MONROE - The Monroe wrestling team's showdown with Watertown came down to the final match with senior Travis Wolf at 152 pounds Friday night.
With the Cheesemakers trailing the Goslings by five points, Wolf needed to get a pin for Monroe to win. Wolf scored on a takedown against Watertown freshman Kasey Logan in the first period. The match was stopped due to Logan suffering an apparent head injury. He wasn't able to continue wrestling and the Cheesemakers slipped by Watertown 37-36. With the win, Monroe (11-5, 4-2 Badger South) moved into a second-place tie with Milton and Watertown heading into next weekend's Badger Conference Tournament at Waunakee.
"You don't want the match to end like that," Monroe coach Tom Witt said of the Cheesemakers winning on an injury default. "You have to do that (stop the match) with concussions. It's a tough position to be in."
The Cheesemakers, ranked 12th in Division 2 according to the Wisconsin Wrestling Online state poll, got four pins - senior Dempzy Foley (182), senior Tyson Welsch (heavyweight), sophomore Kyle Haldiman (106) and sophomore Dakota Wickstrum (113).
"It was a great team win," Witt said. "Kyle Haldiman and Dakota's pins were a big difference for us. It will give us an opportunity to finish second in the conference tournament behind Stoughton. We have some kids who will score some points in a tournament for us."
Foley, ranked No. 8 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Wrestling Online state poll, pinned Watertown's Miguel Hernandez in 1 minute, 38 seconds. With the pin, Foley tied the school record for most pins in a single season (26).
"It felt like any other match," Foley said. "It was good to start there (160) because from 145 through 285 we usually have the bulk of our better wrestlers. We had to get it started off and get the young guys motivated to win. It was good to beat them because we had our 106-pound wrestler at 113 and a new guy at 106. We needed them to win and they did. We tried to go 6 minutes with everyone."
In the first match Friday, Monroe sophomore Patrick Rielly (160) defeated Watertown senior Christian Rojano 12-5. Rielly trailed 3-0 and turned it on in the third period. He scored on a reversal with 1:22 left in the third period to tie the match at 4. Rielly then scored on two near falls to build an 8-4 lead he wouldn't relinquish.
Monroe senior Sam Kind (170), ranked No. 6, defeated Watertown junior Tanner Nachtigall 9-1. Kind had one takedown in each period to cruise to the win. Welsch (heavyweight), ranked No. 9, pinned Watertown senior James Sippel in 2:36. That started a streak of three straight pins. Haldiman (106) pinned Watertown freshman Emilio Hernandez in 37 seconds and Wickstrum (113) pinned Watertown freshman Ayden Thomas in 1 minute to give the Cheesemakers a 31-10 lead.
"Dakota was giving up 10 pounds, but he got the pin," Witt said.
The Cheesemakers forfeited matches at 120 and 126, which began a stretch of five straight matches the Goslings would win. Watertown's Julian Ruiz beat Monroe junior Gabe Witt 13-5 (132). Watertown freshman Kolton Blome (138) pinned Monroe sophomore Aidan Sweeney in 1:15 to give the Goslings a 32-31 lead. Watertown junior Nick Logan (145) defeated Monroe sophomore Alex Witt 15-5. However, the ability of many of the Cheesemaker wrestlers to avoid getting pinned helped keep the Cheesemakers in the match. The only other pin for the Goslings came from senior Stephen Maule (195) who pinned Monroe sophomore Julian Gruber in 3:29.
Watertown senior Clayton Goodman, who usually wrestles at 152, didn't weigh in and missed the match. He defeated Wolf 5-3 at the Verona Invitational earlier this year.
"I told Travis his match would be a big one and it may come down to his match," Witt said. "They were missing their 152-pounder. He didn't weigh in. I don't know if he was hurt or sick. That gave us an additional opportunity to score more points."
Just not the way Witt expected with an injury default leading to the win.
