By Joe Shinners Racine – Much was made of the demise of the Muskego Warriors wrestling team this season. After their poor showing at the Pirate Invitational at Pewaukee a week ago, it seemed Muskego was ripe to fall from the top of the Southeast Conference. The Warriors, however, stepped up and quieted their critics by blowing away the field with a dominating performance that resulted in the team’s seventh consecutive title at the eight-team conference tournament Saturday at Racine Horlick. By every measure, Muskego proved it’s still a strong tournament team, one that may even have the ability to reach the state team tournament now that most of its wrestlers are healthy again even though it may not be as strong a dual meet team. The Warriors, ranked No. 6 in the area, sent nine wrestlers to the finals, won seven of 14 individual titles, came away with a victory in the marquee championship and amassed 244.5 points. That easily surpassed second-place Kenosha Tremper (213.5 points), ranked No. 5 in the area, and third-place Franklin (191.5), ranked No. 9 in the area. Muskego had 12 of 14 wrestlers place fourth or higher. Tremper had 12 wrestlers place fifth or higher. Franklin had 13 wrestlers place fifth or higher. “I told the kids coming in here that we wanted to show everyone who was the best,” said Muskego coach Ted Price. “We knew what people were saying about us. I was very confident coming in. I was most pleased with how they stepped it up. I think they knew they were the best team in the conference, but they also wanted to make a statement that there is a reason why they are the best team in the conference.” Muskego won the dual meet title in the league for the fourth consecutive year, but still there were doubts about the team’s ability to win the tournament title. Not any more. Sophomore Justin Scherkenbach, ranked No. 1 in Division 1 at 112 pounds by the Crossface, won the biggest final of the day when he defeated Franklin junior Sam Kortes, ranked No. 4 in D1 at 119, by a 7-2 decision in the 112 final. That started a parade of champions for Muskego. Also winning titles were junior Tyler Quartullo (130), senior Jordan Lau (145), senior Jordan Sowinski (152), sophomore Roland Dunlap (171), sophomore Jordan Gruettner (189) and senior Ryan Leighton (285). Sowinski and Quartullo recently returned from injuries, and Dunlap proved he is over his shoulder injury sustained early in the year. “That’s the one I’m most proud of,” said Price. “They guys who came back from injury didn’t show any ill effects for being out. That’s more impressive than anything. Hopefully, we can keep it going for the next couple weeks.” Kenosha Tremper was supposed to be the team to topple Muskego, having lost by just three points to the Warriors in their dual early in the year. But after a 24-22 loss to Franklin Wednesday, there was some doubt about Tremper’s ability to catch Musekgo. Tremper coach Joel Dutton wasn’t surprised by Muskego’s performance. “I said before that Ted will get his guys ready,” said Dutton, whose team celebrated its highest finish at the tournament in his seven-year career at Tremper. “There’s just some kind of mystique that Muskego has when they get to the conference tournament. Everyone throws the kitchen sink at Muskego and they still find a way to win.” Tremper sent seven wrestlers to the finals and came away and won five individual titles by freshman Tyler Rice (103), sophomore Dominic Garcia (119), senior David Hood (135), junior Levi Horton (140) and junior Brian Steinbrink (215). Racine Horlick senior Peter Buchholz posted the biggest upset in the final round in the final at 125 pounds. Buchholz trailed Franklin junior David Cabral by a 3-0 heading into the third period when he scored on an escape and a takedown to even the match at 3-3 with 32 seconds left. He then turned Cabral and registered a pin in 5:58. Cabral came in ranked No. 8 at 135. Buchholz was unranked. Steinbrink also had an impressive victory as he used a late stalling penalty that titled his 215 title match against Muskego senior Alex Kehoe at 3-3 and then scored a takedown along the edge of the mat with 45.2 seconds left in overtime to post a 5-3 victory. Franklin sent seven wreslters to the finals as well, but came away with only one champion in senior Adam Langowski (160). Summary Team scores: 1, Muskego, 244.5; 2, Kenosha Tremper, 213.5; 3, Franklin, 191.5; 4, Oak Creek, 172.5; 5, Racine Case, 113; 6, Kenosha Bradford, 75.5; 7, Racine Horlick, 58; 8, Racine Park 44. Finals: 103 – Tyler Rice, KT, def. Tyler Sinda, M, 8-4; 112 – Justin Scherkenbach, M, def. Sam Kortes, F, 7-2; 119 – Dominic Garcia, KT, def. Colin DeClark, F, 8-0; 125 – Peter Buchholz, RH, pinned David Cabral, F, 5:58; 130 – Tyler Quartullo, M, def. Chris Clapper, F, 7-0; 135 – David Hood, KT, def. Adam Stelloh, F, 15-7; 140 – Levi Horton, KT, def. Alex Amann, RH, 12-2; 145 – Jordan Lau, M, def. Justin Shepherd, KT, 17-8; 152 – Jordan Sowinski, M, pinned Rick Oberg, KT, 1:56; 160 – Adam Langowski, F, def. Josh Regazzi, OC, 8-2; 171 – Roland Dunlap, M, def. Justin Hergins, RC, 9-3; 189 – Jordan Gruettner, M, def. Kyle Wey, OC, 12-6; 215 – Brian Steinbrink, KT, def, Alex Kehoe, M, 5-3, OT. 285 – Ryan Leighton, M, tech falled Brenden Butler, F, 20-5, 6:00. Go Back to the Home Page Read More Articles by Joe../../../Archive.htmlshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1