Freshman’s title leads Port wrestlers to 2nd at Homestead tournament; Grafton has two champs
A team championship eluded the Port Washington and Grafton wrestling squads in last Friday’s Highlander Invitational at Homestead, but there was no shortage of individual honors.
Paced by Manny Rosado’s first-place performance at 113 pounds, Port scored 361.5 points, good for second place in the 18-team standings.
Burlington won the team title with 414 points.
Grafton got individual championships from Justin Rapp (170) and Alex Marshall (220) on the way to fifth place with 258 points.
“Overall, I thought we wrestled well,” Port coach Angelo LaRosa said.
“It was a good tournament where everybody got to wrestle five matches. We had some really good performances.”
Rosado, a freshman, won all four of his matches, including three pins, after receiving a first-round bye. He capped the day by defeating Brandon D’Alessio of Cudahy/St. Francis, 5-3, and improved his season record to 23-7.
Port got second-place finishes from three wrestlers — Nick Michalowski (106), Noah Rosado (120) and Quentin Lueck (160).
Michalowski won his first four matches before losing, 5-3, to Kimberly’s Jordan Weinzetl in the championship match.
Noah Rosado cruised to the final with four wins, including three pins and a technical fall. He was pinned by Burlington’s Ben Hornickle in 1 minute, 1 second.
Lueck worked hard to reach his final, winning four times by decision along the way. Included was a 9-8 semifinal victory over Racine Case’s Reed Hammond.
In the title match, Lueck lost to Whitefish Bay’s Rashadeem Gray, 7-2.
Port’s other top-five finishes were thirds by Brandon Fleischman (152) and Josh Meins (170), a fourth by Tyler Madden (138) and fifths by Tyler Brown (182) and Andy Fidler (285).
LaRosa noted that his team excelled despite having a shorthanded lineup. Zach Smith (120) and Eli Rosado (132) were both absent, and Brandon Willms (195) had to drop out early due to an injury.
Grafton opened some eyes with its strong showing.
“We wrestled a great tournament against some tough, ranked kids,” Grafton coach Mike Dodge said.
Rapp, a senior, improved his season record to 26-1 with a 5-0 tournament record. He scored three pins and defeated Port’s Meins, 8-4, in the semifinals before winning by injury default over Racine Horlick’s Andrew Marquez in the title match.
Rapp defeated Meins for the first time.
Marshall, a junior, was equally impressive. After a first-round bye, he collected four first-period pins, including a 1:44 win over New Berlin’s Emilio Guitierez in the first-place final.
“Alex continues to dominate his competition, and a lot of it has to do with his work ethic,” Dodge said.
Grafton’s other top-five finishes were a third by Gary Ross (132) and fourth by Billy Depies (152).
“Overall as a team, we need to understand that this tournament is just a stepping stone toward our goal in the WIAA tournament,” Dodge said.
“We had to keep working hard and clean up the little things in our wrestling.”
Port Washington 44, Cedarburg 21
The Pirates continued their dominance of North Shore Conference foes by handling an improved Cedarburg team Jan. 17.
The Pirates won nine of 14 matches, including pins by Michalowski (106), Zach Smith (120), Noah Rosado (126), Fleischman (152), Meins (170) and Brown (182).
Brown had the fastest win with a 1:45 fall over Spencer Alascio.
Winning by decision were Manny Rosado (113), Nate Schnell (145) and Lueck (160). Schnell went to overtime before edging Ryder Sigler, 2-1.
In the meet’s other nail-biting match, Fidler lost to Kyle Polum, 6-5, at 285.
“It was a good meet. Cedarburg has an up-and-coming team,” LaRosa said.
“For the most part, the guys who were supposed to win for us took care of business.”
This week, Port will host Grafton in a conference meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
On Saturday, the Pirates will participate in the Pulaski Invitational while Grafton hosts the annual Black Hawk Invitational at 9 a.m.
Joining the host Hawks in the duals tournament will be Catholic Memorial, Elkhorn, Waukesha North, West Bend East, Racine Case, Ashwaubenon and Milwaukee Pulaski.
Image Information: MANNY ROSADO was the lone individual champion for the Port Washington wrestling team in the Highlander Invitational at Homestead last Friday. After a first-round bye, the freshman won four straight matches to earn the 113-pound title. Photo by Sam Arendt
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
