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“Finally,” Clausen exclaimed, as she faced her teammates, who surrounded her in a congratulatory hug. The judges soon made it official, as Clausen was awarded a career-best 9.625.
It was successful night all around as the Eagles gymnastics and wrestling teams co-hosted “Beauty and the Beast” at Mitchell Hall.
UW-L beat Winona State 184.375-182 in a gymnastics dual and the second-ranked Eagles wrestling team pounded Lawrence 51-0.
Clausen, a senior from Apple Valley, Minn., underwent three ankle surgeries in a year-and-a-half span following her sophomore season. She recovered enough to compete through most of last year and placed fifth on the bars in the WIAC meet.
This season, Clausen said she’s figuring out how to take care of her ankles during the week in practice so she can be at her best for meets. She had been feeling healthy heading into Friday, but still hadn’t nailed her bars routine.
“I knew I could do that bars set and it was nice to finally hit it,” Clausen said. “I’d worked extra hard on some skills and I felt pretty confident coming in. It was a nice way to start the season.”
Clausen had two separate surgeries to repair cartilage in her right ankle. The second time, she had screws inserted for stability. She also had surgery on her left ankle for bone spurs.
“At this point, I’ve had so many injuries that I do know when to push and when to take it easy,” Clausen said.
“Casey has that never-say-die attitude,” Eagles coach Barb Gibson said. “She’s just mentally rock-solid and a focused athlete. I hope she has a great senior year, that tonight is indicative of what’s to follow.”
Junior Jackie LaFleur won the vault (9.55) and placed second in the all-around (36.825) and junior Erin Sommer was third in the all-around (35.575) for UW-L.
PALMER, EAGLES ROLL: Top-ranked 165-pounder Tim Palmer barely broke a sweat as he pinned Lawrence’s Evan Neuens in 2 minutes, 21 seconds.
Palmer, a senior from Mankato, Minn., improved to 27-3 and earned his seventh pin with the victory. But for Palmer, nothing is ever as easy or perfect as it looks.
“There’s always stuff I can work on,” Palmer said. “There are a lot of things to do yet; pretty much everything. I’ve had a good season but I’m far from where ideally I’d like to be.”
UW-L improved to 19-1 overall with the win and will host third-ranked Augsburg at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Eagles beat Augsburg 25-12 on Jan. 13 at the NWCA/Cliff Keen Duals.
“Besides the team dual, there are a lot of big individual matches,” Palmer said of Sunday’s meet. “It all helps. It shows you where you’re at.”
Joel Badzinski can be reached at (608) 791-8402 or joel.badzinski@lee.net
