points while Iowa Central took top honors with 161.5 points. [team scores]

On the day, five Cougars earned All-American with Tyrell Fortune taking 1st at 285, Kyle Wirkuty taking 3rd at 141, Caleb Kociemba and Kris Spencer taking 5th at 184 and 165 and Brett Sanchez taking 7th at 197.

285lber Tyrell Fortune had a monster tournament pinning every wrestler he faced while going 5-0 to become the first Cougar National Champion since Glenn Garrison won the 142lb Championship in 1997. Fortune's performance earned him the Bruce Traphagen Award which distinguishes the wrestler with the most falls in the least amount of time.

Fortune opened day two with another first round pin, this time against Labette's 8th-ranked Ben Hohensee in the second minute. Fortune then faced his toughest match of the tournament in Northwest Wyoming's Landon Harris, the 3rd-ranked junior college heavy weight in the nation. Harris and Fortune battled a very even match until Fortune was able to capture the title on a pin at 5:49 in the second period. [285 bracket]

141 lber Kyle Wirkuty got knocked out of the championship hunt with an opening round loss to 2nd-ranked Vinny Pisani of Iowa Central, but bounced back with three convincing wins including a pair of pins to hold on to a shot at 3rd place in the tournament. Day two of the tournament was a moment of sweet revenge for Wirkuty. After defeating Vinny Pasani - in 5-3 overtime nail biter rematch earlier today, Wirkuty was pitted against North Idaho's Tim McGoldrick in the 3rd place match.

2009 National Championships
Weight	Athlete	W-L	Place
141	Kyle Wirkuty	5- 2	3rd
149	Anthony Weerheim	2- 2	DNP
157	Jace Lewis	0- 2	DNP
165	Kris Spencer	5- 2	5th
174	Josh Miller	2- 2	DNP
184	Caleb Kociemba	4- 2	5th
197	Brett Sanchez	3-2	7th
285	Tyrell Fortune	4-0	Champion

Two weeks ago, McGoldrick took the Region 18 crown at 141 pounds while Wirkuty had to settle for third at the event. This time it was Wirkuty that got the upper hand as he easily defeated McGoldrick 7-2 to take third at nationals. [141 bracket]

165 lber Kris Spencer lost his opening match of day one, but recouped by winning three straight, including wins over 8th & 4th-ranked wrestlers to remain in contention for a third place match. Spencer opened day two with 11-5 decision before slipping by the same score to Lincoln College's 7th-ranked David Dwyer. The loss placed Spencer in the 165lbs 5th place match which he won on an injury default by North Iowa's Tim Springs. [165 bracket]

184 lber Caleb  Kociemba won three sound decisions including a 9-5 decision over 2nd-ranked David Benson of Labette in his final match of the day one to reach the semifinals. Kociemba was knocked out of a shot for the title match when he lost a 6-2 decision to eventual 184 National Champion Devin Clark of Rochester. The loss put him in a match with Region 18 Champion Kamron Jackson who defeated Kociemba 4-1. Kociemba finally picked up a 7-2 win over 6th-ranked Joe Johnson of Iowa Central to capture fifth place. [184 bracket]

After winning his opener, 197 lber Brett Sanchez narrowly missed the semi-finals with a hard fought 4-2 loss in overtime to eventual 197 nation champion Phil Hawes of Iowa Central. Sanchez opened day 2 with a 5-0 loss to John Taylor of Niagara which placed Sanchez in the seventh place match against Itasca College's Skip Johnson. Johnson, the sixth-ranked 197lber, was no match for Sanchez as Sanchez picked up a major decision 10-1 to capture seventh. [197 bracket]