Cougars Repeat as On the Water ChampionsIssue Date: January 2, 2020 Coleman Wins 67 Team Oshkosh Tourney; Bieber Claims 182 lb. Title
The Lourdes On the Water Wrestling Classic is a great early look at who's who in Wisconsin wrestling. Once again, the Coleman Cougars cemented themselves near the top of the class with a dominant showing at the 67-team tournament last weekend.
The Coleman Cougars finished with 342 team points, almost 100 more than the second-best team, Ashwaubenon, which finished with 245.5. Germantown, Mineral Point and Slinger rounded out the top five.
The Cougars put a well-rounded team out on the mats, which dominated the team standings with second and third-place finishes. John Bieber stood out in the crowd with a first-place finish, showing he's in a different class this season than he was last year when he missed state after a sectionals loss.
Wrestling at 182, he pinned Mosinee's Ben Folwarski in 24 seconds, Hortonville's Dylan Gocke in 4 minutes, 28 seconds and Mineral Point's Mason Hughes in 5:29 on his way to the championship, along with a 6-0 decision win over Random Lake's Brock Upson. In the championship, things were a bit closer, but he got the job done, beating Chilton/Hilbert's Trent Breckheimer in a 2-0 decision. He also got his 100th career win during the tournament.
Shamus McLain was second at 195. He pinned his first three opponents on the day in 61 seconds or less, beating Watertown's Noah Othmer in 49 seconds, Wisconsin Lutheran's Alex Sutter in 48 and Tomahawk's Eric Decker in 61. After that, he beat state placewinner Isaac Banker in a 10-2 major decision that Coleman coach Kevin Casper called a manhandling.
He fell to the state's top-ranked Division I wrestler in the final however, with undefeated Stanford wrestling recruit Marshall Kools of Neenah beating him in a 12-5 decision.
Tyler Blanchard also took second at 160. He beat Manitowoc Lincoln's Kade Neumann in a tech fall, Green Bay Preble's Jonathon Arellano in a pin and took decisions over Carter Stebane of Brillion and Gaven Lisowe of Chilton Herbert before running into Berlin's Preson Morgan, who pinned him in the first period after Blanchard got caught on his back after attempting a throw.
Coleman's final second-place finisher was Karson Casper. He pinned Plymouth's Andrew Steinhardt in 55 seconds, won a tech fall over Southern Door's Kyle Conard and beat both Chilton/Hilbert's Maverik Ott and Milwaukee Bradley Tech's Jalin Conner in 9-2 and 6-4 decisions, respectively.
He fought hard in the final against defending state champion Jalen Spuhler, but Spuhler continued his undefeated season with a 5-1 decision to take the 138-pound weight class.
Spencer Karban was third at 285. After a bye, he pinned Mishicot's Mason Eisner in 30 seconds and Lena's Richard Fieck in 3:39, then beating Jared Neill of Lomira in a 7-4 decision. Undefeated Cullen Quick of Menasha was too much in the semifinals, however, pinning Karban in the second period. Karban responded to pin Amherst's John Farkas in 2:48 and beat Monona Grove-McFarland's Kristian Schlicht in the third place match 3-2.
While the tournament is a potential state preview for many, it won't be for Karban, who was battling illness all weekend and wasn't quite himself.
"Tells you about his toughness," coach Kasper said.
Cole Klimek (170) went 4-2 in live matches to take fifth. After a bye, he won his first three matches, one by pin in 2:41 against Wautoma/Wild Rose's Hunter Netzler, and one by both major decision and decision. He ran into 18-0 Connor Ramage of Ashwaubenon in the semis, however, getting pinned late. He was also beaten by a tough opponent in the consolation semis before finishing the day strong with a 12-11 decision against Brady Wagner of Berlin in the fifth-place match.
Sam Kuchta (145) took sixth in his class. He went 4-3 on the day in live matches, pinning Princeton's Colton Hilke in 31 seconds, Slinger's Tyler Strupp in 69 seconds and Manawa's Bryan Griffin in 59 seconds, with another decision win mixed in. He lost in the quarterfinal to Cole Nelson of Kenosha Indian Trail, Braeden Scoles of Kewaskum in the consolation semi and Noah Leisgang of Ashwaubenon in the fifth-place match. The trio has a combined record of 48-9 this season.
