BELLEVILLE - The Cheesemakers' wrestling team came close to overall victory at Saturday's eight-team Raider Scramble despite having one less wrestler than the tournament champ.
"I didn't really have any expectations for this (meet)," Monroe head coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "We came in here with 10 guys, but our 10 guys are pretty good. So it's nice to see we can get right up to the top without our full lineup in."
Five Monroe wrestlers took first place, two finished second and another third. The 170 points the team earned was just eight off of the pace set by Mount Horeb-Barneveld, which used 11 wrestlers. Evansville-Albany, which also had 11 wrestlers, was second with 174 points.
"We've got a lot of mistakes to change and get better. Simple mistakes. We can change mistakes but we can't change how hard they wrestle - and they're wrestling hard," Jackson said.
Junior Nick Walker (heavyweight), senior Josh Mayer (189 pounds), senior Mason Goff (152) and junior Dylan Schwitz (145) were named champions for Monroe, but none of Monroe's other wrestlers had a change of fortune like freshman 119-pounder, Kevin Klopfenstein.
After winning his first two matches via pin and an injury default, Klopfenstein led Evansville-Albany's Justin McNamer 14-0 and was nearing a technical fall victory. Suddenly, McNamer turned Klopfenstein to the mat, pinning him.
"I don't know what happened. The ref was one count from technical falling the guy and it was almost as if he (Klopfenstein) stopped wrestling. I guess we'll put that one as a lesson learned and we'll move on," Jackson said.
In the championship match, the two wrestlers faced of again, with Klopfenstein holding onto the major decision, 14-2.
Schwitz, Monroe's lone qualifier for state last season, went undefeated, picking up three pins in four matches and winning the title with a 3-1 decision over Tom Bjustad from Evansville-Albany.
Goff pinned his first round opponent, Luke Gunn of Evansville-Albany, in just 36 seconds and went on to win his final three matches with decisions. A 6-3 victory over Sugar River's Dan Nolden in the fifth round sealed Goff's undefeated day.
"We'll see a few of these teams again this year. It's good competition. Five of these teams are in our regional," Jackson said.
Last season, Mayer was sidelined with an injury. Mayer earned his title Saturday with a perfect 4-0 record, which included three pins, one in just 38 seconds.
Walker pinned his first opponent, James Bishop of Belmont-Platteville in two minutes, 38 seconds and went on to win his final three matches 4-1, 3-2 and 3-1.
Senior Dillon Weckerly finished in second place after a 3-2 loss to Belmont-Platteville's Josh Eastlick in the 171-pound championship. Weckerly won all four of his other matches via pin.
Trevor Gorr (215) had nearly the same fate as Weckerly. After picking up a major decision and three pins, Gorr was pinned by Mount Horeb-Barneveld's Trent Zander.
Freshman Aaron Hesgard finished third for Monroe in the 103-pound division, going 2-2 on the day.
Sugar River's Ben Schmitt won the 160-pound bracket, picking up three pins in the opening rounds, a technical fall in the semifinals and a 4-0 decision over Belmont-Platteville's Dusty Jentz in the championship.
"Ben Schmitt is looking really good. He'd only wrestled one match up until today. Last year he had a broken foot and was off all year," Sugar River head coach Pete Swenson said. The Raiders finished sixth as a team with 98.5 points.
Brothers Mike Nolden (171) and Dan Nolden (152) each took third place for the Raiders and Tom Vetterli (145) was fourth.
"We had some inconsistencies. The effort's right there, but its still recognizing what we need to be aware of when were on the bottom, controlling on top and just constantly moving. We have some guys that are starting good, but then all of a sudden we're stopping and giving our opponents a chance to capitalize," Swenson said.
In all, 99 wrestlers participated in the meet.
"It's really cool for our guys (to host the event). Their friends can come and we don't have to travel," Swenson said. "It's fun to keep this thing going here through the years. We get the youth wrestlers in here to help out because they know they will be wrestling here someday. It builds a tradition."
Cuba City-Southwestern finished in fourth place as a team with 120 points. Dodgeville (112 points), Belmont-Platteville (88) and Madison East (86) also participated in the event.
