RICHLAND CENTER — Monroe finished fourth out of 16 teams at the Richland Center Invitational Dec. 21. Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro won the meet with Riverdale second and Tomah third. Sugar River was 12th.
Leading the way for the Cheesemakers was senior Alex Witt at 182 pounds. Witt (16-2) knocked off three wrestlers with a combined record of 25-4 on the year, including two state-ranked wrestlers.
“Alex ground three victories against three pretty good wrestlers,” head coach and father Tom Witt said. “Alex is looking to carry this performance over to next week at the Bi-State tournament in La Crosse.”
At heavyweight, Bodie Minder dominated his bracket, recording three first-period pins. Minder is now 12-0 on the year.
Kelsey Dominguez, wrestling at 220, was second place on the day, scoring two pins before letting the title slip away. Dominguez (15-3) led 7-1 in the championship match, only to be caught out of position and pinned in the third period.
“Kelsey took care of business in his first two matches,” Tom Witt said. “In the finals … this was a match he should have won. He realizes the mistake that he made and will hopefully learn from it.”
Jack Dubach (106) and Garrett Voegeli (113) both took third at the invite.
“They both ran into tough wrestlers in the semifinals. Both wrestlers that they lost to would win the championship in their bracket,” Tom Witt said. Dubach and Voegeli are each 15-3 on the year.
Brady Schuh hit the mat for the first time since February and finished fifth at 126. Schuh is recovering from elbow surgery. He went 4-1 on the day.
“As the day went along you could see the rust from the lack of mat time coming off,” Tom Witt said.
Kyle Haldiman was sixth in the 120-pound bracket. Deion Hargrove was seventh at 195, while Dakota Wickstrum (145) and Max Patterson (152) each were eighth.
“Kyle Haldiman has really improved the last couple of weeks,” Tom Witt said. “It was a good day of wrestling by all. All 12 Monroe wrestlers that competed had at least one win on the mat, so everyone scored points towards the team score. The coaches are pleased with how this group has been working in practice and improving.”
Sugar River had three grapplers place. Scoring third-place honors were Joe Quaglia (13-2) at 132 pounds and Robert Chenoweth (11-4) at 160. Nathan Balderas was eighth at 113.
DBH 12th at Badger State Invitational
MADISON — The WarBirds have five grapplers medal at the annual Badger State Invitational held at the Alliant Energy Center Dec. 21. Fennimore (243.5) edged Stoughton (221) for the team title.
Senior Leif Bredeson (11-1) took the heavyweight title, topping Brookfield East’s John Champe 5-4 in the championship match. Bredeson received a pair of byes in the opening rounds and then pinned his opponents in the first period in both the quarterfinal and semifinal.
At 220, Bailey Schilling was fourth for the WarBirds. He was pinned by Stoughton’s Brooks Empey in the semifinals and then by Fennimore’s Aaron Ragels in the third-place match.
Carson Lobdell was sixth at 170, Brady Horne was seventh at 160 and Owen Huschitt finished in eighth place at 152.
Brodhead-Juda seventh at Mount Horeb Invite
MOUNT HOREB — The Cardinals finished seventh in the 16-team Mount Horeb Invitational Dec. 21. Whitewater won the meet.
Jayson Starr (15-1) won the championship at 145-pounds for Brodhead-Juda. Starr had a bye in the first round and then scored major decision wins in the quarters and semis. In the championship against Verona’s Cael Wozniak (15-3), Starr won via injury.
At 152 pounds, Brian McCullough was third for the Cardinals. McCullough (14-2) won in a bye in the first round, then scored a pin in the quarterfinals. He then lost in the semifinals before winning 10-3 over Deerfield’s Ray Bach.
Also placing for the Cardinals were Cole Hoesly at 170 (fifth), Blaine Berget at 182 (sixth) and Jacob Miller at 285 (eighth).
