MONROE - A Monroe wrestling team battling a slew of illnesses collected five pins and a decision en route to a 57-15 win over Waunakee Tuesday.
"We had a very jumbled lineup due to a lot of illness on our team," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "We were without Ryan Hughes at 160 and Brett Zimmerman at 285, and Mitch Swanson which will be our 152 pounder when he returns.
"The guys all stepped up, many of them moving up a weight class to get wins for us," Jackson said. "Even in our losses, we wrestled tough."
The meet started with a double forfeit at 113. At 120 pounds, Monroe sophomore Terri Holmes was pinned by Waunakee junior Bryce Statz 31 seconds into the second period. To begin the year, Statz was ranked 10th in Division 1 at 126 pounds.
In the second match of the night, freshman McKenzy Foley (126) wrestled up from his usual 120 and lost via 2-1 decision to Waunakee's Luke Meffert.
"He wrestled well but was also coming off of being sick and just didn't have enough gas left in the tank to pull out the win," Jackson said.
After the loss at 126, the Cheesemakers won 10 matches in a row to put the meet out of reach.
Senior Jesse Keizer (132) kicked things off for the Cheesemakers, pinning Waunakee's Ben Frawley with 13 seconds left in the first period. Senior Aaron Hesgard (138) followed that up with a 47-second pin of Waunakee's Cameron Klade.
At 152, senior Kevin Klopfenstein - ranked No. 9 in Division 2 at 145 - won by pin over Alec Putnam in 5:49. Cody Wolf (160) followed that up with a 3-0 decision over Waunakee's Mason Ripp.
"Cody Wolf wrestled up at 160 from his normal 152 and wrestled a great in-control match and is truly getting better every week," Jackson said. "He really has a lot of upside."
At 182, senior Dustin Burkhalter pinned Waunakee's Trevor Statz in 3:40, and junior Troy Gorr (285) pinned Waunakee's Jacob Marek in 3:20.
"(Dusty) wrestled against one of their toughest guys and came up with a big pin," Jackson said. "He dominated the whole match before getting the pin."
The Cheesemakers also collected four forfeits on Tuesday.
"The guys won and pinned where they were supposed to do so and they all did their jobs," Jackson said. "It was a solid win and effort by everyone."
The Cheesemakers will wrestle in the Richland Center invitational on Saturday and then host a home dual against Edgerton next Thursday.
"We had a very jumbled lineup due to a lot of illness on our team," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "We were without Ryan Hughes at 160 and Brett Zimmerman at 285, and Mitch Swanson which will be our 152 pounder when he returns.
"The guys all stepped up, many of them moving up a weight class to get wins for us," Jackson said. "Even in our losses, we wrestled tough."
The meet started with a double forfeit at 113. At 120 pounds, Monroe sophomore Terri Holmes was pinned by Waunakee junior Bryce Statz 31 seconds into the second period. To begin the year, Statz was ranked 10th in Division 1 at 126 pounds.
In the second match of the night, freshman McKenzy Foley (126) wrestled up from his usual 120 and lost via 2-1 decision to Waunakee's Luke Meffert.
"He wrestled well but was also coming off of being sick and just didn't have enough gas left in the tank to pull out the win," Jackson said.
After the loss at 126, the Cheesemakers won 10 matches in a row to put the meet out of reach.
Senior Jesse Keizer (132) kicked things off for the Cheesemakers, pinning Waunakee's Ben Frawley with 13 seconds left in the first period. Senior Aaron Hesgard (138) followed that up with a 47-second pin of Waunakee's Cameron Klade.
At 152, senior Kevin Klopfenstein - ranked No. 9 in Division 2 at 145 - won by pin over Alec Putnam in 5:49. Cody Wolf (160) followed that up with a 3-0 decision over Waunakee's Mason Ripp.
"Cody Wolf wrestled up at 160 from his normal 152 and wrestled a great in-control match and is truly getting better every week," Jackson said. "He really has a lot of upside."
At 182, senior Dustin Burkhalter pinned Waunakee's Trevor Statz in 3:40, and junior Troy Gorr (285) pinned Waunakee's Jacob Marek in 3:20.
"(Dusty) wrestled against one of their toughest guys and came up with a big pin," Jackson said. "He dominated the whole match before getting the pin."
The Cheesemakers also collected four forfeits on Tuesday.
"The guys won and pinned where they were supposed to do so and they all did their jobs," Jackson said. "It was a solid win and effort by everyone."
The Cheesemakers will wrestle in the Richland Center invitational on Saturday and then host a home dual against Edgerton next Thursday.
