Ozaukee wrestlers head to Div. 3 individual sectional along with CG-Belgium trio
The Ozaukee wrestling team didn’t get enough breaks to defeat host Random Lake in a WIAA Division 3 regional meet last Saturday, but the Warriors are sending six individuals to the next level this week.
Leading Ozaukee’s sectional qualifiers are regional champions Colton Kraus (113 pounds), Logan Smith (138), Ethan Brouillette (152) and Kevin Beckmann (160).
Also advancing for the Warriors with second-place finishes were Cole Large (120) and Colin Hughes (126).
Random Lake won the meet with 260 points and advances to the team sectionals. Rounding out the top five in the seven-team regional standings were Ozaukee (214), Oostburg (182), Kewaunee (136) and Cedar Grove-Belgium (114.5).
Two Cedar Grove-Belgium wrestlers qualified for the sectional. They are Alex May, who won the 285-pound title, and Greg Wenzel, who was second at 170.
Ozaukee coach Luke Gundrum was pleased with his team’s success but said it could have done better.
“We had an OK day,” he said. “You always want a little more.”
Kraus, a junior, improved his season record to 34-7 with a pair of wins. In the final, he pinned Random Lake’s Kohl Sanders in 3 minutes, 39 seconds.
Smith (35-6), a senior, won by pin in the semifinals and then eked out a 6-5 decision over Random Lake’s Brady Schmidt (27-9) in the title match.
With less than 10 seconds to go, Smith trailed, 5-2.
“He got to his feet, reached back, hit a head throw, got a reversal and a two-point near fall to win it. The place erupted when Logan hit his head throw,” Gundrum said.
A controversy ensued when officials met at the scorer’s table to decide if Smith scored the necessary points before the buzzer. The ruling went in Smith’s favor.
Brouillette (14-2), who is still recovering from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for most of the season, cruised to his title. After a 12-1 major decision in the semifinals, the senior pinned Oostburg’s Ryan Ebeling in 2:55.
Beckmann (37-6), a junior, had two impressive wins, including a 3:35 pin of Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah’s Shane Schanke in the final.
Gundrum said one of his team’s highlights was seeing Hughes, a freshman, defeat Oostburg’s Alex Korthals, 4-1, in the semifinals. A senior and state qualifier, Korthals (29-7) was favored to win but couldn’t handle
Hughes (28-11).
“That was the match of the day for sure,” Gundrum said.
In the final, Hughes lost to Random Lake’s Trent Gottsacker, 17-0.
Large (34-8), a junior, won by technical fall in the semifinals but lost to Random Lake’s Brandon Depies, 7-6, after holding a 6-2 lead.
Large then defeated Oostburg’s Brandon Burmesch, 16-5, in a second-place wrestleback.
Only the top two finishers in each weight class qualified for sectional competition.
The Warriors got third-place finishes from Daniel Watry (106), Taz Gottsacker (132), Sam Schuette (170) and Hunter Vande Boom (285). Placing fourth were Adam Zichitella (145) and Grant Klas (195).
Cedar Grove-Belgium’s May improved his record to 31-7 with two pins. In the final, the senior defeated Oostburg’s Tony Teunissen in 2:24.
“Alex is wrestling pretty tough. That’s good to see this time of year,” Rockets coach Trevor Peterson said.
Wenzel (25-17), a junior, won three of four matches but lost to Random Lake’s Adam Risse, 10-7, in the first-place final. Wenzel then pinned Ozaukee’s Schuette in 1:38 in the second-place wrestleback.
“Greg’s wrestling pretty good,” Peterson said.
Cedar Grove-Belgium got a third-place finish from Isaac Brockman (113) and fourths from Adam Gonwa (106), Nick Wieberdink (126), Devon Villareal (132), Matt Krier (182) and Daniel Gjertson (220).
Peterson said May and Wenzel have good chances at the next level.
“I really feel that both guys should win it,” he said.
The next step for the Rockets and Ozaukee will be a Division 3 sectional meet Saturday, Feb. 16, at Cedar Grove-Belgium. Matches start at 10:30 a.m.
The top three finishers in each weight class qualify for next week’s state individual tournament in Madison.
Image Information: OZAUKEE’S COLE LARGE had Brandon Depies off balance, but the Random Lake wrestler overcame the hold and a four-point deficit to win a 120-pound match in a WIAA Division 3 regional meet last Saturday. Photo by Sam Arendt
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