Whitnall High School's wrestlers defeated host East Troy and Union Grove Saturday, but lost to West Allis Central, Green Bay West and Harvard, Ill.
Anthony Senthavisouk and co-captain Zach Barnhart led the Falcons with 4-1 records for the day.
Senthavisouk's loss came in the day's opening match, in which he moved up a weight class above his usual 103 pounds. His teammates prevailed, though, beating East Troy 35-34. Josh Rinke, Joe Price, Dylan Kellner, Ryan Olson, Max Schwarz, Zach Price and Barnhart notched victories.
West Allis Central, ranked among the state's top ten teams, jumped off to a 25-0 lead en route to a 48-12 win in the second meet. Nick Monty's pin and decisions by co-captain Zach Price and Senthavisouk accounted for all of the Falcons' scoring.
Whitnall then took an impressive 51-24 victory over Union Grove as Blake Leslie, Kellner, Mark Burakowski, Tyler Rabideaux, Olson, Zach Price, Barnhart, Mike Langenohl, Senthavisouk and Kevin Seyedin contributed wins.
Monty suffered a should injury during that meet and was sidelined for the rest of the day. Also out due to injury was Ethan Harycki, who rolled an ankle during practice Friday and was unable to compete at all Saturday.
The Falcons then took on Harvard, one of Illinois' top-ranked wrestling teams. Senthavisouk and Barnhart scored Whitnall's only two wins as Harvard coasted to a 63-6 victory. Olson, the Falcons' 152-pounder, nearly pulled out a win in arguably the day's most entertaining match. One of eight sophomores in Whitnall's lineup, Olson was about to score a winning reversal when time ran out, leaving him on the down side of an 8-7 decision.
In the final meet, Whitnall nearly upset the co-op team representing Green Bay West. The Falcons led, 38-33, into the last match, requiring Green Bay to score a pin to win, or a technical fall to tie. Green Bay got the pin and the team victory. Leslie, Kellner, Barnhart, Langenohl, John Smith, Senthavisouk and Juan Guzman scored for the Falcons.
"We wanted to walk out of here at 3-2," said Whitnall coach John Quinlan following the Green Bay loss. "Central is a ranked team, Harvard is a ranked team, so we couldn't be too disappointed in losing to them. East Troy was a good win for us, without a doubt. If Ethan (Harycki) had been there, if Monty hadn't been hurt, the outcome of the last one might have been different.
"We're not deep enough, not experienced enough to afford those injuries," said Quinlan, noting that his lineup Saturday had eight sophomores. "We're young, we're going to have these ups and downs. We've had six matches, and three of them have been against ranked teams. If we can stay in one piece, we'll learn from the experience," he said.
"The important thing is, we haven't backed down from anybody," Quinlan said. "Sometimes the skill level's not there, but at least the effort is."
Whitnall will meet a rejuvenated Greenfield squad in the Falcons' home opener at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
