Iowa City High’s Malachi Clement focuses on continued improvement, postseason peak

IOWA CITY – Iowa City High’s Malachi Clement has progressed along with the season.

He has worked hard to improve, eliminating things that contributed to a slower start to his junior campaign. Now, he’s reaping the rewards of that effort and wrestling his best as the postseason approaches.

“I think I've really been peaking, which is the right time to do that,” Clement said. “It just lets me know that I can compete with these guys. They're no different than me. Whether they're ranked or not, I’m going out there to win.”

Clement was one of three Little Hawks to post a 5-0 record and help City High tie for third at the Bean-Smith Duals on Saturday at Little Hawk Arena. He finished with two technical falls, a pin and two decisions, avenging a loss to Ankeny’s No. 12 Aiden Winkie.

“He's a great kid,” City High Coach Cory Connell said. “The kids love him and he's getting better and better. There are little things towards the beginning of the year that he was doing wrong that were costing him some matches that he should have won. He's really been getting more disciplined and fixing those things.”

“He's beaten three right kids in the last two weeks. He’s coming on and at the right time.”

Wins over the seventh, 11th and 12th-ranked 138-pounders have come during the last two weekends. Clement improved to 28-11 and notched his 75th career victory in the final round Saturday. He also flipped the script on a 4-1 loss to Winkie with a 9-6 decision to open Saturday.

“I wrestled well, but I still have a lot to work on,” Clement said. “I stay in my stance more and that was good. Just working on my attacks and getting to them. That dude beat me earlier in the year and was ranked and had a close match to someone else that maybe shouldn’t have been close.

“I'll just keep working on that because I'll see them later in the year.”

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Clement is receptive to coaches. He has listened to Connell and the City High staff, applied what he has learned and executed it in competition. The key will be to continue that growth through the final few weeks.

”He works hard,” Connell said. “He wants to be good. Those are the two biggest things.

“Fixing those things have paid off.”

Clement was a two-time state qualifier for Clear Creek Amana, transferring to City High this school year. He wrestled teammate Chase Williams in this tournament last year and again at district with both advancing to state. They split those matches. Instead of trying to best each other, they’re trying to get the best out of one another.

“Going against him was fun but we’re 1-1,” Clement said. “We're pretty even and it's nice to drill with him now and just be alongside him. Help each other get better.”

City High went 4-1 overall. The lone setback came to Class 3A No. 11 Ankeny (49-20) in pool competition. The Little Hawks closed with victories over 2A No. 12 Mount Vernon (40-32), Newton (47-33), Cedar Rapids Kennedy (42-35) and Cedar Rapids Xavier (42-34).

“We faced a lot of adversity today and I thought they battled and thought and did their best,” said Connell, noting the Little Hawks have battled injury and illness. “We were far from perfect but with a tough tournament like this there's a lot of good teams. To go 4-1, that's tough to be disappointed.”

Pleasant Valley won the team title, beating Ankeny, 37-28, in the championship. Cedar Rapids Prairie also tied for third.

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