Joeshinners.com Week 5

MATSIDE
Cheesehead’s Impact Remains Solid
Some coaches think the Cheesehead Invitational, the 24-team mega tournament with several nationally ranked teams and many nationally ranked individuals that is held at Kaukauna each year, is good for the state wrestlers. Others think it is not. Some are concerned about how tough the competition is.
For two area coaches who attended, there’s no argument.
“It’s the best thing you can do, going to a tournament like that,” said Port Washington coach Angelo LaRosa. “I just can’t explain how good it is. It is the third toughest tournament in the country. I think it’s the best thing going on in the state. What you need to work on stands out like a sore thumb at a tournament like that.”
Arrowhead coach John Mesenbrink agreed. “We need that competition (in the state) to see where we are at,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to be seen by others around the nation. It’s a good opportunity. It’s huge.”
Sueflohn’s Fortunes Rise on Mat
The ability of Arrowhead junior Jake Sueflohn to successfully wrestle on the mat was highlighted again against Port Washington junior Alex Dieringer in the. Dieringer went out and scored six points off three takedowns to build a 6-2 lead. But Sueflohn used a four-point move off a scramble to take the lead, a key takedown and went on to a 10-6 victory in the 135-pound final against Dieringer. Sueflohn’s mat skills also allowed him to defeat eventual state champion Jesse Thielke, a Germantown junior believed to be the best wrestler in the state, a year ago in the sectional finals. Sueflohn , Dieringer and Thielke are nationally ranked this year.
“(Sueflohn) is beginning to close the gap on takedowns against those guys,” said Mesenbrink of his star wrestler’s performance against top wrestlers. “He’s getting better on his feet.”
LaRosa looked toward a potential rematch.
“Hopefully, Alex gets another shot at Jake,” said LaRosa. “Jake was a snake out there. He’s such a great scrambler. Jake wrestled really well.”
Central stumbles at Merrill
West Allis Central suffered its first two losses of the season at the 24-team Northern Exposure in Merrill. Central finished fourth at the tournament with a 5-2 record to fall to 15-2 this year. Central lost to Luxemburg-Casco, 37-35, and Merrill, 42-25.
Veling Undefeated
Brookfield Central senior Tyler Veling remained undefeated this year by winning the 152-pound title at the Badger State Invitational in Madison. Veling (23-9) defeated Sparta junior Morgan Leis (14-6) by a pin in 1:52 in the final to improve to 23-0 this year.
Franklin Doubles Trouble
The Franklin Sabers were busy over the holidays as they finished second at the Badger State Invitational in Madison and then managed to post a 5-2 record at the Northern Exposure in Merrill to finish 7th.
At Badger State, Franklin had three finalists in junior Sam Kortes (17-3 at 119), sophomore Colin DeClark (13-7 at 125) and junior David Cabral (18-3 at 135). Kortes and Cabral won titles as Franklin finished second with 156.5 points. Host Stoughton won the tournament title with 208 points.
At the Northern Exposure, Franklin's two losses were to Mineral Point, 30-25, and Oconto Falls, 42-15. Benn Wins Mid-States Title
Mukwonago’s Nick Benn defeated Elkhorn’s Taylor French, 4-1, to win the 130-pound title at the Mid-States Invitational at UW-Whitewater. Benn was one of several area wrestlers to advance to the finals.
Mukwonago also saw Damon King finish second at 189 pounds. Kettle Moraine’s Jacob Laux finished second at 215 pounds.
Oconomowoc’s Taylor Mommaerts lost to Reedsburg’s Tony Koch by a 14-6 decision in the final at 135 pounds. Mommaerts’ brother, Zach, finished third at 125. Rapids Rolls in La Crosse
Wisconsin Rapids sent seven wrestlers to the finals and claimed four individual champions as it ran away with the Division 1 and overall titles at the Bi-State classic in La Crosse.
Kasey Einerson (130), Rylan Lubeck (140), Devin Peterson (171) and Curt Fuller (285) all won titles for Rapids, which finished first in Division 1 with 525.5 points. Hudson finished second with 255.5 points, followed by Bloomington Kennedy (Minn.) with 242.5 and Arrowhead with 241.4 in the 21-team Division 1.

Division 2 was won by Ellsworth, which scored 226.5 points, follwed by River Valley (208) in the 15-team division. Division 3 was won by New Lisbon with 200 points, follwed by DeSoto with 162.5 points in the 20-team division.
Rapids had 13 of its 14 wrestlers place at the tournament to run away with the overall title. Thielke wins 3rd in Oshkosh
Germantown junior Jesse Thielke against dominated the field at the Oshkosh on the Water Classic at UW-Oshkosh.
Thielke, a junior two-time state champion, defeated Coleman sophomore Mitch Champange by a 17-2 technical fall in the final at 125 pounds.
Thielke posted three pins and two technical falls on his way to his third individual title and was named outstanding wrestler at the tournament.
Kewaskum junior Brad Bentz, a two-time state qaualifier, won the 145 title and Milwaukee Custer senior Davion Willis won the 189 title. Wilmot’s Matt Gray (140), Watertown’s Justin McFarland (160), Grafton’s Brandon Schweitzer (215) and Slinger’s Jake Schall all reached the finals but lost. Wisconsin Lutheran 2nd at Fox The Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings finished second at the 16-team Battle on the Fox at Kimberly. Lutheran finished with a 4-1 record with three solid victories. Lutheran defeated Green Bay West/Southwest, 56-21, Ashwaubenon, 45-25, and Appleton West, 37-33. Owatonna (Minn.) won the team title with a 5-0 record.
“They kids were pretty excited about that,” said Lutheran coach Darrell Roecker, who saw five wrestlers go 4-1 at the tournament. “It’s fun to go against quality teams.”

