BELLEVILLE — The Sugar River wrestling team hosted its annual Raider Scramble on Saturday, Dec. 9, keeping the trophy in Belleville’s halls with five individual champions and 188 team points.
“I love hosting a tournament. It is a great way for the team to compete at home in front of their family and friends,” Sugar River head coach Peter Swenson said. “The team did a great job. We are still working to get some wrestlers to their best positions, but the team should be proud of how they competed against some tough teams.”
Blake Endres (126), who finished fifth at state last season, went 4-0 on the day with four pins. The quickest was in 43 seconds.
Mason Mau (138), a three-time state qualifier, defeated two other 2023 state qualifiers to take first. In the championship bracket semifinal, Mau pinned Monroe’s Garrett Minder in the first period. He then won a narrow 5-4 decision over Brodhead-Juda’s Marcus McIntyre.
“Mason loves to wrestle, especially in the big matches, so he embraces the competition,” coach Swenson said. “These wins helps build his confidence going into our next competitions.”
Ryker Swenson (165) received a first-round bye before pinning the rest of his opponents. The quickest occurred in the championship — 37 seconds against River Valley’s Hunter Alt.
Alex Zielinski (175) pinned all three of his opponents in round robin. He then won a 7-5 decision in the championship bracket semifinal before pinning Watertown Luther Prep’s Abel Brandt in 21 seconds for the title.
Carson Loshaw (190) pinned each of his opponents and went to the second period in just one of his five matches.
Although Monroe didn’t have a single individual champion, the Cheesemakers took second with 139.5 team points and five runners-up. Monroe head coach Tom Witt attributed his team’s improvement from last year’s Raider Scramble — fifth with 130.5 team points — to fewer open weights and the absence of Evansville and Belmont-Platteville.
“Evansville is a very solid team. We don’t finish second with them there,” Witt acknowledged. “I think this year we had fewer open weights. We had 12 wrestlers score points, with eight placing second or third. It was a total team effort.”
Owen Voegeli (106), Carson Menehan (132), Connor Eckdhal (144), Christian Schuh (150) and Alex Anastacio (215) finished second. Although Evansville and Belmont-Platteville were not at this year’s Scramble, the Cheesemakers still ran into talented wrestlers from Sugar River, Dodgeville and River Valley.
Menehan got the first takedown against Dodgeville’s Charlie Meudt before pinned him in the third period. Meudt is a two-time state champion.
Eckdhal fell to 2023 state qualifier Noah Radtke of River Valley in Round 5, and Schuh lost a 6-2 decision to Brodhead-Juda’s Joe Lohmar. Both Schuh and Lohmar were 2023 state qualifiers.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Witt said. “When you get a chance to wrestle some of the elite or best in the state, you get a gage of where you are at yourself. These are losses against the best that will make us better moving forward.”
Brodhead-Juda finished sixth of eight teams with 106 points and two individual champions. The Cardinals brought just seven wrestlers to the Scramble, which was the second fewest of all the teams there.
“Early in the season is always a learning experience to see where you are at and what needs to be worked on,” Brodhead-Juda head coach Chris Hoesly said. “How they finished isn’t a big deal because in reality, it’s all about where you stand at the end of the season.”
Lohmar (150) pinned two opponents in round robin before arguably his toughest match of the day against River Valley’s Wyatt Nachreiner. Lohmar and Nachreiner finished the first three periods in a 2-2 tie. Lohmar then won in sudden victory with a takedown 12 seconds in. In the championship bracket, Lohmar won by 4-0 and 6-2 decisions.
Landon King (215) went 3-0 in round robin with three pins. The quickest occurred in 47 seconds.
