MONROE — The Cheesemakers celebrated Senior Night in the Monroe High School PAC Dec. 10 by defeating Baraboo 33-27 in a dual. The following day, Monroe finished third at the Raider Scramble in Belleville.

The Cheesemakers honored its four seniors in the PAC prior to their dual against the Thunderbirds, and then scored two wins of the four.

“It was nice to have a home dual meet with fans,” Monroe coach Tom Witt said. “Last year we were kind of spread out like everyone else was for their sports, so to be able to do that in the PAC for the fifth year was pretty cool.”

Monroe won the coin toss before the match, and called for Baraboo to report first. The Thunderbirds had previously scheduled to avoid some of Monroe’s better wrestlers, but after weigh-ins, the forfeited classes would have worked in Baraboo’s advantage and kept some of the Monroe seniors from wrestling. Witt countered by moving several eligible wrestlers up a weight class, beginning with the opener at 152 pounds, which was then double-forfeited. 

“We chose evens when we won the toss, so they have to report first. We forced their hands,” Witt said. 

Brady Schuh (8-0), Monroe 2-time state-qualifying senior, then wrestled at 160 pounds and pinned Baraboo’s Vincent Tikkanen with 15 seconds left in the first period, setting the pace for the rest of the match.

Moving from 160 to 170 was Monroe senior Jace Amacher, who then met the same fate as Tikkanen. Oregon took a brief 12-6 match lead after Riley Martin pinned Monroe junior Austin Fuchs at the 1:03 mark in the 220-pound fight.

Back-to-back Baraboo forfeits at 285 and 106 put Monroe ahead 18-12, but Baraboo’s Alexis Winecke pinned Garrett Minder in the first period to even it back up again.

Momentum on the night turned in the 120-match, where Cheesemaker senior Garrett Voegeli won a hard-fought 2-1 match over Peyton Oberg.

“(Oberg) is only a freshman, but he actually won the preseason 14U national tournament at 120. It was good to see Garrett pull out the win. It was a great match for him,” Witt said. “Getting to 120 is a struggle for him, but I think he’s figured out his diet plan.”

Monroe then got pinfalls from Carson Menehan (126) and Christian Schuh (132), giving the Cheesemakers the dual victory. In the final two matches of the night, Monroe’s Jack Dubach lost to Talan Pichler 4-1 at 138 pounds, and senior Ryan Holst was pinned at 145 pounds in the second period.

“Jack was disappointed in his performance. He was on his feet and he wasn’t very aggressive with his style of wrestling — he let that guy (Pichler) dictate the tie-ups,” Witt said. “Carson got his first win on varsity. Getting the pin tonight should build some confidence.”

The Cheesemakers were back at it the next morning at the Raider Scramble in Belleville. Evansville won the tournament with 239.5 points, while Lancaster (170), Monroe (135.5) and Sugar River (126) all followed suit in the seven-team competition.

Champions for Monroe were Brady Schuh (152) and Isaac Bunker (285). Both wrestlers are unbeaten this season. Dubach (138) and Menehan (125) were second, and Voegeli (120) and Christian Schuh (132) took third.

Blake Endres (106) and Mason Mau (126) were champions for Sugar River, while Ryker Swenson (152) and Avery Lettman (145) were second. Alex Zielinski (170) and Holden Righter (195) each finished third for the host Raiders.

In other area wrestling action on Dec. 9, Darlington-Black Hawk defeated Riverdale 48-30, while Brodhead-Juda dominated Jefferson 51-30 thanks to seven pins. Jefferson scored just one victory in matches wrestled, with the remaining points earned via forfeit.