Whitnall Wrestlers Almost Perfect: Falcons 74, Greendale/More 6

"I guess you could say we were a little better," said Coach John Quinlan, chuckling at his own understatement as he compared Wednesday night's performance to the in the conference opener a week earlier.

His Whitnall Falcon wrestlers had just completed a near-perfect outing, a 74-6 rout of the combined team of Greendale and St. Thomas More High Schools. Eleven of 14 Whitnall wrestlers scored pins in the match at Greendale High School.

"The competition tonight wasn't on the same level (as Pewaukee)," Quinlan said, "but our wrestlers have definitely become more aggressive. We're out there looking to score, instead of just seeing if something shows up. This is a young team, and we're benefiting by getting some mat time under our belts."

The point total wasn't a school record but came within 10 of the 84-point maximum possible.

Co-captain Mason Howard remained undefeated in seven matches with a third-period pin. Sam Howard, also a co-captain, improved his record to 6-1 with his fifth pin of the young season.

Also scoring pins: Alex Sterling (:34), Jeremy Brunner (1:56), Anthony Senthavisauk (5:12), Joe Price (5:09), Dylan Kellner (1:27), Troy McGee (2:50), Evan Olson (1:26), Ben Stojcevic (1:52), and John McGee (3:50).

Ty Fischer won by technical fall after running up a 17-1 score. Zach Price added a 5-4 decision to complete the scoring.

Greendale's Chris Jankowski pinned Whitnall's Blake Leslie for the host team's only win. Leslie had a 9-8 lead prior to the pin and earned praise from his coach despite the loss.

"Blake made a couple of freshman mistakes but he was definitely better than last week, and that's what counts," said Quinlan. "We ask our guys, 'Are you improving every match?' and if they are, the wins will come. Blake's definitely improving."

The 106-pound Senthavisauk, also a freshman, earned Quinlan's approval. "He and the guy he pinned are both freshmen, but Anthony lost to him four times at the middle school level. He did a nice job tonight," Quinlan said.

The Falcons will be looking for their second Woodland Conference win next Wednesday when they host a strong South Milwaukee team. Prior to that, they'll head to Wisconsin Dells for a Saturday event in which they'll face five teams in dual matches. Team pairings among the 24 participants probably won't be announced until Friday.

PinPoints:

--Last Saturday, Mukwonago defeated the state's #1 ranked high school wrestling team, Wisconsin Rapids. Tuesday night, West Allis Central defeated Mukwonago, 37-33. That same Central team, now arguably one of the state's best, won a 43-21 match against Whitnall Saturday. That lends credence to Whitnall coach Craig Austin's preseason assessment that "we're solid enough up and down the lineup to be competitive with anyone."

--Jayvee winners for the Falcons Wednesday were Ryan Olson, Tyler Rabideaux, John Homontowski, Mark Burakowski and Mike Langenohl, each of whom scored pins; and Amol Mody, Ethan Kulwicki, Brian Beal and Dan Callies, who were winners by decisions.

--Results of the Dells Duals Saturday will be tweeted @whitwrestle on Twitter, with a complete report to be posted on Greenfield Patch following the wrestlers return on Sunday.