Former MLHS wrestler robbed of final college tournament by closures

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Former Moses Lake High School wrestler Chase Clasen was only 12 hours away from competing in his final collegiate tournament when he heard the news.

The NCAA Division II Championships, like the rest of the winter sports that hadn’t finished and the entirety of spring sports moving forward, were canceled due to concerns about the novel coronavirus.

“We all really couldn’t believe it and then we were just asking Coach if we were gonna get six years or not and he didn’t have any answers at this point,” Clasen said. “Everybody was kind of freaking out; all the wrestlers in the hotel were a little shocked, going a little crazy.”

As a fifth-year redshirt senior for Chadron State College, the end of Clasen’s wrestling career was sudden and abrupt, and far from the All-American ending he had visualized in his mind.

“Your goal when you’re a little kid is always to reach the pinnacle of the sport, win a national title, and then now there’s always going to be an asterisk or a what if, ya know?” he said. “So that kind of sucks, but yeah, I’m still just very grateful for the opportunity to even wrestle this long.”

Clasen was a three-time state placer in high school and a member of Moses Lake’s 2015 state championship team. Clasen’s high school wrestling coach, Jaime Garza, reached out after the news of the cancellations broke.

“The only thing I could tell him was I was sorry,” Garza said.

After Moses Lake, Clasen started his collegiate wrestling career at Iowa Western College where he became a national qualifier. His success continued after transferring to Chadron State.

As a redshirt junior, Clasen beat top-ranked James Pleski of St. Cloud State in an early-season dual, had the best individual record on the team at 18-7, led the team with 47 takedowns, was All-RMAC First Team and made his first trip to the NCAA Division II Championships.

Entering his second national championship tournament, Clasen felt he was ready to end his collegiate wrestling career on the podium.

“I was feeling great,” he said. “I had just beat the number four ranked guy at regionals and took second, so I was feeling pretty confident that I was going to All-American pretty high and the year before I had beat the number one ranked guy in our weight class... I felt like it was kind of my time to place top-three; I guess that’s how it goes, though.”

Clasen is currently finishing his degree in interdisciplinary studies before starting a master’s program in organizational management. He will continue to be a part of the wrestling community, staying at Chadron State to coach.

Despite the imperfect ending, Clasen looks back fondly on his time on the mat.

“I’m still thankful that I at least got the opportunity to wrestle and I did some good things in college,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mitigate it, but it definitely helps that I at least had good seasons, so I can rely on that, ya know?”