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Kizhan Clarke
Personal information
Full name	Kizhan Andre Clarke
Born	December 16, 1997 (age 27); Wiesbaden, Germany
Home town	Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Sport
Country	United States (2018–2022); Germany (2023–present)
Sport	Wrestling
Weight class	65 kg (143 lb)
Event(s)	Freestyle and Folkstyle
College team	Tar Heels
Club	Tar Heel Wrestling Club; AC Lichtenfels
Coached by	Rob Koll
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing Germany
European Championships
Grand Prix
German Nationals
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the North Carolina Tar Heels
NCAA Division I Championships

Kizhan Andre Clarke (born 16 December 1997) is a German-American freestyle wrestler who competes internationally at 65 kilograms.^[1] He was a medalist at the European Championship and the Grand Prix Henri Deglane, and was also an NCAA Division I National runner-up out of the University of North Carolina.^[2]

Career

High school

Clarke was born in Wiesbaden, Germany to an American father and a German mother, and moved to Dallas, Texas at the age of one before moving to Florida in seventh grade.^[3] He started wrestling as a freshman at Riverview High School in Riverview, Florida, and became a state champion and two-time finalist before graduating.^[4]

American University

2016–2017

Clarke wore a redshirt during his first year wrestling for the American Eagles, winning over 30 matches and placing at six tournaments.^[5]

2017–2018

Clarke went 16–13 as the team's starter at 141 pounds, and was unable to place at the EIWA Championships or qualify for the NCAA's.^[5] After the season, he competed in freestyle at the US Open and the U23 US World Team Trials, but was unable to place.

2018–2019

Clarke then moved up to 157 pounds, recording a 26–13 record and placing seventh at the EIWA Championships, though missing a trip to NCAA's.^[5] After the season, he once again competed at the US Open and the U23 US World Team Trials though was unable to place.^[6]

2019–2020

Dropping down to 149 pounds, Clarke improved to a 35–7 record, placed fourth at the EIWA Championships and qualified for the NCAA tournament.^[7] However, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] In November 2020, Clarke went 4–2 at the US U23 National Championships but was unable to place.^[9]

University of North Carolina

2021–2022

In March 2021, Clarke went 2–2 at the US Last Chance Qualifier, failing to qualify for the US Olympic Team Trials.^[10]

After being unable to compete during the 2020–2021 season due to COVID-19 protocols, Clarke transferred to the University of North Carolina for his final year.^[10] Back down to 141, Clarke posted a 17–1 record during the regular season before going 0–2 at the ACC Championships, requiring an at-large berth to qualify for the NCAA tournament.^[11]

Ranked as the fifteenth-seed, Clarke avenged a loss suffered at the ACC Championship in the first round, and took out returning NCAA finalist Jaydin Eierman to advance to the quarterfinals.^[12] After beating the tenth-seed to reach the semi-finals, Clarke defeated the sixth-seed on ultimate tie-breaker to reach the finals.^[13] In the finals, Clarke fell to returning champion Nick Lee, though earned runner-up and All-American honors and closed his final year at 21–4.^[14]

Germany

2023

In January, Clarke returned to freestyle and represented Germany for the first time in international competition, at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane. He defeated fellow NCAA runner-up Ridge Lovett and veteran Evan Henderson to make the finals, where he was defeated by All-American Pat Lugo.^[15]

In April, Clarke defeated Niklas Dorn in a best-of-three wrestle-off to determine Germany's starter.^[16] He then went 1–1 at the European Championships, defeating Italy's Colin Realbuto though falling to U20 World Champion Erik Arushanian.^[17]

In June, Clarke became a German National champion with three wins over fellow countrymen.^[18] He then competed at the Stepan Sargsyan Cup in Armenia, defeating an opponent from Kazakhstan before falling to U20 World Champion Peiman Biabani.^[19] In July, he competed at the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial Tournament, though was eliminated by North Carolina teammate Lachlan McNeil.^[20]

From September to November, Clarke competed in the German Bundesliga, where he participated in six dual meets for AC Lichtenfels and emerged victorious in four of them.^[21]

2024

In February, Clarke earned a bronze medal from the European Continental Championships, with a notable victory over Individual World Cup and U23 World Champion Vazgen Tevanyan.^[22] He competed at the 2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan hoping to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.^[23] He was eliminated in his first match and he did not qualify for the Olympics.^[23]

