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WarBirds 2nd at home invite
Darlington-Black Hawk sophomore Breylin Goebel lifts up Pecatonica-Argyle’s Nathan Nickels during their first-round 160-pound match Dec. 4 at the WarBird Invitational. Goebel won with a pin in the second period and went on to win his weight class.
Darlington-Black Hawk sophomore Breylin Goebel lifts up Pecatonica-Argyle’s Nathan Nickels during their first-round 160-pound match Dec. 4 at the WarBird Invitational. Goebel won with a pin in the second period and went on to win his weight class. - photo by Adam Krebs

DARLINGTON — Epworth Western Dubuque won the 2021 Warbird Invitational on Dec. 4, scoring 223 team points. Host Darlington-Black Hawk (177) was second, followed by Pecatonica-Argyle (119.5), Laconia (103), Sugar River (95), Mount Horeb-Barneveld (94), Parkview-Albany (61.5) and Boscobel (35).

Class champions for Darlington-Black Hawk included Ethan Aird (106), Owen Seffrood (132) and Breylin Goebel (160).

Aird had a bye into the semifinals before beating Sugar River’s Blake Endres 7-2 and then Pec-Argyle’s Aidan Gruenenfelder 5-0 in the championship. Seffrood pinned all three of his opponents in under a minute each. Goebel won two of his matches by pin, and defeated Dubuque’s Nevin Pins in the championship 8-3.

Second place finishers for the Warbirds included Wiley Zasada (220), Brady Horne (195) and Owen Huschitt (182), while Eli Aird (113), Maddox Goebel (152) and Jhovanny Cruz (170) all took third place.

Mason Mau (126) was the lone champion for Sugar River, while teammates Matthew Loshaw (132) and Ryker Swenson (152) were second, and Carson Loshaw (195) and Blake Endres (106) were third.

Jakob Orloff (113) and Kristian Orloff (145) were champions for Pecatonica-Argyle. Gruenenfelder was second at 106, while Trevor Doescher (120) and Levi Paust (220) finished third.

Ian Suer (126) and Camron Duncan (138) finished third for Parkview-Albany.


Monroe second at Parker Duals

JANESVILLE — The Cheesemakers opened the wrestling season with a second place showing at the five-team Parker Duals Dec. 4. Monroe went 3-1 on the day, losing only to champion Prairie du Chien.

Monroe had four wrestlers that went unbeaten on the day: Garrett Minder (106), Garrett Voegeli (120), Brady Schuh (152) and Isaac Bunker (285). 

“Minder had a great day and wrestled smart for his first varsity matches,” Monroe coach Tom Witt said. “Voegeli dominated in all of his matches. Schuh defeated two pretty good wrestlers and was dominate as well. Bunker only wrestled a little more than two minutes all day — all four matches were won by first-period pins.”

In the first dual, Monroe defeated host Janesville Parker, with Schuh and Jack Dubach keying big wins for the Cheesemakers.

“Jack Dubach had a big win over a good wrestler and was down 2-0 after the first period,” Monroe coach Tom Witt said. “Brady Schuh dominated Jakob Williams, who was a state qualifier at 138 two years ago, winning by fall in the third period.”

Against Edgerton, Monroe won 7 of the 9 matches wrestled. 

“Jace Amacher wishes he could have this match back. He left his elbow up, which put him in a bad position and he was pinned because of it. Hopefully he learns from this,” Witt said of the senior.

In the loss to PDC, Monroe won 4 of the 9 matches wrestled. 

Minder won his third match of the day against PDC, and Voegeli also wrestled a solid, controlled match, according to Witt. Schuh won 13-7 over Maddox Cejka, another solid wrestler expected to be ranked this season. 

Dubach, wrestling at 138 against PDC junior Rhett Koenig, a two-time state champion, was leading after the first period, but was taken down and pinned in the second. 

Against Kenosha, the final dual of the day, Monroe pulled out a 48-24 victory. 

“We responded by winning 8 of the 9 matches that we wrestled. I bumped Jace Amacher up to 170 and he accepted the challenge, winning the match by fall,” Witt said.

Darlington-Black Hawk’s Ethan Aird battles Sugar River’s Blake Endres in the 106-pound semifinal. Aird won the match 7-2, and went on to win his weight class.
Darlington-Black Hawk’s Ethan Aird battles Sugar River’s Blake Endres in the 106-pound semifinal. Aird won the match 7-2, and went on to win his weight class. - photo by Adam Krebs
Darlington-Black Hawk’s Isaac Crist battles Laconia’s Colton Hagner in the 145-pound weight class at the 2021 WarBird Invitational Dec. 4 at Darlington High School. Hagner won via second period pin. Crist was sixth overall in his weight class.
Darlington-Black Hawk’s Isaac Crist battles Laconia’s Colton Hagner in the 145-pound weight class at the 2021 WarBird Invitational Dec. 4 at Darlington High School. Hagner won via second period pin. Crist was sixth overall in his weight class. - photo by Adam Krebs
Sugar River’s Ryker Swenson grapples Darlington-Black Hawk’s Joseph Standaert in the first round at 152 pounds. Swenson pinned Standaert at 2:49 and went on to finish second.
Sugar River’s Ryker Swenson grapples Darlington-Black Hawk’s Joseph Standaert in the first round at 152 pounds. Swenson pinned Standaert at 2:49 and went on to finish second. - photo by Adam Krebs
Maddox Goebel, 152-pounder from Darlington, works on pinning Pecatonica-Argyle’s Lucas Rue in the first round.
Maddox Goebel, 152-pounder from Darlington, works on pinning Pecatonica-Argyle’s Lucas Rue in the first round.
Sammy Nelson of Pecatonica-Argyle works to roll over Parkview-Albany’s Evan Suer during their match at 138 pounds. Nelson won 9-6 and went on to finish fourth place.
Sammy Nelson of Pecatonica-Argyle works to roll over Parkview-Albany’s Evan Suer during their match at 138 pounds. Nelson won 9-6 and went on to finish fourth place. - photo by Adam Krebs