Newark Memorial Wrestler Will Compete In State Finals

Last Saturday Newark Memorial High School Senior Jacob Clausen took second place in his weight class at the North Coast Sectional competition that was held here on the Cougars' home turf.

That showing won the 6-foot 3-inch, 260-pound athlete a chance grapple with 36 other heavyweights for the California Interscholastic Federation's state championship.

Those matches will be held on Friday and Saturday at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

Clausen is one of only a handful of Cougars ever to have reached the state finals. He has been coached at Newark Memorial by Tim Hess, who also worked with Clausen as the cardio coach for the football team, where the wrestler also played starting right tackle.

The outcome of this weekend's competition are crucial to Clausen, who is hoping for some scholarship help as he heads for college with the ultimate career goal in marine biology, according to his mother, Jennifer Hicklin, who will be leading his cheering section.

Have you ever been a competitive athlete? What did you learn from the experience?