By Joe Shinners Pewaukee – Pewaukee wrestling coach Ed Kurth was looking for a challenge as his team hosted this year’s Pirate Invitational. He scheduled the talent as a test for is team heading into the tournament season. What Kurth learned from the test was that his team is on the rise in Southeastern Wisconsin and is definitely primed to win the Woodland Conference tournament title on Saturday. Perhaps, a berth in the state team tournament is also in the future. He also learned his team has a lot of work to do to make any real waves in the individual or team state tournaments. Pewaukee picked up a pair of champions and placed six wresters in the finals as the Pirates scored 195.5 points to win the team title at the newly improved tournament of nine teams. Wilmot, a vastly improved team from a year ago, finished second with 177.5 points, followed by Oconomowoc (171.5) and the injury-plagued Muskego Warriors (167.5). Kurth improved the field by adding Muskego and Wilmot, and save for a scheduling error would have had Burlington in the fold as well. It was all an effort to prepare the Pirates to defend their conference title and begin the peaking process that could lead the Pirates to greater success in the coming weeks. Just off a solid performance at the Zelinski Memorial Duals a week ago, this was the challenge the Pirates needed. “We brought Wilmot and Muskego in here to make things tougher,” said Kurth. “I wanted to get the kids ready to wrestle heading into the big tournaments. I like having them tuned up for conference. I’d rather have a kid banged up and ready to battle the rest of the year rather than take this week off.” Pewaukee junior Nathan Moore won the 112-pound title by defeating Sussex sophomore Hamilton Loren Hesselgrave by a pin 2 minutes 35 seconds. Pewaukee also received a title from senior Mitch Teeters, who won the 130 crown by pinning Sussex Hamilton senior Alex Schwid in 58 seconds. The rest of the finals, however, did not go Pewaukee’s way as Wilmot, Oconomowoc and Muskego proved to have enough power in their lineups to keep the Pirates from totally running away with the tournament title. “As far as the finals go, we won two and we didn’t wrestle that great overall,” Kurth said. “I think in the finals, it wasn’t what I wanted to see. But this (tournament) doesn’t mean anything. All the other ones do.” The marquee championship took place at 171 pounds, as Muskego sophomore Roland Dunlap proved he is over his shoulder injury by defeating Pewaukee Travis Decker by a pin in 5:26. Dunlap entered ranked No. 6 in Division 1 by the Crossface. Decker entered the match ranked No. 1 in Division 2 at 160 pounds. Dunlap, whose length and speed were too much for Decker, held a 3-0 lead heading into the third period and he never let Decker out of the down position. Dunlap ran a pinning combination several times before finally registering the pin. At 119 pounds, two more state-ranked wrestlers between Muskego and Pewaukee faced off, and Muskego again came out the winner again. Musekgo sophomore Justin Scherkenbach defeated Pewaukee senior Max Nonnamaker by a 24-7 technical fall in 5:10. Scherkenbach is ranked No. 1 at 112 in Division 1. Nonnamaker is ranked No. 3 in Division 2. Scherkenbach easily built an 8-4 lead with five takedowns and allowed four escapes to build a 10-4 lead after the first period and wasn’t threatened the rest of the match. Oconomowoc senior Zach Mommaerts denied Pewaukee sophomore Josh Berg a title at 125. Mommaerts used a first-period takedown and a reversal and two-point tilt in the third period to pull out a 6-0 victory. Mommaerts was the only one of Oconomowoc’s four finalists to win a title. Mommaerts is ranked No. 4 at 125 in D1. Berg is ranked No. 4 in D2. Kettle Moraine senior Jacob Laux, ranked No. 4 in Division 1, helped halt Pewaukee in the finals. Laux