Freestyle record

Senior Freestyle Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2024 World Olympic Qualification Tournament DNP at 65 kg
Loss	34–20	Adlan Askarov	3–6	May 11, 2024	2024 World Olympic Qualification Tournament	Istanbul, Turkey
2024 European Championships at 65 kg
Win	34–19	Goderdzi Dzebisashvili	5–3	February 16–17, 2024	2024 European Continental Championships	Bucharest, Romania
Win	33–19	Vazgen Tevanyan	3–2
Loss	32–19	Gadzhimurad Rashidov	0–6
Win	32–18	Besir Alili	Fall
Win	31–18	Danny Mayr	TF 16–0	November 25, 2023	2023 KG Baienfurt/Ravensburg – AC Lichtenfels (71 kg)	Germany
Win	30–18	Magomed Kartojev	8–2	November 18, 2023	2023 AC Lichtenfels – SV Wacker Burghausen (71 kg)
Win	29–18	Dawid Volny	7–0	November 4, 2023	2023 ASV Schorndorf – AC Lichtenfels (71 kg)
Loss	28–18	Nicolai Grahmez	1–9	October 21, 2023	2023 AC Lichtenfels – RSV Rotation Greiz (75 kg)
Win	28–17	Roman Walters	TF 17–0	October 2, 2023	2023 AC Lichtenfels – AV Germania Markneukirchen (66 kg)
Loss	27–17	Islam Dudaev	2–10	September 30, 2023	2023 AC Lichtenfels – ASV Schorndorf (66 kg)
2023 Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial 15th at 65 kg
Loss	27–16	Lachlan McNeil	3–5	July 13, 2023	2023 Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial	Budapest, Hungary
2023 Stepan Sargsyan Cup 7th at 65 kg
Loss	26–15	Peiman Biabani	1–3	June 15–17, 2023	2023 Stepan Sargsyan Cup	Yerevan, Armenia
Win	26–14	Timur Aitkulov	11–10	June 15–17, 2023	2023 Stepan Sargsyan Cup	Yerevan, Armenia
2023 German Nationals at 65 kg
Win	25–14	Niklas Dorn	6–1	June 8–11, 2023	2023 Deutsche Meisterschaft Männer	Heidelberg, Germany
Win	24–14	Victor Lyzen	4–0
Win	23–14	Alexander Semisorow	6–4
2023 European Championships 10th at 65 kg
Loss	22–14	Erik Arushanian	2–2	April 17, 2023	2023 European Continental Championships	Zagreb, Croatia
Win	22–13	Colin Realbuto	3–0	April 17, 2023	2023 European Continental Championships	Zagreb, Croatia
2023 German World Team Trials at 65 kg
Win	21–13	Niklas Dorn	6–0	April 1–2, 2023	2023 German World Team Trials	Germany
Win	20–13	Niklas Dorn	4–0	April 1–2, 2023	2023 German World Team Trials	Germany
2023 Henri Deglane Grand Prix at 65 kg
Loss	19–13	Pat Lugo	0–7	January 20–22, 2023	Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane 2023	Nice, France
Win	19–12	Evan Henderson	10–8
Win	18–12	Ridge Lovett	4–1
Win	17–12	Quentin Sticker	TF 11–0
2021 US Last Chance DNP at 65 kg
Loss	16–12	Mitch McKee	TF 1–12	March 27, 2021	2021 US Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier	Fort Worth, Texas
Loss	16–11	Evan Henderson	TF 2–13
Win	16–10	Dean Heil	9–2
Win	15–10	Mitch McKee	TF 14–4
2020 U23 US Nationals 4th at 65 kg
Loss	14–10	Max Murin	TF 0–10	November 13–15, 2020	2020 U23 US National Championships	Omaha, Nebraska
Win	14–9	Clay Carlson	TF 10–0
Loss	13–9	Don Demas	3–5
Win	13–8	Cael Happel	TF 10–0
Win	12–8	James Emmer	TF 10–0
Win	11–8	Tony Mendoza	TF 11–0
2019 U23 US World Team Trials DNP at 70 kg
Loss	10–8	Benjamin Lamantia	TF 0–11	June 1–3, 2019	2019 U23 US World Team Trials Challenge	Akron, Ohio
Win	10–7	Mike Van Brill	5–1
Win	9–7	Seth Hogue	7–6
Win	8–7	Anthony Scantlin	TF 10–0
Loss	7–7	Kendall Coleman	3–7
Win	7–6	Benjamin Brancale	8–6
Win	6–6	Kevin Budock	TF 12–1
2019 US Open DNP at 70 kg
Loss	5–6	Jake Keating	TF 1–12	April 23–26, 2019	2019 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	5–5	Zehlin Storr	6–1
Loss	4–5	Jason Nolf	TF 0–10
Win	4–4	Carlos Herrera	TF 14–2
2018 U23 US World Team Trials DNP at 70 kg
Loss	3–4	Matthew Kolodzik	2–6	June 1–3, 2018	2018 U23 US World Team Trials Challenge	Akron, Ohio
Loss	3–3	Hayden Hidlay	TF 0–10
Win	3–2	Austin Singer	TF 10–0
Win	2–2	Sammy Peticos	TF 10–0
2018 US Open DNP at 70 kg
Loss	1–2	Josh Reyes	TF 0–10	April 24–28, 2018	2018 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	1–1	Jacob Hatley	TF 10–0
Loss	0–1	Matthew Kolodzik	TF 5–16