Recruit breakdown: Cory Clark

fulsaasfan

Well-Known Member
Cory Clark, SE Polk, IA
Projects: 125 or 133 pounds
-3x, undefeated State Champion
-133-0 career record
-4x Fargo Placer
-2011 Fargo Greco-3rd Freestyle 4th


Fulsaasfan breakdown
Background: Clark earned his third consecutive undefeated state-title last year at 119 pounds. He has had a lot of success on the national level as well with 4 Fargo medals.

Strengths: Cory Clark does a nice job of wrestling heavy and controlling ties. He is really comfortable and works well out of the front headlock and he does a nice job of controlling the pace of his matches. He is good in the top position and is a real threat to not only ride his opponents but does a nice job looking for the turn as well.

Area for improvement: To me one of the biggest things that Clark will need to work on at the next level is creating his own offense. I’d like to see him learn to wrestle better in space while creating better angles and getting better penetration on his shots. A redshirt year will be very valuable for him to build his strength and work on adjusting to the college level. I expect him to be right in the mix for a spot at 125 or 133 as a redshirt freshman.


USAFhawk breakdown
From the neutral position Clark shows very active feet and hands and for the most part uses his motion to get off his shots. He mostly shoots singles to his opponents near leg, although he has a vast arsenal of effective shots. Shows exceptional quickness and transitions well from move to move. He also has great mat awareness which makes him a very effective scrambler. He needs to work on set ups and also creating angles on his shots. He has a tendency to take bad shots and getting overextended which keeps him from getting proper penetration. He tends to get lazy with his hips when he is defending shots which allows opponents to to get deep penetration.

On the mat he is very effective from the top position and has shown the ability to ride at very high level. On top he makes his opponent carry his weight and does a good job keeping opponent flat on the mat. Like to use various tilts and also is tough with the near side half and spiral ride, always threatening to turn his opponent. From the bottom does a good job of initiating the action and getting hand control. He shows a strong desire and attitude to get off the bottom and stays very compact with little wasted motion making it very hard to ride him.

Overall Clark is a very solid pickup with good upside. He will need a redshirt year to develop the strength and skill to compete at a high level. He projects as a 125/133 in college and will have to battle a strong group of candidates to make the lineup early in his career.


Junior Freestyle 119 - Cory Clark (IA) vs. Jered Cortez (IL)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBpeX0-vKCI]Junior Freestyle 119 - Cory Clark (IA) vs. Jered Cortez (IL) - YouTube[/ame]

Junior Greco 3rd 119 - Cory Clark (IA) vs. T.J. Brandt (PA)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZKb31_gUvU&feature=fvsr]Junior Greco 3rd 119 - Cory Clark (IA) vs. T.J. Brandt (PA) - YouTube[/ame]
 






Excellent analysis! This is exactly the type of information I was hoping for. I appreciate the time/effort that you and USAFhawk are putting into the breakdown's.
 




Great job guys, keep up the good work!!!! I REALLY appreciate it. Looking forward to the other recruit breakdowns you put together. Thanks again guys!!
 


Does anyone have any information on Jered Cortez? I thought he wrestled a very tough match against Clark in the Jr Freestyle match provided above.
 




Does anyone have any information on Jered Cortez? I thought he wrestled a very tough match against Clark in the Jr Freestyle match provided above.

Just a little research, looks like he is originaly from CO than moved to IL where he attends the same high school that Tony Ramos is from. He is only a soph this year. Intermat has him ranked as the #6 overall wrestler in the Soph class.

Jered was the 2010 Cadet Freestyle champion in Fargo beating Jack Hathaway (Oregon State recruit) in the finals. In 2011 Cortez finished 6th in Junior Freestyle losing to Thomas Gilman (Iowa recruit), Cory Clark (Iowa recruit) and Evan Silver (currently at Stanford).
 


Just a little research, looks like he is originaly from CO than moved to IL where he attends the same high school that Tony Ramos is from. He is only a soph this year. Intermat has him ranked as the #6 overall wrestler in the Soph class.

Jered was the 2010 Cadet Freestyle champion in Fargo beating Jack Hathaway (Oregon State recruit) in the finals. In 2011 Cortez finished 6th in Junior Freestyle losing to Thomas Gilman (Iowa recruit), Cory Clark (Iowa recruit) and Evan Silver (currently at Stanford).

Thanks for the update! Hopefully the Hawks will keep a close eye on Jered over the next 3 years. Kid should really be a stud by his Sr year if he keeps developing.
 






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