Jack Clarahan Places Third and Reanah Utterback Makes History For Sigourney-Keota Wrestling

DES-MOINES—Sigourney-Keota senior wrestler Jack Clarahan brought his high school wrestling career full circle last Saturday, February 18 when he earned a third place finish at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament in the 170-pound bracket. 

“Jack’s overall performance was pretty dominant,” said Sigourney-Keota head coach Corey Vandenheuvel. “He did some of his best wrestling this weekend and earned every bit of his third place finish. Fabulous performance overall.”

Clarahan, who qualified for the state tournament his freshman year, dominated Jacob Thiry of Don Bosco in the third place match by way of 14-4 major decision. 

On day one of the tournament, Clarahan started with a bye before defeating Owen Hoover of CAM by 8-0 Major Decision. It was in the second round where Clarahan suffered his only setback of the tournament, falling 9-8 in a tightly contested match with Titus Evans of Nashua-Plainfield.

Bouncing back from the loss and fighting his way to a third place finishing was something that impressed Coach Vandenheuvel. 

“I always say the toughest guy in the bracket is the guy who finishes in third place,” Vandenheuvel said. “Jack came out of that loss laser focused and came up with a plan B that took him to the podium.”

Now at the point where it was win or go home, Clarahan defeated Ian Kohnen of Manson Northwest Webster 10-5. Following that up with a victory by pin over Jordan Saul of Greattinger - Terril/Ruthven - Ayshire.  

With a spot in the third place match on the line, Clarahan defeated Ryan Stiles of Earlham, 5-2. 

Jack Clarahan finished his final season in a Sigourney-Keota singlet with a 50-4 record and a third place finish at the State Tournament. 

While Clarahan ended his career with a memorable finish, his sophomore teammate Reanah Utterback, was making history of her own 

Utterback became just the second girl to medal and reach the podium at the Iowa HIgh School State Wrestling Tournament, finishing eighth in the 106-pound bracket. A goal she set for herself after reaching the tournament her freshman year.

“Reanah set this goal before the start of the season and we’re so proud that she was able to achieve it,” Coach Vandenheuvel said. “She improved so much through the season and closed the gap on some of the wrestlers in her weight class.”

After starting the tournament with a bye, Utterback’s quest for history began with a 6-4 victory over Erik Flores of Clayton Ridge. 

In the second round, Utterback lost to Jayden Rinken of Nashua-Plainfield. 

The loss to the eventual State Champion wouldn’t dampen her drive to reach the podium. 

“After things don’t go your way you move on to the next best thing and focus on winning that next match and Reanah does that every time,” Vandenheuvel said. 

With her tournament life on the line, Utterback fought her way to a 7-2 decision win over Dallas Canoyer of Earlham. The victory guaranteed her a spot on the podium as one of the top eight finishers of her weight class. 

Up next was a familiar foe in Sadler of Lisbon, the two met DIstricts the week before, and once again Sadler picked up a tight decision victory, 1-0. Utterback’s season came to a close with a 4-0 loss to Riverside's Davis Bramman.

In just her second year of varsity wrestling, Reanah Utterback finished with a 39-14 record and an eighth place finish at State. 

“Reanah has been so impressive and now has a another off-season to get even better,” Vandenheuvel said. “She’ll come up with some new goals to put up in the wrestling room and it’s going to be fun to see her shoot for them."

Joining Clarahan and Utterback at the State Tournament were senior Dan Mclaughlin, juniors Reid Molyneux and Jake Moore and sophomore Brady Clark. 

Moore picked up two wins in his first appearance at State while Molyneux earned one. Clark, who came close to qualifying as a freshman, gained valuable experience for next season and Mclaughlin got to go out with a State appearance to his name. 

“I was very impressed with our mindset going into the tournament,” Vandenheuvel said. “We were focused and driven and I was super happy with our effort. Overall a solid way to end our season.”