Experience, new coach propel Clippers to fast start

Clear Creek Amana's first-year wrestling coach Ben Kulbartz had an eventful weekend.

On Friday, his wife, Marci, delivered the couple's second daughter, Harper, and a day later he learned his Clippers delivered a tournament title by winning Mount Vernon's Mustang Invitational. The championship highlights a successful start to a promising season.

“My assistant coach (Adam Endres) handled the whole thing,” said Kulbartz, who also has a 3-year-old daughter named Lucy. “We had them well prepared. They're improving as the season goes on.”

The Clippers, who are 2-0 in duals, had six finalists and crown five individual champs, beating Louisa-Muscatine by 10 1/2 points. Carter Carew (103), Dalton Becker (125), Casey Rohret (152), Tyler Walls (189) and 215-pounder Tyler Grauer all won titles. The Clippers pulled away in the finals, even with state qualifier Josh Rohret out of the lineup. The team kept on the team race in the later rounds and then celebrated in a rare victory for the Clippers.

“It was crazy,” said Walls, ranked seventh in Class 2A by The Predicament. “It was exciting because there was such good competition.

Walls, who notched his 100th career win with a fall in the semifinals at Mount Vernon, and Grauer lead the way with 8-0 records. Carew and Casey Rohret are 7-0 and 5-0, respectively. Josh Rohret is 5-1 for CCA, which was runner-up at the Tipton tournament.

“We've had a pretty good year so far,” Walls said. “Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

The buzz extends well beyond the new wrestling and athletic facilities at the high school. High expectations exist for the team that boasts three state qualifiers - Josh Rohret, Walls and fourth-ranked 171-pounder Drew Cox - and 10 freshmen.

“The community is getting excited because this is the most success they've had in recent memory,” said Kulbartz, who was a two-time Academic All-American wrestler for Coe from 1995-97.

The Clippers put time in during the off-season, attending various camps including a team clinic in Wisconsin. Walls said competing in the 2010 state tournament was amazing and serves as motivation to return and come away with a medal, like Cox, who placed sixth. Teammates want to share the experience this season.

“It was intense and awesome,” Walls said. “Coming into the season we really want to get back to the state tournament and go further than we did last year.”

The Clippers have meshed well with their new coach as well. Kulbartz took over for Mark Moody, who left the post to become the school's principal. Kulbartz previously served as a coach for Plainfield (Ill.) South High School for eight years, including the final two as head coach, before working a year with a non-profit organization on a mountain top in West Virginia. In August he found out he was moving back to Iowa, interviewed for a position at the school and started working a couple days later. It has been a good fit thus far.

“I got really lucky,” said Kulbartz, 35, originally of Oswego, Ill. “I found this job teaching science here and the head coaching job.”

The team has responded well to his intense style, stressing hard work and improvement in the practice room will lead to success in competition. Walls had Kulbartz for a class and said he is polar opposites from the classroom to the wrestling room.

“He comes in with such good energy,” Walls said. “We can tell he's passionate about it. He really flips the switch on once practice starts.”

Kulbartz sees plenty of potential. He has visions of many state qualifiers, medalists and even a state champion.

“The sky's the limit,” Kulbartz said. “It depends on how hard they want to work.”