MONROE - In the aftermath of the Monroe wrestling team's 44-24 dual meet loss to Lena-Winslow/Stockton, Cheesemaker coaches and wrestlers had a chance to weigh in on a loss that came with a cost.
The match was delayed about 20 minutes after Monroe junior Cody Stamm at 140 pounds was carted off the mat on a stretcher after dislocating his knee cap.
"It's a big, big injury," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "Hopefully, it's not as severe as it looked."
Stamm may be lost for the season. The injury couldn't have come at a worse time for the Cheesemakers (12-3, 3-0 Badger South) who have two big upcoming conference dual meets Jan. 18 at Stoughton; and Jan. 27 at Milton. Jackson didn't want to speculate about whether Stamm's season is over.
"Cody is obviously a good wrestler," he said. "It will be up to the doctors. We will see how fast they can get that knee cap back in place."
Monroe senior Nick Walker understands the Cheesemakers will miss Stamm if he misses any extended time.
"If he (Stamm) is out we will have to have other guys step up," Walker said. "We will have to take it upon ourselves to work harder and get better."
The Cheesemakers had several strong performances that weren't overshadowed by the injury news. Monroe had three wrestlers post pins including Walker at heavyweight, sophomore Kevin Klopfenstein (125) and sophomore Dusty Burkhalter (171). Wrestling an Illinois border school like the Panthers proved to be a challenge.
"We don't come into a match thinking that one match is more important than another match against another school," Walker said. "Even though we wrestled an Illinois school, we wanted to come out and put up a better fight than we did."
Walker pinned Lena-Winslow/Stockton's Jacob Weltzin in 5 minutes, 11 seconds. Klopfenstein, ranked ninth at 125 in the Wisconsin Wrestling Online Division 2 poll, pinned Sean Cory in 4:29. Burkhalter pinned Lena-Winslow/Stockton junior Dylan Gahm in 1:50.
"They did what they are supposed to do," Jackson said of the trio.
Klopfenstein felt the urgency to deliver in his match.
"I just wanted to get it done and get the team points we needed," Klopfenstein said. "We wanted to come in here and win since we lost by one last year to them. We figured we could do it this year with the guys we had on our team."
Stamm's injury could leave the Cheesemakers with just 11 wrestlers to fill the 14 weight classes.
"We are already short a couple of weight classes as it is," Klopfenstein said. "If he can't come back and wrestle, we may be down another weight class. We will just have to fight through it."
Monroe senior Dylan Schwitz (152) won by forfeit. Sophomore Trevor Gorr (215) lost to Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Trey Griffin 4-0. Griffin, who was a state champion at 171 pounds last year, was bumped up from 189 to 215 to wrestle Gorr.
Jackson said Gorr had the right mind set wrestling a state champion.
"He (Gorr) did a good job of just going out and wrestling," Jackson said. "This is a very tough team. They have a very good wrestling program."
The match was delayed about 20 minutes after Monroe junior Cody Stamm at 140 pounds was carted off the mat on a stretcher after dislocating his knee cap.
"It's a big, big injury," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "Hopefully, it's not as severe as it looked."
Stamm may be lost for the season. The injury couldn't have come at a worse time for the Cheesemakers (12-3, 3-0 Badger South) who have two big upcoming conference dual meets Jan. 18 at Stoughton; and Jan. 27 at Milton. Jackson didn't want to speculate about whether Stamm's season is over.
"Cody is obviously a good wrestler," he said. "It will be up to the doctors. We will see how fast they can get that knee cap back in place."
Monroe senior Nick Walker understands the Cheesemakers will miss Stamm if he misses any extended time.
"If he (Stamm) is out we will have to have other guys step up," Walker said. "We will have to take it upon ourselves to work harder and get better."
The Cheesemakers had several strong performances that weren't overshadowed by the injury news. Monroe had three wrestlers post pins including Walker at heavyweight, sophomore Kevin Klopfenstein (125) and sophomore Dusty Burkhalter (171). Wrestling an Illinois border school like the Panthers proved to be a challenge.
"We don't come into a match thinking that one match is more important than another match against another school," Walker said. "Even though we wrestled an Illinois school, we wanted to come out and put up a better fight than we did."
Walker pinned Lena-Winslow/Stockton's Jacob Weltzin in 5 minutes, 11 seconds. Klopfenstein, ranked ninth at 125 in the Wisconsin Wrestling Online Division 2 poll, pinned Sean Cory in 4:29. Burkhalter pinned Lena-Winslow/Stockton junior Dylan Gahm in 1:50.
"They did what they are supposed to do," Jackson said of the trio.
Klopfenstein felt the urgency to deliver in his match.
"I just wanted to get it done and get the team points we needed," Klopfenstein said. "We wanted to come in here and win since we lost by one last year to them. We figured we could do it this year with the guys we had on our team."
Stamm's injury could leave the Cheesemakers with just 11 wrestlers to fill the 14 weight classes.
"We are already short a couple of weight classes as it is," Klopfenstein said. "If he can't come back and wrestle, we may be down another weight class. We will just have to fight through it."
Monroe senior Dylan Schwitz (152) won by forfeit. Sophomore Trevor Gorr (215) lost to Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Trey Griffin 4-0. Griffin, who was a state champion at 171 pounds last year, was bumped up from 189 to 215 to wrestle Gorr.
Jackson said Gorr had the right mind set wrestling a state champion.
"He (Gorr) did a good job of just going out and wrestling," Jackson said. "This is a very tough team. They have a very good wrestling program."
