Some of you might have read my post below. It turns out the engine I have is actually from a Lakota 300.

I used a battery tonight and some jumper cables to make sure that the starter was working correctly. The engine would not turn over unless I had my hand on the compression release. Is that normal? I figured the release was only for recoil starting. Do I have a starter with less oomph (bad battery, bad starter) or does the engine just have that much oomph that the starter can not spin it over?

Second, I was looking at the carb and I noticed that the throttle valve is not cable operated from the top but appears to use some type of diaphragm and I am guessing piston system. Can some one explain that to me? Where I am guessing the throttle cable (and piston?) screws in was missing.

 

Hard to turn over.
What you described is not normal. Hopefully it is a simple issue, like weak battery. But could be little more challenging as leaking carb that's hydrolocking the combustion chamber. I would remove a plug and try elec starting to see if anything pumps out. Then try to jump start again w/o using the decompressor with a good charged battery with minimum 12.8 volts. It is a relatively low tech/hp engine, max hp at low 20s.

Carb
The throttle cable attaches to the right side of the carb, not on the top. There should be a side cover for the throttle cable reel housing on the right side of the carb. Maybe you are missing the throttle cable reel assembly. The rubber diaphram you are looking at is the vacuum operated needle-jet assembly of the constant vacuum Kehin CVK32 carb. Just like any other carb, there is a throttle butterfly valve that is actuated by the throttle cable via the reel.