OLIVESBURG — The road may have been long and winding, but it ultimately led Clay Eagle back to the top of the mountain.
The Richland Bank Athlete of the Week, Eagle stormed to his second J.C. Gorman championship in three years over the weekend. The Crestview senior went 5-0 to claim the individual title at 120 pounds and help the Cougars to a fifth-place finish in the team standings.
Eagle won a Gorman title at 106 pounds in 2016 while wrestling for Ashland. He missed almost all of last year with a knee injury as the Arrows enjoyed a record-setting season, then transferred to Crestview for his senior season.
The five matches at the Gorman were Eagle’s first of season. He sat out the early portion of the year in part to allow his surgically-repaired left knee to continue to heel.
“I was kind of worried about the knee, but I felt like I wrestled pretty well,” said Eagle, who is ranked 11th in Division III at 120 by borofanohio.net. “I had some nerves and jitters, but I was happy how everything turned out.”
In reaching the top of the Gorman podium, Eagle had to beat a pair of state-ranked wrestlers in Fredericktown’s Skylar Davis (13th in Division III at 120) and Manchester’s Jake White (10th). Eagle beat Davis 8-0 in the semifinals and blanked White 15-0 in the finals.
Considering the lengthy layoff, things couldn’t have turned out much better.
“I wrestled two or three tournaments my junior year, but that was it,” said Eagle, who was 33-11 and finished sixth at the district meet at 106 for the Arrows as a sophomore. “I had a torn meniscus in my left knee and I had to have surgery to repair it.
“I’d say I’m back to 100 percent. The knee feels great.”
The fifth-place showing for the Cougars was the second best ever for Crestview at the Gorman. Lane Fry won the 285-pound championship while four other Cougars placed.
“We’ve been working so hard,” Fry said. “To have six placers … it’s good for the program.”
As for Eagle, he has high expectations despite missing so much mat time.
“This gave me a good idea of what I need to work on going forward,” Eagle said. “There are certain things I need to tweak.
“My plan is to make a run at the state meet. That should be everybody’s plan in this sport.”
