By MITCH MAERSCH
Ozaukee Press staff
Cedar Grove-Belgium High School wrestling coach Trevor Peterson said he didn’t want his team to take its foot off the pedal between the Rockets’ last conference dual meet win and the Big East tournament.
He got his wish.
The Rockets scored 226 points and stomped the competition at the 13-team Wisconsin Dells Invitational on Saturday.
“We had an absolutely great weekend,” Peterson said.
Grand Meadow Leroy Ostrander Southland was second with 203 points. Then came Belleville Monticello New Glarus with 189.5 and Watertown with 177.
Rocket senior Jesse Burg (32-5) won the 126-pound weight class and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
He was joined on the top of the podium by teammates Mason Hoopman at 145 pounds, Deven Soerens at 220 and Diego Morales at 285.
Jordan Platner was second at 195 pounds, and three Rockets finished third: Owen Race at 132, Carsen Voskuil at 106 and Joe Schoeder at 182.
Burg pinned Jack Nichols of Wisconsin Dells in 4 minutes, 39 seconds, beat Mason Mau (17-2) of Belleville Monticello New Glarus in a 4-2 decision and in the finals pinned Bob Huntley (39-3) of Brillion in 3:54.
The win over Huntley was a bit of a milestone. Burg lost to him twice last year and once this year in a 7-3 decision at the Rocket Scramble, Peterson said.
“Even Jesse’s semifinal match was against a pretty tough kid,” Peterson said.
Hoopman (33-4) pinned Marlon Muniz of Watertown (15-21) in 2:25, Eyob Smith (22-18) of Pardeeville in 5:30 and in the finals beat Daylin Haney (27-10) of La Crosse Logan/Central in a 10-2 major decision.
“Mason continued to wrestle well,” Peterson said.
Morales (32-3) pinned Isaac Erb of Belleville Monticello New Glarus (15-18) in 2:37, beat Augustus Fink (34-14) of Waubeno Laona Three Lakes in a 6-1 decision and in the finals pinned Ty Monfries (37-6) of Westfield in 2:45.
“Diego had a nice bracket,” Peterson said, adding he was dominating Monfries, 9-0, before pinning him.
Soerens (13-4) had the most heart-stopping trip to win his bracket. He pinned Christian Parcher (14-14) of La Crosse Logan/Central in 1:30, won a 3-1 sudden victory over Tyler Habersetzer (22-11) and in the finals beat Garret Pauli of Belleville Monticello New Glarus (17-10) in a 7-6 decision.
“Deven had a very, very nice tournament. Hopefully, this a real nice confidence booster,” Peterson said.
Platner (16-10) was seeded fifth but knocked off two higher seeds before losing to the No. 2 seed in the finals. He pinned Jakob Martin (25-11) of Berlin in 5:27, Silas Dennee (16-3) of Crandon in 1:21, and in the finals lost a 13-1 major decision to Owen Sjoberg (34-5) of Watertown.
“He had a great semifinals match,” Peterson said. “That was a great tournament for him.”
Voskuil (25-9) pinned Justus Mueller (9-8) of La Crosse Logan/Central in 51 seconds, was pinned by Kashton Stoddard (23-11) of Wisconsin Dells in 1:11 and in the third-place match beat Ethan Hoyer of Brillion (20-12) in a 13-8 decision.
Race (23-12) won an 8-5 decision over Trenton Nicklaus (26-11) of Brillion, was pinned by Elias Glinski (35-9) of Crandon in 1:46 and in the third-place match won a 4-3 decision over Brennan Keyes (23-14) of Belleville Monticello New Glarus.
Schoeder (29-8) won in 5-3 sudden victory over Braden Holleman (26-11) of Watertown 26-11, was pinned by Damon Schmidt (32-3) of Brillion) in 5:53 and in the third-place match won by injury default in 4:43 over Jayden Delao (22-13) of La Crosse Logan/Central.
The Rockets enter the Big East Tournament with 12 points and in prime position to win their first league title since 2000, when Peterson wrestled for the team. Random Lake, Reedsville and Oostburg are tied for second with six points each.
“We want to win the tournament,” Peterson said. “Conference is always interesting. Everybody kind of beats each other up a little bit.”
Then it’s off to regionals, sectionals and state. As the season winds down, the competition picks up.
“Every match is getting tougher. Everybody wants to win a little bit more now. The minute pins are going to be done here,” Peterson said.
“The grind is getting to be more – we push them to win the grind – no matter who steps on the line, we can wrestle with them.”
Ozaukee takes fifth at Oakfield
Ozaukee’s wrestling team scored 149 points at the Oakfield Invite and finished fifth on Saturday. Xavier won the 12-team meet with 233.5 points, followed by Johnson Creek’s 161.5, Fort Atkinson’s 154 and Green Bay West/East/Southwest’s 151.5.
Mya Delleree (34-10) won the 113-pound weight class. She pinned Jose Santiago-Smith of Green Bay West/East/Southwest in 2:20, Saisar Castro of Fond du Lac in 1:19, Tai VanRemortel of Green Bay West/East/Southwest in 1:52 and won a 17-2 technical fall over Noah Gonzalez of Sheboygan North in 3:05.
Charlie Steinert at 120 pounds, Michael Higginbotham at 138 and Jovan Lopez at 285 each took second.
Steinert (27-16) pinned Connor Gerstner of Johnson Creek in 1:38, Joshua Strasburg of Fort Atkinson in 51 seconds and Wesley Howe of Fond du Lac in 38 seconds before being pinned by Landen Ramsey (29-5) of Sheboygan North in 3:25.
Higginbotham (17-16) pinned Emmett Meierbachtol of Green Bay West/East/Southwest in 1:23, lost an 8-6 decision to Kaleb Lisowe (29-5) of New Holstein, won a 4-3 decision over Julia Vajda (16-7) of Xavier and lost a 6-3 decision to Lisowe.
Lopez (27-18) pinned Logan Zerbe of Johnson Creek in 54 seconds, Ryan Guth of Fort Atkinson in 1:26, Colt Clinton of New Holstein in 1:46 and Eddie Heuring of Xavier in 50 seconds before losing a 5-1 decision to Aarion Moore of Green Bay West/East/Southwest.
In two duals at Living Word Lutheran on Jan. 26, the Warriors beat Racine St. Catherine’s/Catholic Central/Lutheran, 30-15, and lost to the host, 42-39.
In the win, Lopez, Delleree and Steinert earned pins. In the loss, Higginbotham, Delleree, Steinert, Skyler Mills and Grady Klas got pins. Todd Bell won an 11-4 decision.
Ozaukee wrestles in the Big East Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Cedar Grove.