Monroe will next wrestle in the Badger Conference tournament Feb. 3 at Waunakee.
With the Cheesemakers trailing the Goslings by five points, Wolf needed to get a pin for Monroe to win. Wolf scored on a takedown against Watertown freshman Kasey Logan in the first period. The match was stopped due to Logan suffering an apparent head injury. He wasn't able to continue wrestling and the Cheesemakers slipped by Watertown 37-36. With the win, Monroe (11-5, 4-2 Badger South) moved into a second-place tie with Milton and Watertown heading into next weekend's Badger Conference Tournament at Waunakee.
"You don't want the match to end like that," Monroe coach Tom Witt said of the Cheesemakers winning on an injury default. "You have to do that (stop the match) with concussions. It's a tough position to be in."
The Cheesemakers, ranked 12th in Division 2 according to the Wisconsin Wrestling Online state poll, got four pins - senior Dempzy Foley (182), senior Tyson Welsch (heavyweight), sophomore Kyle Haldiman (106) and sophomore Dakota Wickstrum (113).
"It was a great team win," Witt said. "Kyle Haldiman and Dakota's pins were a big difference for us. It will give us an opportunity to finish second in the conference tournament behind Stoughton. We have some kids who will score some points in a tournament for us."
Foley, ranked No. 8 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Wrestling Online state poll, pinned Watertown's Miguel Hernandez in 1 minute, 38 seconds. With the pin, Foley tied the school record for most pins in a single season (26).
"It felt like any other match," Foley said. "It was good to start there (160) because from 145 through 285 we usually have the bulk of our better wrestlers. We had to get it started off and get the young guys motivated to win. It was good to beat them because we had our 106-pound wrestler at 113 and a new guy at 106. We needed them to win and they did. We tried to go 6 minutes with everyone."
In the first match Friday, Monroe sophomore Patrick Rielly (160) defeated Watertown senior Christian Rojano 12-5. Rielly trailed 3-0 and turned it on in the third period. He scored on a reversal with 1:22 left in the third period to tie the match at 4. Rielly then scored on two near falls to build an 8-4 lead he wouldn't relinquish.
Monroe senior Sam Kind (170), ranked No. 6, defeated Watertown junior Tanner Nachtigall 9-1. Kind had one takedown in each period to cruise to the win. Welsch (heavyweight), ranked No. 9, pinned Watertown senior James Sippel in 2:36. That started a streak of three straight pins. Haldiman (106) pinned Watertown freshman Emilio Hernandez in 37 seconds and Wickstrum (113) pinned Watertown freshman Ayden Thomas in 1 minute to give the Cheesemakers a 31-10 lead.
"Dakota was giving up 10 pounds, but he got the pin," Witt said.
The Cheesemakers forfeited matches at 120 and 126, which began a stretch of five straight matches the Goslings would win. Watertown's Julian Ruiz beat Monroe junior Gabe Witt 13-5 (132). Watertown freshman Kolton Blome (138) pinned Monroe sophomore Aidan Sweeney in 1:15 to give the Goslings a 32-31 lead. Watertown junior Nick Logan (145) defeated Monroe sophomore Alex Witt 15-5. However, the ability of many of the Cheesemaker wrestlers to avoid getting pinned helped keep the Cheesemakers in the match. The only other pin for the Goslings came from senior Stephen Maule (195) who pinned Monroe sophomore Julian Gruber in 3:29.
Watertown senior Clayton Goodman, who usually wrestles at 152, didn't weigh in and missed the match. He defeated Wolf 5-3 at the Verona Invitational earlier this year.
"I told Travis his match would be a big one and it may come down to his match," Witt said. "They were missing their 152-pounder. He didn't weigh in. I don't know if he was hurt or sick. That gave us an additional opportunity to score more points."
Just not the way Witt expected with an injury default leading to the win.
Monroe will next wrestle in the Badger Conference tournament Feb. 3 at Waunakee.
