MONROE — The Monroe wrestling team opened its season against one of the toughest teams in the area — Milton, which toppled the Cheesemakers, 57-18, in a Badger South dual match Dec. 6.

“I saw a pretty good fight from the 12 that we wrestled,” Monroe head coach Tom Witt said.

Monroe went into the night shorthanded, with upper-weight Julian Gruber out for the year with a knee injury and lower weight Brady Schuh recovering from an arm injury. Both wrestlers qualified for sectionals last year. Also missing for Monroe against Milton was Deion Hargrove, wrestling in Gruber’s place, due to a skin issue, according to Witt.

Monroe forfeited two matches — 126 and 152 — which gave Milton a 12-point head start. The Red Hawks then won a handful of tight matches (106, 160, 195 and 220) based on experience and luck of the draw.

“In my mind, we should have won three more,” Witt said.

The Cheesemakers won just three matches, all by pin. Patrick Rielly was victorious at 170, pinning Kade Desormeau at the 2:14 mark. At 182 pounds, Alex Witt pinned Jordan Stivarius with six seconds left in the second period, and Bodie Minder, wrestling heavyweight, pinned Jordan Hergert at the 1:19 mark in the second period.

“Bodie did what he does — he’s our pin guy,” Tom Witt said.

Minder and Hergert had a less-than-exciting first period, with no points scored. Minder was feeling out his opponent and then struck while the picking was ripe in the second from the ground.

“In the first period he was just grabbing onto my head gear and I couldn’t really do anything,” Minder said. “I’m not the best on my feet, but once I get on the ground, that’s where my wrestling takes off. It just comes more naturally to me to switch off things on the ground than on my feet.”

Rielly bumped up to 170 and quickly fell behind 2-0 on a takedown. Rielly was able to score the next seven points to lead 7-2 after the first period. He made it 9-2 before scoring the pin.

“It was a good feeling, getting back out there on the mat. It’s always a unique experience; you don’t know what to expect,” Rielly said. “I love to go for the pin and getting that dagger right away. But I was surprised he took me down and he countered my attack pretty well, which was good for him because after that I just started going right after him.”

Alex Witt never trailed in his match, scoring two takedowns in the first while only allowing an escape. Late in the second, he was able to overpower Stivarius and get the pin.

Monroe nearly had points at 160, 195 and 220. In the 160 match, Max Patterson returned after a year off and looked a bit rusty, but lost just 5-2 to Justin Sanchez. Freshman Alex Hernandez led 5-3 in the second period of the 195 match, but trailed 5-6 to open the third period. The first-year varsity wrestler lost to Milton junior Devin Hergert.

“Patterson had some sloppy stuff, but he hasn’t wrestled for over a year, so that’s to be expected,” Witt said. “(Hernandez) is wrestling at 195, but he only weighs about 178 pounds. Some better technique and some more mat time and that’s a win by us.”

In the 220 match, Kelsey Dominguez was up 4-3 entering the third period. He chose to be the down man in the third but was docked a point for stalling, which evened the score at 4-4 with under a minute to go. Milton junior Josiah Richardson then pinned Dominguez with seconds to go in the match.

“Kelsey, he knows. When you’re ahead 4-3 and you’re in down position, you don’t get turned to your back and lose a match,” Tom Witt said.

At 106, Monroe freshman Jack Dubach had to face Riley Nilo, who was sixth at the WIAA Division 1 state meet last year. Rilo won 6-0, scoring two points in each period. 

“Jack is seasoned; he’s wrestled a lot since kindergarten. He’s been over to Europe a few times to wrestle over there, he’s done freestyle — that’s all he does, he lives and breathes wrestling. It probably could have been a little bit closer; I think he should have had that first takedown in that match. For him to lose 6-0, it was a good start for him,” Tom Witt said. 

Dec. 7, Janesville Parker Invite

Random Lake 49, Monroe 28

JANESVILLE — The Cheesemakers lost a nonconference dual Dec. 7. Both teams forfeited three weight classes.

In contested matches, Monroe received wins from Dubach at 106 and Minder at 285.

Dubach scored a 10-0 major decision over Mark Szombathelyi, while Minder pinned Jordan Arendt in just 76 seconds.