"I didn't really have any expectations for this (meet)," Monroe head coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "We came in here with 10 guys, but our 10 guys are pretty good. So it's nice to see we can get right up to the top without our full lineup in."
Five Monroe wrestlers took first place, two finished second and another third. The 170 points the team earned was just eight off of the pace set by Mount Horeb-Barneveld, which used 11 wrestlers. Evansville-Albany, which also had 11 wrestlers, was second with 174 points.
"We've got a lot of mistakes to change and get better. Simple mistakes. We can change mistakes but we can't change how hard they wrestle - and they're wrestling hard," Jackson said.
Junior Nick Walker (heavyweight), senior Josh Mayer (189 pounds), senior Mason Goff (152) and junior Dylan Schwitz (145) were named champions for Monroe, but none of Monroe's other wrestlers had a change of fortune like freshman 119-pounder, Kevin Klopfenstein.
After winning his first two matches via pin and an injury default, Klopfenstein led Evansville-Albany's Justin McNamer 14-0 and was nearing a technical fall victory. Suddenly, McNamer turned Klopfenstein to the mat, pinning him.
"I don't know what happened. The ref was one count from technical falling the guy and it was almost as if he (Klopfenstein) stopped wrestling. I guess we'll put that one as a lesson learned and we'll move on," Jackson said.
In the championship match, the two wrestlers faced of again, with Klopfenstein holding onto the major decision, 14-2.
Schwitz, Monroe's lone qualifier for state last season, went undefeated, picking up three pins in four matches and winning the title with a 3-1 decision over Tom Bjustad from Evansville-Albany.
Goff pinned his first round opponent, Luke Gunn of Evansville-Albany, in just 36 seconds and went on to win his final three matches with decisions. A 6-3 victory over Sugar River's Dan Nolden in the fifth round sealed Goff's undefeated day.
"We'll see a few of these teams again this year. It's good competition. Five of these teams are in our regional," Jackson said.
Last season, Mayer was sidelined with an injury. Mayer earned his title Saturday with a perfect 4-0 record, which included three pins, one in just 38 seconds.
Walker pinned his first opponent, James Bishop of Belmont-Platteville in two minutes, 38 seconds and went on to win his final three matches 4-1, 3-2 and 3-1.
Senior Dillon Weckerly finished in second place after a 3-2 loss to Belmont-Platteville's Josh Eastlick in the 171-pound championship. Weckerly won all four of his other matches via pin.
Trevor Gorr (215) had nearly the same fate as Weckerly. After picking up a major decision and three pins, Gorr was pinned by Mount Horeb-Barneveld's Trent Zander.
Freshman Aaron Hesgard finished third for Monroe in the 103-pound division, going 2-2 on the day.
Sugar River's Ben Schmitt won the 160-pound bracket, picking up three pins in the opening rounds, a technical fall in the semifinals and a 4-0 decision over Belmont-Platteville's Dusty Jentz in the championship.
"Ben Schmitt is looking really good. He'd only wrestled one match up until today. Last year he had a broken foot and was off all year," Sugar River head coach Pete Swenson said. The Raiders finished sixth as a team with 98.5 points.
Brothers Mike Nolden (171) and Dan Nolden (152) each took third place for the Raiders and Tom Vetterli (145) was fourth.
"We had some inconsistencies. The effort's right there, but its still recognizing what we need to be aware of when were on the bottom, controlling on top and just constantly moving. We have some guys that are starting good, but then all of a sudden we're stopping and giving our opponents a chance to capitalize," Swenson said.
In all, 99 wrestlers participated in the meet.
"It's really cool for our guys (to host the event). Their friends can come and we don't have to travel," Swenson said. "It's fun to keep this thing going here through the years. We get the youth wrestlers in here to help out because they know they will be wrestling here someday. It builds a tradition."
Cuba City-Southwestern finished in fourth place as a team with 120 points. Dodgeville (112 points), Belmont-Platteville (88) and Madison East (86) also participated in the event.
