Winning ways go on for CG-Belgium

Three tournaments have yielded three victories for the talented and deep Cedar Grove-Belgium wrestling team so far this season.

The Rockets’ latest title came at Beaver Dam in the Wickersham Memorial Christmas Classic on Saturday. They scored 370 points in the 15-team meet, edging Wisconsin Lutheran’s 356.5 and Kimberly’s 344.5.

“Very impressive. The biggest thing about that win on Saturday is every single one of the guys contributed points,” coach Trevor Peterson said.

They did it against top-notch wrestlers, many of whom they won’t see in division 3 competition.

“I do believe I count eight division 1 schools,” Peterson said.

Freshman Cael Erickson at 126 pounds continued his dominance in again going undefeated without a match going the distance.

Erickson (15-0) pinned Jacob Bonow (5-5) of Wisconsin Lutheran in 46 seconds, beat Thomas Cook (10-7) of Union Grove via 18-2 technical fall, pinned Luke Beyer (11-6) of DeForest in 1:02 and in the title match pinned Mohammed Abbasov (14-3) of Waukesha South in 33 seconds.

“Saturday was the first time he was scored on this year. Fifteen and zero (record) before being scored on as a freshman,” Peterson said.

Four Rockets took second, two of whom lost to state title holders.

Josh TeStroete (14-1) at 170 pounds was pinned by last year’s state title winner Joshua Otto of Arrowhead in 3:15. TeStroete won by a 17-2 tech fall and two 7-1 decisions up to that point.

Ben Anzia (13-2) at 182 was pinned by Ryan Neu (11-0) of Dodgeland in 2:51. He  pinned two opponents, won a 14-1 major decision and 11-6 decision on the way to the final.

Brett Feind (13-2) at 220 lost a 17-7 major decision to Brett Wittmann (17-1) of Kimberly in the title match. He won decisions of 14-8 and 11-5 to get there.

Quinn Hoopman (12-3) at 132 was pinned in the title match by Dietrich Jaeckel (9-2) of Beaver Dam in 4:39. He had pinned three opponents and won a 10-6 decision on his way to the final.

Aaron Duenk (11-3) at 195 and Markus Ramirez (13-3) at 285 each took third. In their third-place matches, Duenk won a 6-4 decision over Joe Kulas (10-7) of Waukesha South and Ramirez pinned Chris Gomez (6-4) of Beaver Dam in 4:53.

“They had a great, great finish to the day. That kind of sealed up the team score,” Peterson said.

Last Thursday, the Rockets beat Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah/Howards Grove, 48-16, at home.

The Rockets won the first seven matches to build at 37-0 lead. Sawyer DeRuyter used an escape and hung on to beat senior Toshi Sesoko, 1-0, to start the dual meet at 160 pounds. Duenk at 195 came back to win, 6-5, over Finn Shields.

“I think conditioning did it a little bit there,” Peterson said.

Feind beat familiar foe Matthew Schorer, 4-0. The two have been going at it since they were freshmen.

Anzia, Ramirez, Logan Filtz and Jackson DeRuyter each earned pins.

The Rockets wrestle at rival Oostburg on Thursday and at the huge Mid-States Classic on Dec. 28-29.

“We’ll kind of see where we stand there,” Peterson said.