Nationals wrestling update: Clarke gets second-place finish after moving up in division, weight class
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Kelseyville High School wrestling standout Jasmin Clarke has had an amazing week.
On Tuesday, the 16-year-old sophomore wrestler and state freestyle wrestling champ won the 2017 Women’s Freestyle Cadet Nationals title for the 200 pound weight class at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior and Cadet Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, as Lake County News has reported.
Over two days she won four four straight matches against top competitors from around the nation to win the national title.
The match that won her the title on Tuesday – with Tionna Collins of Kentucky – can be seen in the video above.
That powerful performance earned her the chance to move up in the competition, from the cadet level – for freshmen and sophomores in high school – to the junior level, for juniors and seniors, according to her coach, Orlando Zarate.
Not only did she move up in division to compete with upper class members but moved up to the 235 pound weight class, Zarate said.
Zarate said she won her quarterfinals match on Thursday and her semifinals match on Friday morning, which put her into the finals and the running for a second title in less than a week.
In the finals on Friday afternoon, she met fellow California native Arianna Cobian of Pittsburg. Zarate estimated that Cobian outweighed Clarke by as much as 30 pounds, a size disparity not common in wrestling events.
“The size advantage definitely was a huge factor in her finals match. Cobian was just too big and the size advantage was clear from the minute the match started,” he said.
Cobian defeated Clarke in the finals match with a pin, Zarate said.
However, Zarate’s enthusiasm for his athlete’s accomplishments wasn’t diminished by her second-place finish in her second title match in just three days.
“To place at Fargo is already an impressive task but to win your division and weight class then go up a division and a weight class to still make the finals? Unbelievable. No other words I could think of to describe that,” Zarate said.
Also adding to the experience was the “incredible” number of texts, messages and phone calls Zarate said he received wishing Clarke luck in this week’s competition.
“It truly felt like she had the entire county in her corner,” he said.
Clarke and Zarate traveled to Fargo along with Clarke’s father, John, and Kelseyville High teammate Alex Garcia, who competed this week in the 140 pound weight class in Greco-Roman wrestling. Garcia went 2-2, finishing out of the placement.
Zarate said both Clarke and Garcia worked hard to get to their level of wrestling, and this week that work paid off as they got to participate in the toughest tournament in the nation.
Zarate and Garcia headed back to Lake County on Friday night, but Zarate said Clarke isn’t quite done yet in Fargo.
“Jasmin will head home Sunday,” he said. “She's going to continue and do some duels with Team California.”
He added, “She doesn't seem to have an off switch on her lately.”
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