Lower Dauphin’s Clayton Ulrey Kicks up the Offense in Trojan Wars win over Reinert

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa.: Lower Dauphin’s Clayton Ulrey knew what was in front of him in Saturday’s Trojan Wars final.

It wasn’t just for the prestigious Trojan helmet. Ulrey had a chance to gauge himself against his nearest competitor in District 3, Gettysburg’s Dylan Reinert, the No. 8-ranked wrestler in the weight class according to PA Power Wrestling.

The grade: Ulrey got an A.

Ulrey was every bit of his lofty No. 1 state ranking in the 160-pound final. He recorded six takedowns in a workmanlike 13-6 decision over Reinert to earn another tournament victory.

“He’s a tough opponent,” Ulrey said. “I have to give him that. To have a match like this early in the season, at this point in the season, I get to see where I’m at and what I need to work. So, it’s good.”

Ulrey was really good. From start to finish, he was able to get inside and dictate the pace on Reinert, who entered the tournament on a high after finishing third in the Beast of the East last week.

Sure, it was a little bit of a slow start as far as scoring. Ulrey was only up 2-1 at the end of one period, but he was closing to scoring two more takedowns and would have if not for a stalemate and another close call along the edge.

Ulrey got busy in the second and the third period. The Falcons standout scored again in the second and led 4-3. In the third, he escaped and racked up four takedowns off a variety of shots and counters for the final decision.

“I’ve been working a lot on my go-behinds,” Ulrey said. “He’s a good wrestler. I couldn’t really get in on him in the first period, so I needed to move around. I needed to get a feel for what he was doing and get my offense going.

“I needed to get my counter offense going. I was frustrated that he got in on my legs twice, and that’s something I need to work on because a lot of guys are going to shoot on my legs. I need to work on my defense.”

No doubt, there is more work to be done. But Ulrey, who could see Reinert again in the postseason, has a leg up on the competition.

“He wrestled me hard,” Ulrey said. “I wrestled him before. Next time I see him, he is going to come out just as hard. I need to be ready.”