MONROE — For the sixth time in seven years, Monroe wrestlers performed in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on senior night, Friday, Jan. 6. Although the Cheesemakers fell to Reedsburg 56-24, all three seniors — Jack Dubach, Austin Fuchs and Isaac Bunker — came away with pins.
“It was a lot louder. One person would clap, and it sounded like 20 people were clapping. It’s a neat experience to wrestle up there,” Fuchs said.
The match began with Dubach’s 145-pound match against Drew Purifoy. Dubach had a 7-2 lead in the second period, before pinning Purifoy at the 3:41 mark. Christian Schuh (152) followed with a first-period pin to give Monroe a 12-0 lead.
The next three matches went to Reedsburg, as Joe Rufenacht (160) fell with just four seconds left in the first period, and Braedyn Nally (170) dropped in the second period. Trey Schinker (195) of Reedsburg won his match by forfeit.
The 220-pound match was scheduled between No. 3-ranked Jesus Gonzalez and Fuchs, but Fuchs wrestled Brayden Klemp instead.
“Austin got the luck of the draw. Their varsity 220 is ranked third in the state, but he didn’t wrestle tonight. He had had an injury, so they [Reedsburg] held him back,” head coach Tom Witt said. “Austin is also coming off a knee injury, so it was a good confidence builder for him.”
Despite going against a lesser opponent, Fuchs still had nerves going into the match.
“I’ll be honest, I was a little more nervous than I was wrestling that other guy because I knew I wasn’t going to win that one,” Fuchs said. “The JV guy came up, and I knew it wasn’t going to be good. I went out and did my stuff. Coach told me to just relax, and I was able to get it done.”
Fuchs scored first with a takedown and eventually pinned Klemp in one minute. Isaac Bunker (285) followed it up with a pin of his own in 56 seconds to tie the match at 24.
Reedsburg went on to win the final six matches with four pins, a tech fall and 11-7 decision.
Monroe sent 13 wrestlers to the mat against Reedsburg with just four of them being upperclassmen. In fact, the upperclassmen were the only athletes to score for the Cheesemakers. Although the team is taking some lumps now, Witt sees good things in the future.
“Hopefully it’s brighter for us as we get more mature and older,” Witt said. “I told them in the huddle that we are young, but we are improving in the wrestling room. We saw some good stuff tonight, even though the end result wasn’t what we wanted.”
SAUK PRAIRIE EAGLE INVITE
SAUK PRAIRIE — After their home dual, the Cheesemakers finished 14 of 24 teams (82 points) at the Sauk Prairie Eagle Invite on Saturday, Jan. 7.
Monroe was led by Dubach, who was crowned the 145-pound champion. Dubach pinned his first-round opponent in just 30 seconds and followed it up with a 7-3 decision. In the semifinal, he pinned Trei Udelhoven of Sugar River with seven seconds left in the second period. Dubach took the title with a 5-3 decision in the championship.
Bunker suffered his first loss of the season, finishing third overall. He received a first-round bye then pinned his next opponent in the first period. The Eagles’ own Nolan Vils pinned Bunker in 1:15, sending Bunker to the third-place match. He rebounded with a 26-second pin.
Garrett Minder (113) was the only other wrestler to place, taking fifth. He lost his first-round match then wrestled all the way back to the consolation championship where he won by a 6-3 decision.
Sugar River took third at the invite with 187 points and individual champions in Mason Mau (126) and Eli Leonard (152).
Mau received a first-round bye then won by a 21-6 tech fall. In the semifinal, he defeated Owen West by a 12-0 major decision. For the title, he bested Irie Jackson 10-5.
Leonard, too, won his championship match by a 10-5 decision. To get there, he pinned his three previous opponents — two in the second period and one in the third.
Blake Endres (113) took second for the Raiders. After a first-round bye, Endres pinned his next two opponents. In the championship Charlie Meudt bested Endres by a 21-6 tech fall. Carson Loshaw (195) was another top-three finisher, falling to eventual champion Joseph LaRoche in the semifinals. Loshaw won his third-place match with a 5-2 decision.
Ryker Swenson (160) and Udelhoven (145) finished in the top five, both taking fourth.
Pecatonica-Argyle finished just behind Monroe with 80.5 points for 15th. The Vikings had two individual champions in Aidan Gruenenfelder (106) and Levi Paust (220).
After a first-round bye, Gruenenfelder pinned his firs opponent in the first period. He followed it up with a 21-6 tech fall. In the championship, Gruenenfelder bested Logan Clausen 3-1. Paust pinned all four of his opponents, the quickest occurring in 1:42.
