River Kings split double dual with Davenport West and Muscatine on Senior Night

Jan. 5—CLINTON — It was Senior Night for the Clinton River King boys wrestling team on Thursday night as they hosted their lone home dual meet of the season.

The night started out against Mississippi Athletic Conference foe Davenport West and Clinton got the ball rolling right away with three straight pins from Sam Hoffman, Brady Jennings and Nolan Eggers.

Mason Luckritz, Hayden Chandler and Ben Brown all also had dominant performances in the heavier weights, winning by fall with two of them in the first round.

The River Kings had four wins by forfeit and closed out the match with a Danny Peters win by fall in three minutes and 18 seconds. Clinton sealed the win 66 to 17 over the Falcons.

"Our kids have been working extremely hard in the room and they came out ready to go against Davenport West. We have been really stressing the importance of bonus points in dual meets. It was great to see our kids respond with 7 pins," Clinton head coach JD Lueders said.

In between matches, the River Kings recognized their four seniors for their contributions to the program both as students and athletes.

"Our four seniors, Ben Brown, Darion Clark, Terry Liggins and Mason Luckritz have been great to work with. Their leadership has been a key to our success this year," Lueders said. "I have really enjoyed getting to know them, they are great young men and I know they will be successful in life when they leave CHS."

Clinton closed the night with a battle against the Muscatine Muskies, one that came down to the wire.

After falling behind by six points early, Eggers and Clark picked up wins to jump them in front 9-6. Luckritz picked up a win by decision to knot things up and Ben Brown picked up a second round fall to make it 18-18 heading into the lower weights.

Jakob Geestman picked up a win by fall at 106 pounds in 19 seconds and the River Kings went back ahead by 12 points.

However, the Muskies rallied with three straight pins but Peters came through once again, this time with a win by fall in 2:46 to knot the night at 36-36.

Sam Hoffman took the mat at 144 pounds, taking on Muscatine's Seth Reiland. Coming down to the third round, Reiland got the win by fall in five minutes and 24 seconds to pick up the team win 42-36 for Muscatine.

"I tell the kids all the time life is about taking advantage of opportunities. We had our opportunities against Muscatine but we didn't capitalize on them. Getting pinned 7 times is not acceptable," Lueders explained. "We just have to hate losing. I don't think this team is quite at that point yet, but I am confident we will get there."

Clinton moves to (9-3) on the year and will have a week off before heading to Bettendorf next Thursday night for a double dual with Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley and Central DeWitt at 6 p.m.

"These guys are great kids, they work hard and they have come a long way in a short time. We will keep working on getting better every day." Lueders said.

Clinton will host their annual Bob Lueders Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 20.