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Health & Fitness

OW!-a-Tosa: Whitnall Wrestlers' Win Streak Ends, 43-27

Whitnall wrestlers will have to settle for fourth in the Woodland Conference after Friday night's loss to Wauwatosa. In an unusual twist, Tosa coach Kent Morin is 1-0 at 195.

Minus six starters in a meet that was only winnable with an exceptional effort, Whitnall High School's wrestling team dropped a 43-27 decision to the combined team from Wauwatosa West and East High Schools Friday night. Hoping to finish in the runner-up spot, the Falcons now are most likely to end the Woodland Conference dual meet schedule in fourth place.

While the final score wasn't close, the meet in the Whitnall gym had plenty of drama, with the host school leading twice during the course of the contest.

In the opening match at 120 pounds, Falcon Blake Leslie trailed 5-0 at the end of the first period, but his opponent, conference title contender AJ Minucci, aggravated a knee injury and was unable to answer the whistle for the second period. That earned Leslie a default victory and Whitnall a 6-0 lead.

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Whitnall head coaches Craig Austin and John Quinlan then opted to forfeit the next match to Wauwatosa's highly-regarded Ben Reagan, and send freshman Dylan Kellner--originally set to wrestle Reagan--into the 132-pound contest against Tosa senior Eric Ehlert. Kellner gamely avoided a pin, but gave up a major decision, the first of three consecutive as teammates Evan Olson and Amol Mody also lost by eight or more points, the margin for a major decision.

Co-captain Mason Howard, wrestling at 152 pounds, ended the Whitnall drought with a first-period pin for his 33rd win of the season. John McGee followed with a 7-1 decision, his 28th win. Then, in the night's highlight-reel victory for Whitnall fans, Ty Fischer upset Wauwatosa's Sam Bertz, pinning him in 2:56.

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"Ty came back with determination, with a vengeance," said Quinlan, explaining that Fischer had lost Wednesday to a wrestler he had previously beaten, and then faced Bertz, who had beaten him earlier. "It was a great effort, and a terrific result," said the coach.

At that point, the Falcons held a three-point lead. Wauwatosa then tied it when co-captain Sam Howard, his right hand in a bandage covering seven stitches from a non-wrestling mishap (never scrape a window with a box cutter), dropped a 9-5 decision.

Brunner Loses to Morin

Wauwatosa then went ahead to stay when Whitnall's Jeremy Brunner, wrestling at 195 pounds, lost a decision to Tosa coach Kent Morin. Brunner has been splitting matches between the 195- and 220-pound classes, always well under the 220 limit and easily capable of making weight at 195. There's a rule that wrestlers can drop only a half-pound per day. Morin researched Brunner's weight at a tournament four weeks ago, waited until Brunner officially registered with scorekeeper Earl Zelinski, and immediately informed referee Jeff Semrad that the Whitnall wrestler would be required to forfeit for losing more than the allowable weight. Six points Tosa.

"He took advantage of a clerical error at 195," said Quinlan, "and that's at least partially my fault. Jeremy usually drops to 195 without a problem, so I haven't been watching it carefully." Quinlan recalled that Brunner, without a weight concern going into the tourney a month ago, ate at a buffet with friends prior to that weigh-in, unaware of future consequences. "Usually this sort of thing only comes up between conference tournaments and regionals, when wrestlers are changing weight in a week's time," he said.

In the next two matches, Falcons Alex Sterling and Ethan Harycki were pinned. Joe Price fought the full six minutes with Wauwatosa's Kai Castaneda, who's ranked sixth in the state, but lost 8-0. Price was matched against Castaneda after the team score was no longer in doubt so the possible matchup between the Tosa ace and Whitnall's Anthony Senthavisouk will wait until the conference or regional tournament.

Senthavisouk closed out the night with a pin--after uncharacteristically trailing 5-0--in the last second of the second period.

"I thought we wrestled better than we did Wednesday (in a win over New Berlin)," Quinlan  said, "but you have to give them credit as well. We'd have done better at full strength, but we knew we had to wrestle really well to upset them."

PinPoints:

  • Nine Whitnall wrestlers were winners on the junior varsity mat Friday: Mark Burakowski, Manu Schumann, Ty Robideaux, Ryan Olson, Brian Beal, Mike Langenohl, Zach Price, Dan Callies and Zach Barnhart.
  • Among the 16 teams participating in Whitnall's 25th Annual Zelinski Memorial Duals are eight schools ranked among the top 15 in the state. The January 21 event is a tuneup for conference and regional tourneys throughout Wisconsin.
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