VERONA - The Monroe wrestling team had a banner day at the Verona dual tournament Saturday, finishing second place.
Monroe went 4-1 and finished right behind Lake Geneva Badger (5-0). The Cheesemakers had five wrestlers finish 5-0 including senior Aaron Hesgard at 132 pounds, senior Kevin Klopfenstein (138), junior Ryan Hughes (160), senior Trevor Gorr (220) and junior heavyweight Brett Zimmerman.
"Some of the younger and more inexperienced guys are starting to figure it out and doing some of the little things that help us win dual meets," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "I was very proud of how these young men wrestled and I think that they are starting to believe in themselves as a team.
"This is going to be very important with two tough conference duals coming up in Stoughton and Milton."
Klopfenstein broke Monroe's career wins record with his 138th win. He broke the previous record (135) set by Corey Binger and Gavin Wels.
Monroe (6-2, 1-1 Badger South) cruised past Greendale 59-15 and knocked off Homestead 56-9. The Cheesemakers defeated Slinger 45-24 and knocked off East Troy 40-19. The only loss for the Cheesemakers came to Lake Geneva Badger 42-24. Monroe freshmen McKenzy Foley (120) and Traiten Gorr (170) each finished 4-1.
"Traiten Gorr and McKenzy Foley had a really good days in going 4-1 and are really starting to put it together in their freshman year," Jackson said.
The Cheesemakers forfeited matches at 106 and 113.
"We are still giving up the 106 and 113 weights, which is really disappointing because we know how good we are and we know how good we could be if we didn't give up 12 free points in every meet," Jackson said.
Hesgard defeated Greendale's Erik Martinson 8-0 and followed that up by pinning Homestead's Drew Waller in 3 minutes, 4 seconds. He defeated East Troy's Andy Strey 10-3 and beat Badger's Bryan Nugent 7-3.
At 138, Klopfenstin dominated with four pins. He pinned Greendale's Cameron Anders in 3:28 and then pinned Homestead's Jake Mueller in 2 minutes. Klopfenstein pinned Slinger's Riley Rafko in 2:43 and defeated East Troy's Zach Lamb 15-2. He closed out the duals by pinning Badger's Chris Obertholtzer in 3:30.
In the first round, Hughes pinned Greendale's Chase Kendall in 1 minute. He defeated Homestead's Zach Lennon 8-3 and pinned Slinger's John Beine in 5:06. Hughes pinned East Troy's Csaba Petyko in 342 and defeated Badger's Andrew Allen 6-1.
Trevor Gorr, ranked fourth in Division 2 at 220, pinned Homestead's David Pfaff in 1:30, pinned Slinger's John Arts in 1:18 and pinned Badger's Robert Johnson in 1:36. Gorr also won by two forfeits. Zimmerman continued his strong start to the season posting four pins. He pinned Greendale's Alex Rhode in 2:35 and pinned Slinger's Keaton Galezio in 1:54. Zimmerman pinned East Troy's Seth Braam in 45 seconds and pinned Badger's Carlos Garcia in 1:21.
Foley at 120 finished with three pins. He edged Greendale's Ryan Weber 9-8 and pinned Homestead's Jacob Sanner in 1:45. Foley pinned Slinger's Jack Schuppie in 1:37 and pinned East Troy's Brody Kazik in 1:30. Foley's only loss came to Badger's Alex Martinez in overtime.
"We lost to a pretty good Lake Geneva Badger team in the finals, 42-24, but the match was a lot closer than that," Jackson said. "We had a match at 20 go into overtime and lost and if we would have won that match, we thought that we had a pretty good shot to beat them. Jesse Keizer (126) had a pretty sore arm and when they won the match at 120 and put it out of reach, we forfeited Jesse's weight so that he could rest that arm. The match at 120 was not why we lost; there were several other spots that we could have gained points, it was just the deciding factor as to whether or not we would wrestle Jesse."
At 170, Traiten Gorr defeated Greendale's Dustin Donald 14-4 and Homestead's Gage Zupke 11-2.
He won a hard fought match against Slinger's Mason Newbury 3-0 and was pinned by Badger's Andrew Cychner in 1:01.
"Dusty Burkhalter also went 3-2 on the day," Jackson said. "Troy Gorr wrestled in a really tough weight class all day with a lot of good records and he went out and did his job in some of those matches where he was a bit out-gunned; he stayed off his back."
