PRAIRIE DU SAC — The Cheesemakers finished third at the Sauk Prairie Invitational Jan. 4, including two individual champions.
“This is our first time competing at this tournament,” Monroe coach Tom Witt said. “We had a very good day considering we did not have our full team of wrestlers. Two of our seniors were unable to wrestle due to an injury and illness, so finishing third was good. If we had our two other wrestlers, I believe we would have pushed for the team title.”
Monroe’s two champions were senior Alex Witt at 182 pounds and freshman Jack Dubach at 106. The Cheesemakers also had a second-place finisher, a fourth-place, two fifths, a seventh and an eighth.
Alex Witt (25-4) dominated his weight class as the No. 1 seed. He won by 16-0 technical fall prior to the semifinals, then pinned his opponents in both the semis and championship rounds. The semifinal win was No. 101 in his career.
“It is a heck of an accomplishment, and to have two other wrestlers on the team also get their 100th wins, that’s pretty special,” Tom Witt said. Alex joined teammates Patrick Rielly and Bodie Minder in the 100-win club, as the other two reached the mark a week earlier. “I don’t recall there ever being a year when we have had three wrestlers in the same graduating class get over 100 career wins.”
Dubach was seeded third and went 4-0 on the day, including winning by pin in the quarters, semis and championship matches.
“He dominated the weight class,” Tom Witt said. “Solid wrestling; stayed in good position at all times. He is growing and gaining confidence as the season progresses.”
At 220 pounds, Kelsey Dominguez went 3-1 and took second. He lost the championship match to Sauk Prairie’s Simon Patterson via pin. Dominguez won by pins in 60 seconds or less in both the quarterfinals and semifinals.
“In the championship match, he had some opportunities to take the early lead, but just didn’t capitalize on those,” Tom Witt said. “Going 3-1 and taking second is a good day.”
Garrett Voegeli was fourth at 113 pounds, going 2-2 on the day and improving his season mark to 19-7.
“Garrett had two good matches to reach the semifinals. He was knocked in the nose pretty hard in the semifinals and he was in pain. I think that this affected how he wrestled in the third-place match,” Tom Witt said.
Brady Schuh took fifth at 126 pounds, while Deion Hargrove was fifth at 195.
“Brady is working his way back from off-season surgery. His conditioning and technique continues to get better each week,” Tom Witt said. “For being a first-year wrestler, Deion has done a great job. He went 4-1 on the day — his loss came in the second round to the wrestler that would take second in the bracket. He continues to improve each week, gaining more confidence in his technique. Having a .500 record wrestling on varsity as a first-year wrestler is pretty good. I am proud of how he has stuck with this and how he continues to work in practice.”
Dakota Wickstrum was seventh at 145. Kyle Haldiman was eighth at 120 pounds.
West Bend East won the team title, with Sauk Prairie second. Monroe’s 184 points edged Ithaca-Weston by a half-point, with Pecatonica-Argyle a full point behind the Cheesemakers in fifth place. Sugar River was 17th in the 18-team meet.
Robert Chenoweth was third for Sugar River in the 152-pound class, while teammate Joe Quaglia was fifth.
Easton Schraepfer was the champion at 160 pounds for Pec-Argyle, winning thrice by pinfall. The Vikings had two third-place finishers — Dakota Doescher (132), Kristian Orloff (138) — and three in fourth place — Noah Krahenbuhl (126), Tayte Hirsch (182) and Quinn Murphy (285).
DBH sixth at Lancaster
LANCASTER — Darlington-Black Hawk finished sixth as a team at the Lancaster Invitational Jan. 4. Brodhead-Juda was tied for eighth in the 12-team meet.
The WarBirds had three champions: Brady Horne at 160 pounds, Cayden Milz at 170 and Leif Bredeson at 285.
Carson Lobdell finished third at 182 pounds, while Owen Huschitt was fifth at 152.
For Brodhead-Juda, Brian McCullough was second at 152.
Placing fourth for the Redbirds were Jacob Lohmar at 106, Jayson Starr at 145 and Cole Hoesly at 170. Blaine Berget took fifth at 182.