Team of the week

Wilmot.

The Panthers finished fourth at the Oshkosh on the Water, the highest finish of any area team at the 58-team tournament. Wilmot had not cracked the top 10 in the final team standings before last week. Wilmot’s highest finish at the tournament since 2004 was a 15th-place finish a year ago. Coleman won the tournament with 326.5 points, followed by Hortonville (271), Tomahawk (240.5) and Wilmot (226.5). Coleman is ranked No. 1 in Division 3. Tomahawk is ranked No. 5 in D2. Wilmot was led by sophomore Matt Gray (19-1), who finished second at 140 among his team’s six place-winners.

Wrestler of the Week

Brad Bentz, Kewaskum.
The junior won the 145-pound title at the Oshkosh on the Water Invitational and pushed his record to 14-0 this year. Bentz posted a technical fall, a major and a pin among his six victories at the tournament. In the final, Bentz defeated Mosinee sophomore Jordan Roosa by a 6-2 decision. Bentz qualified for the individual state wrestling tournament at 119 two years ago and finished sixth. A year ago, Bentz advanced to the semifinals at 130 and finished fourth. Bentz was recently named the No. 2-ranked wrestler among all divisions by the Crossface Magazine.

Joe’s Week 5 Team Rankings

Team Rankings Area (Records through Monday) Area Team Ranking 1, Arrowhead, 6-2. 2, Muskego, 11-3. 3, West Allis Central, 15-2. 4, Mukwonago, 7-1. 5, Hartford, 11-2. 6, Pewaukee, 9-1. 7, Kenosha Tremper, 19-4. 8, Franklin, 11-4. 9, Burlington, 7-2. 10, Kewaskum, 6-2.

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Quote of the Week

“We need that competition (in the state) to see where we are at. It’s an opportunity to be seen by others around the nation. It’s a good opportunity. It’s huge” - Arrowhead coach John Mesenbrink on the importance of the Cheesehead Invitational and the competition for state wrestlers against nationally ranked individuals and teams.

Tremper Stops Tech
By Joe Shinners Kenosha Tremper Trojans wrestling coach Joel Dutton was looking forward to getting his full lineup back on the mat in a big tournament. He came away impressed as the full Tremper team completed its dismantling of the Holiday Duals Wednesday afternoon at Milwaukee Hamilton by compiling a 10-0 record in the state's largest two-day dual tournament. Tremper finished with a 10-0 record at the tournament, followed by Marshall (9-1), Kenosha Bradford (8-2) and Wauwatosa (7-3) in the top four of the 12-team tournament. "I'm proud of the guys," said Dutton, whose team improved to 19-4 overall this year. "We've come a long way. We wrestled pretty dog gone good."
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Jesse Thielke (Germantown) 13-0 won by pin over Mitch Teeters (Pewaukee) 10-2 (Pin 2:47)

Warriors Bounce Back
By Joe Shinners Hartford - Much to the chagrin of many, you just can't count the Muskego Warriors wrestling team out just yet. They proved that and more as the Warriors completed a difficult two-week stretch to begin the season Saturday afternoon by winning the team title at the 34th annual Hartford Team Tournament.
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Photo by Cory Husher.
Davion Willis takes down his opponent in the Oshkosh on the Water Tournament.
Click for More Davion Willis Pictures

Olson’s Fight is Mind Over Matter
By Joe Shinners Maybe it will be the power of positive thinking that finally lifts Derek Olson to the top of the heap. The Muskego senior wrestler can only hope so during his final wrestling campaign. Olson, the top senior wrestler in the area and one of the top ten wrestlers in the state overall, believes the work he did on his body and mind over the summer will lift him to his long-sought-after state individual wrestling title. So far this year, the results of the work have been promising. This year, Olson has compliled a 24-1 record at 152 pounds with his lone loss coming at the Cheesehead Invitational at Kaukauna in the first week of January. Olson lost to Apple Valley (Minn.) junior Destin McCauley (13-0) by an 8-4 decision in the semifinals at the Cheesehead. McCauley went on to defeat Brandon (Fla.) senior Joe Cozart (38-1) by a 6-5 decision in the marquee final at the nationally ranked tournament. McCauley is ranked No. 3 in the country at 152 by the Amateur Wrestling News. Cozart is ranked No. 5.

Olson defeated two wrestlers to finish third. In the third-place match, Olson defeated Montini (Ill.) sophomore Brandon McBride (21-8) by a 5-1 decision. A year ago, Olson won the 152 title at the state’s most prestigious invitational tournament. More

Muskego junior Derek Olson works for a takedown and tilt against Cedarburg senior Kyle Householder in the Division 1 preliminaries during State last year at 152 pounds. Olson won, 9-6.

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