DE SOTO — The Vikings faced stiff competition in the Ridge and Valley conference duals on Thursday, Jan. 26. Pecatonica-Argyle won just one of its five matches for fifth place.
In the opening round, Kickapoo-La Farge defeated Pecatonica-Argyle 42-36. Only three matches were played out — the rest resulting in forfeit. The Vikings won two of those matches, as Levi Paust (285) and Aidan Gruenenfelder (106) pinned both their opponents in the first period. Emerson Koch (145) on the other hand, fell to Gage Mesner.
Despite a 15-0 start to their second match, the Vikings fell to Ithaca-Weston 48-27. Jakob Orloff (126) began with a 21-5 technical fall. With 18 seconds left in the match, Will Doescher (132) pinned his opponent, followed by a 12-0 major decision from Sammy Nelson (138). The final 12 points came on pins by Gruenenfelder and Lukas Orloff (120).
The last three matches proved to be Pecatonica-Argyle’s best. Although they lost two of three matches, the Vikings lost by a combined three points.
Against De Soto, Pecatonica-Argyle fell 26-34. Doescher opened with an 18-2 technical fall, followed by a 12-second pin from Nelson. The next five matches went to De Soto though — all from forfeits. Paust (220) broke up the scoring with a quick, 25-second pin. Gruenenfelder and the Orloffs won to close out the match, but the damage had already been done.
The Vikings’ lone victory came against North Crawford-Seneca by a score of 42-12. Just three matches were played out yet again, with the Pecatonica-Argyle taking two of three. Nelson and Gruenenfelder pinned their opponents in the third period.
River Ridge edged Pecatonica-Argyle 31-30 in the final match thanks to tie-breaker criteria f — least number of forfeits given up. The Vikings scored their points in the last five matches, as Gruenenfelder, both Orloffs, Doescher and Nelson pinned their opponents.
SAUK PRAIRIE 51, MONROE 27
MONROE — The Cheesemakers hosted the Eagles for a dual on Thursday, Jan. 27.
Monroe suffered from four forfeits, giving Sauk Prairie 24 points. Carson Menehan (132), Jack Dubach (152) and Garrett Minder (113) earned 18 of those points back by pinning their opponents. The only other win came from Connor Eckdahl’s (138) 5-3 sudden victory.
In exhibition matches, Noah Rose dfeated Griffin Fritsch 9-5 and Nathan Schipper bested Kevin Rodriguez 9-0.
WISCONSIN DELLS INVITATIONAL
WISCONSIN DELLS — The Sugar River wrestling team battled with 12 other teams on Saturday, Jan. 28, finishing third with 189.5 points.
Blake Endres (113) and Eli Leonard (152) won their respective brackets, while Garrett Pauli (220) finished as runner up.
After a first-round bye, Endres pinned Finn Mulligan in the first period. In the semifinal, Endres edged Brody Miess 4-2 before pinning Nick Ersland for the title.
Leonard, too, advanced to the second round with a bye. He pinned his next two opponents before dominating William Becker by a 13-0 major decision in the championship.
Pauli wrestled in four matches. He bested Collin Wilson 7-0 before pinning his next two opponents. In the championship, Pauli narrowly fell to Deven Soerens 7-6.
Mason Mau (126) and Ryker Swenson (160) finished third, while Brennan Keyes (132), Alex Zielinski (170) and Carson Loshaw (195) took fourth.