MONROE — Two forfeits and a pin put the Monroe Cheesemakers down 18-0 to the East Troy Trojans, but Monroe came back with four pins and a technical fall over the final five weight classes to win 53-30 over the Trojans in Rock Valley Conference, Valley Division wrestling on Thursday, Jan. 22.

At 126 pounds, junior Noah Schuh got the Cheesemakers first win of the night with a pin of freshman Arlan Kehl in 3:29 to get Monroe on the board at 18-6. At 144 pounds, Monroe made it 24-12 on sophomore Oliver Ostby’s pin in 1:48 over freshman Mason Reichenberger of East Troy. That was followed by a pin by senior Angel Benitez in 2:29 over Lachlan Hartje at 150 pounds.

With the Cheesemakers down 30-18, the tide began to turn as sophomore Oliver Helland, wrestling at 157 pounds, got a pin in 3:14 over freshman Brady Singsime to close Monroe to within 30-24. Senior Connor Eckdhal, at 165 pounds, tied the match at 30-30 with a pin in 1:50 over senior Jack Pluess.

The Cheesemakers took control the rest of the way beginning with the 175 pound weight class as senior Kabian Ramos pinned junior Chase Farris in 2:47 to put Monroe in front 36-30. At 190, sophomore Patrick Harms pinned junior Thomas Turner in 54 seconds giving Monroe a 42-30 lead. Sophomore Joah Wellman wrestled at 215 pounds and scored a technical fall in 2:46, pushing Monroe’s lead to 47-30. At 285 pounds, sophomore Carson Austin closed out the match with a pin over John Lysaght in 1:29, giving he Cheese a 53-30 win.

It was the last dual meet at the Monroe High School gym as the Cheesemakers will move to their new high school facility next year.

Cheesemakers coach Tom Witt credited Oliver Ostby getting a pin at 144 pounds as the turning point of the match. “Oliver was the one that got us rolling at 144. We won every match after that. We won every match after Weston Huntsman’s match against a really good kid (Brady Collins, who was ranked No. 2 in the state at 138 pounds). It was all pins and forfeits tonight,” mentioned Witt.