Monroe went 4-1 and finished right behind Lake Geneva Badger (5-0). The Cheesemakers had five wrestlers finish 5-0 including senior Aaron Hesgard at 132 pounds, senior Kevin Klopfenstein (138), junior Ryan Hughes (160), senior Trevor Gorr (220) and junior heavyweight Brett Zimmerman.
"Some of the younger and more inexperienced guys are starting to figure it out and doing some of the little things that help us win dual meets," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "I was very proud of how these young men wrestled and I think that they are starting to believe in themselves as a team.
"This is going to be very important with two tough conference duals coming up in Stoughton and Milton."
Klopfenstein broke Monroe's career wins record with his 138th win. He broke the previous record (135) set by Corey Binger and Gavin Wels.
Monroe (6-2, 1-1 Badger South) cruised past Greendale 59-15 and knocked off Homestead 56-9. The Cheesemakers defeated Slinger 45-24 and knocked off East Troy 40-19. The only loss for the Cheesemakers came to Lake Geneva Badger 42-24. Monroe freshmen McKenzy Foley (120) and Traiten Gorr (170) each finished 4-1.
"Traiten Gorr and McKenzy Foley had a really good days in going 4-1 and are really starting to put it together in their freshman year," Jackson said.
The Cheesemakers forfeited matches at 106 and 113.
"We are still giving up the 106 and 113 weights, which is really disappointing because we know how good we are and we know how good we could be if we didn't give up 12 free points in every meet," Jackson said.
Hesgard defeated Greendale's Erik Martinson 8-0 and followed that up by pinning Homestead's Drew Waller in 3 minutes, 4 seconds. He defeated East Troy's Andy Strey 10-3 and beat Badger's Bryan Nugent 7-3.
At 138, Klopfenstin dominated with four pins. He pinned Greendale's Cameron Anders in 3:28 and then pinned Homestead's Jake Mueller in 2 minutes. Klopfenstein pinned Slinger's Riley Rafko in 2:43 and defeated East Troy's Zach Lamb 15-2. He closed out the duals by pinning Badger's Chris Obertholtzer in 3:30.
In the first round, Hughes pinned Greendale's Chase Kendall in 1 minute. He defeated Homestead's Zach Lennon 8-3 and pinned Slinger's John Beine in 5:06. Hughes pinned East Troy's Csaba Petyko in 342 and defeated Badger's Andrew Allen 6-1.
Trevor Gorr, ranked fourth in Division 2 at 220, pinned Homestead's David Pfaff in 1:30, pinned Slinger's John Arts in 1:18 and pinned Badger's Robert Johnson in 1:36. Gorr also won by two forfeits. Zimmerman continued his strong start to the season posting four pins. He pinned Greendale's Alex Rhode in 2:35 and pinned Slinger's Keaton Galezio in 1:54. Zimmerman pinned East Troy's Seth Braam in 45 seconds and pinned Badger's Carlos Garcia in 1:21.
Foley at 120 finished with three pins. He edged Greendale's Ryan Weber 9-8 and pinned Homestead's Jacob Sanner in 1:45. Foley pinned Slinger's Jack Schuppie in 1:37 and pinned East Troy's Brody Kazik in 1:30. Foley's only loss came to Badger's Alex Martinez in overtime.
"We lost to a pretty good Lake Geneva Badger team in the finals, 42-24, but the match was a lot closer than that," Jackson said. "We had a match at 20 go into overtime and lost and if we would have won that match, we thought that we had a pretty good shot to beat them. Jesse Keizer (126) had a pretty sore arm and when they won the match at 120 and put it out of reach, we forfeited Jesse's weight so that he could rest that arm. The match at 120 was not why we lost; there were several other spots that we could have gained points, it was just the deciding factor as to whether or not we would wrestle Jesse."
At 170, Traiten Gorr defeated Greendale's Dustin Donald 14-4 and Homestead's Gage Zupke 11-2.
He won a hard fought match against Slinger's Mason Newbury 3-0 and was pinned by Badger's Andrew Cychner in 1:01.
"Dusty Burkhalter also went 3-2 on the day," Jackson said. "Troy Gorr wrestled in a really tough weight class all day with a lot of good records and he went out and did his job in some of those matches where he was a bit out-gunned; he stayed off his back."
