FORT ATKINSON — Alex Witt was Monroe’s top finisher at the Badger Conference meet Feb. 3. Witt took second at 170-pounds.

“Alex was the No. 1 seed by one match,” said Tom Witt, Alex’s father and head coach. Alex Witt came into the meet with a 32-5 record, while Waunakee’s Colton Grindle was 31-5 on the season.

Alex Witt scored the first points of the match on a takedown, only to allow an escape. The two then grappled to the mat, but a delayed score by the official ruffled feathers.

“He waited about 20 seconds and then gave Grindle the takedown,” Tom Witt said. “I thought they were even, and at 3-2, that changed the rest of the match,. 

In the second period, Alex Witt started from the bottom, but could not pull off an escape.

“It was the first time all year Alex got ridden out,” Tom Witt said. 

An escape by Grindle in the third put Alex Witt down 4-2, and in the waning moments he tried a desperation maneuver to score a takedown, instead Grindle scored another takedown to seal the match.

“If they wrestled again, it probably would go the other way. It’s a very even match,” Tom Witt said. “Alex is disappointed, but his mind is in the right spot (with regionals coming up). I was a state champion, but I never was a conference champion.”

As a team, Monroe finished eighth in the 15-team meet. Tom Witt knows that with regionals Feb. 9 it will be about moving on as many individuals as possible.

“We’ll have to re-focus now. We have a lot of young guys in our lineup. Our focus now is to get as many kids to sectionals as possible,” Tom Witt said. “Overall, we probably finished right where we should have been (in the team standings).”

Elsewhere in the conference meet, Patrick Rielly was third at 160, as was Bodie Minder at 220.

Riley lost in the semifinal to Bryant Schaaf of Sun Prairie by a 6-3 decision. He wrestled back with a quick 26-second pin in the consolation third round and then pinned Milton’s Jordan Stivarius in the third-place match in 1:43.

“(Schaaf) is a returning state place-winner,” Tom Witt said. 

Minder was the No. 4 seed at 220. He lost in his semifinal match to Waunakee’s Reed Ryan, a football standout who will play for North Dakota State in the fall.

“It was the best match Ryan had all day. Bodie did better than I thought he would,” Tom Witt said.

In the third-place match, Minder escaped and got Stoughton’s Drew Pasold stuck in an armbar before pinning him.

“Those three guys have been our horses all year,” Tom Witt said of Minder, Rielly and Alex Witt. “Our conference tournament has some very tough brackets.”

Also placing for the Cheesemakers were Kelsey Domingez (sixth) at heavyweight, Jaden Clark (sixth) at 145, Brady Schuh (sixth) at 106 and Julian Gruber (seventh) at 195.

“Jaden Clark, filling in at 145 had a 1-3 record coming in and took sixth. He wrestled great. He’s a young freshman and could have wrestled at 138,” Tom Witt said. “Schuh lost to the same Stoughton kid (Ethan Peterson) twice, and had lost to him earlier this year.”

Schuh lost in the quarterfinal in sudden victory overtime, but rallied back in the consolation bracket. In the fifth-place match against Peterson, Schuh fell 3-1.

Domingez reached the semifinals and then was pinned in three straight matches.

“Kelsey was the No. 2 seed, and he’s undersized,” Tom Witt said. “The guys that give him the most trouble are the ones that could probably wrestle 220.” 

Gruber went 4-1 on the day, but in order to place higher than seventh, wrestlers must win their first match. Instead, Gruber lost to Oregon’s Nathan Hall 5-3 before rumbling through every block in his path the rest of the day.

“He’s disappointed,” Tom Witt said. “He had some good shots in that match and just couldn’t finish him.”