defeated Pewaukee senior Kent Grimscheid, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, by a 3-1 decision in the final at 215. Laux’s takedown with 1:34 to go in the third period gave him the lead, and he held on for the victory after Grimscheid’s takedown attempt failed in the final seconds. Muskego senior Jordan Lau staged the biggest comeback of the finals as he defeated Wilmot sophomore Ryan Gartner by a 12-8 decision in the final at 145. Gartner looked like he was in control of the match as he built an 8-1 lead to open the second period. Lau, however, rallied in the third period with an escape, a takedown and a pair of three-point nearfalls to pull out the come-from-behind victory. Musekego received another title from junior Tyler Sinda at 103 and sophomore Jordan Gruettner at 189. Gruettner had no trouble in pinning Wilmot senior Tyler Poland in 1:40. Sinda opened the finals round with a 6-0 victory over Kettle Moraine sophomore Daulton Vallesky. Despite seeing all five of its finalists win titles, all was not well for Muskego. Muskego, hampered by injuries all year, suffered another blow this week when junior Tyler Quartullo was knocked from the lineup due to a testicular injury. His status for the rest of the year is unclear. He cannot return unless medically allowed. It was just another blow for Muskego, but Muskego coach Ted Price said his team wasn’t giving up on the year right now. Quartullo’s injury is the third major injury of the year to a highly ranked Muskego wrestler. “It can’t get any worse than this,” said Price. “I don’t know of many teams that have had this many injuries. But you can’t go into a corner and cry about it. This sport is not for the weak. We still have a lot of individual goals that we want to reach. The team goals, they’ve evaporated.” Wilmot came away with a pair of champions in sophomore Ryan Gray at 140 and senior Kyle Welzen at 135. Welzen defeated Oconomowoc sophomore Taylor Mommaerts by a 9-3 decision, using three takedowns and a three-point nearfall to control the match. Gray held off Oconomowoc senior Jake Morrison by a 6-4 decision at 140 in a tight match. Gray’s takedown with 12 seconds left game him the victory. “I didn’t think we wrestled all that well,” said Wilmot coach John Watson. “We’re trying to get ready for conference right now.” Ozaukee junior Vince Cardarelle won the 152 title by holding off Oconomowoc senior Tyler Yost, 8-4. Sussex Hamilton picked up an individual title when senior Aaron Fiss defeated junior Bo Croswell of Big Foot by a 6-0 decision. Milwaukee Lutheran senior Tyler Witty defeated Wilmot senior Dusty Edmonds by a 7-2 decision at 285. Team scores: 1, Pewaukee, 195.5; 2, Wilmot, 177.5; 3, Sussex Hamilton, 171.5; 4, Muskego, 167.7; 5, Oconomowoc, 134.5; 6, Ozaukee, 116; 7, Kettle Moraine, 84.5; 8, Milwaukee Lutheran, 61; 9, Big Foot, 47. Finals: 103 -- Tyler Sinda, MUS, def. Daulton Vallesky, KM, 6-0. 112 -- Nathan Moore, PEW, pinned Loren Hesselgrave, SH, 2:35. 119 -- Justin Scherkenbach, MUS, tech falled Max Nonnamaker, PEW, 5:10, 24-7. 125 -- Zach Mommaerts, OCON, of Oconomowoc def. Josh Berg , PEW, 6-0. 130 -- Mitch Teeters, PEW, pinned Alex Schwid, SH, :58. 135 -- Kyle Welzen, WIL, def. Taylor Mommaerts, OCON, 9-3. 140 -- Matthew Gray, WIL, def. Jake Morrison, OCON, 6-4. 145 -- Jordan Lau, MUS, def. Ryan Gartner, WIL, 12-8. 152 -- Vince Cardarelle, OZ, def. Tyler Yost, OCON, 8-4. 160 -- Aaron Fiss, SH, def. Bo Croswell, BF, 6-0. 171 -- Roland Dunlap, MUS, pinned Travis Decker, PEW, 5:26. 189 -- Jordan Gruettner, MUS, pinned Tyler Poland , WIL, 1:40. 215 -- Jacob Laux, KM, def. Kent Girmscheid, PEW, 3-1. 285 -- Taylor Witty, ML, def. Dusty Edmonds, WIL, 7-2. Go Back to the Home Page Read More Articles by Joe../../../../07-08_Article_Archive/Archive.htmlshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1