Ray LeMieux took eighth with a 4-3 record. After losing by injury default in the third round, he bounced back to win three straight matches, with two coming by pin. He pinned three opponents on the day in all, including a pair in 46 and 20 seconds. He lost by sudden victory in the seventh round and ended the day with a loss to Brillion's Grant Geiger.
Will Bieber took 10th on the day with a 4-3 record in live matches. He won by 5-2 decision, 2-0 sudden victory, pin against Laconia's Colton Lovejoy and 6-0 decision against Luis Lagunes of Bonduel. His three losses came against wrestlers with a combined 61-13 record.
Owen Kinzinger got 10 team points for his 3-2 record in live matches, including pins of Oshkosh North's Adrian Rodriguez and Hartford's Collin Johrendt. John Nowak (106) and Chance Gruber (120) each went 2-2 to earn points and Brody Zahn (220) went 1-2 in live matches to earn team points.
Up and down the lineup, the Cougars were stout, with everyone in the squad earning points.
"This team just keeps on getting better every time they step on the mat, which is great to see," coach Casper said. "To go into the biggest tournament in the state with 67 teams and to dominate the way they did was pretty special."
Lena was 54th as a team. Luke Misco led the way for the Lena team, taking 10th in the 106-pound weight class. After a bye, he pinned Reedsburg Area's Dylan Miller in 3:48, but he fell to West Bend West's Ben Bast in a 12-7 decision in the next round. He responded by pinning Slinger's Carson Longdin in 34 seconds and winning a 14-4 major decision against Chilton/Hilbert's Hunter Heller. He would drop two of his final three matches to end the day by decision scores of 5-4 and 9-2, but his 4-3 record in live matches was enough for 10th place.
Ayden Decoursin (120), Sam Marquardt (126), James Desjarleas (138), Alex Decoursin (145), Cody Dellise (152), Nathan Younger (160), Frank Desjarleas (220) and Richard Fieck (285) also wrestled for Lena but did not place. Ayden Decoursin earned points for a 2-2 record on the day, while Alex Decoursin and Richard Fieck each won one match to earn points.
Peshtigo took 67th with Jon LaForce (106), Mitchell Peters (160), Katelyn Lewis (170) and Kody Klimek (285) competing.
Whiting Leads Panthers at Bi-State Classic; Claims 160 lb. Title
The Oconto Falls Panthers saw some unfamiliar faces on the wrestling mat over the weekend, competing at the Bi-State Classic in La Crosse against 70 teams from across Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The Panthers took eighth of 25 teams in the Division II standings, with Luxemburg Casco and Prairie du Chien leading the way in the division.
Clayton Whiting showed he was one of the best wrestlers in Wisconsin last season, winning state as a freshman. He showed at this tournament that he may be one of the best in the upper Midwest.
Whiting, who has a 20-0 record on the season, ran the table in the 160-pound weight class, facing just one serious test of his ability, a 5-3 sudden victory win in the quarterfinal against Stillwater's Ryder Rogotzke.
Aside from that, he cruised to victory. He pinned Viroqua's Aaron Dipietro in 1 minute, 3 seconds, Westby's Clay Nottestad in 1:24, took a 16-1 tech fall win over Tomah's Sam Linzmeier, pinned Dodgeville's Riley Crook in 1:34 and topped Traeton Saint of Prairie du Chien in a 9-2 decision to win the weight class.
Brendan Konitzer (113) took fifth on the day, He went 5-2 with three decision wins and one in sudden victory, beating Shane Westerhausen of Marshfield by a 4-2 score to end his day in the fifth-place match.
Aidan Stary went 6-2 in live matches to take seventh in the 170-pound weight class. He won all but one of his matches by decision, taking a lot of close matches on the day by the following scores: 10-8, 7-4, 6-5, 2-1 and 3-1. He was never out of a match, as his two losses also came by decision.
Landon Budz (106) went 3-2 to score team points, Jaden Ganter was 1-2 at 120, Tyler Budz was 2-2 (132) and Jacob Kaminski went 1-2 to win points at 182.
Luke Trepanier (126), Trevor Schindel (138), Weston Borkovec (145) and Alec Halvorsen (220) also competed for the Panthers.
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