February 24, 2017 at 2:41 p.m.
Hodags move on at state
DeMeyer reaches semis, others head to wrestleback
Hodags move on at state
Rhinelander's four state qualifiers went 4-3 as a group and all advanced to the second day of the tournament at the Kohl Center.
The contingent was led by three-time state qualifier Jacob DeMeyer who advanced to Friday night's semifinals in the Division 1, 145-pound weight class. Reuben Guzik, Alec Bess and Alec Kurtz were all relegated to Friday afternoon's wrestleback with losses during Day 1 of the tournament.
"I'm really happy we got all four guys wrestling tomorrow, which is a big thing," RHS wrestling coach Paul Ellenbecker said. "Jacob getting through to the semifinals is going to be exciting for us to be on the big stage tomorrow night and for him to get that opportunity. You really can't ask for much more, have everybody to make it to the next day and live another day. I'm proud of them.
Though DeMeyer (42-) had some of the lower-ranked opponents in the bracket, he struggled at times with first-round opponent Owen Gorges of Milwaukee Hamilton and quarterfinalist Subhan Umar of Racine Horlick.
DeMeyer jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period against Gorges, and led 6-0 after a second-period reversal, but was outscored 2-1 in the final period to take a 7-2 decision.
DeMeyer and Umar were tied 3-3 late in the second period of the quarterfinal match before DeMeyer landed a four-point combination with a takedown and a near fall in the final seconds, which helped propel him to an 11-3 major decision.
"I wrestled all right," DeMeyer said. "I could have wrestled a little bit better, but I got the win."
It was still a much better day for DeMeyer than his state-opener last year, when he was knocked out by Wilmot's Jake Morgan 12 seconds into the opening match.
"A lot of people look at his background and don't realize that was his first state win," Ellenbecker said. "He started out slow in the second match too, but the kid's 49-3. He obviously is a good wrestler. For Jacob to get a major decision and pick up the tempo a little bit and put himself in position tomorrow to compete for in the semis, it's wonderful for him. It's a great opportunity and I'm sure he's going to represent us well and give it all he's got."
The win set up a major showdown in Friday night's semifinals, which concluded after deadline. DeMeyer was set to face top-ranked and undefeated Jaden Van Maanen of La Crosse Central for the right to go to Saturday night's championship match. Even if he loses, he's assured of being Rhinelander's first place winner at state in three years when Connor Johnson placed fourth.
"It's going to be a great opportunity," DeMeyer said of the semifinal bout against Van Maanen, a University of North Dakota recruit. "I'm looking forward to it. I'm really excited. He's a real good wrestler, but I'm going to give him all I've got."
Two of Rhinelander's other grapplers bowed out of the championship bracket at the hands of former state champions. Kurtz lost in the quarterfinals at 182 to second-ranked Jackson Hemauer of DeForest while Bess lost to the top-ranked 160-pounder, Hayden Krein of Sparta, in the quarterfinals. Both lost by matching 12-0 scores.
"Both of those guys were returning state champs," Ellenbecker said. "Not exactly the greatest second-round draws, but I like how we competed. I didn't get to see Alec Bess' match because he was going the same time as DeMeyer, but he wrestled a tough kid and I watched a little bit and it seemed like he was putting up a good fight.
"Alec Kurtz got pinned in the first period earlier in the year. He made the kid work off everything and he's going to be able to watch that kid wrestle for the Badgers down the road and he's going to be able to say he wrestled him. I like that Alec didn't back down and he competed. He went after him. He didn't score any points and lost 12-0, but it wasn't an easy match for the kid. That's what we're kind of looking for and hoping for when we get in them tough draws, how we compete. I'm happy with our guys for that."
Bess got to the quarterfinals thanks to a third-period pin of Appleton North's Weston Verhoff in the opening round while Kurtz earned a technical fall over Slinger's Bennett Connolly, 15-0, in the final seconds of their first-round bout.
The only Hodag to lose in the first-round was 113-pounder Rueben Guzik, who fell 7-4 to Pulaski's Cole Gille. Guzik was unable to take down the sophomore in the match, his points came from three escapes and a stalling penalty.
"He gave up an easy 2(-point takedown) in the last five seconds (of the first period) that kind of set the tone but, obviously, the kid that beat him is having a good tournament," Ellenbecker said. "He's in the semifinals. Reuben, the stage wasn't too big, but I think getting some more tough matches is only going to help him down the road. We're looking forward to him hopefully getting a few more matches down here this weekend and hopefully building off this for next year."
Gille defeated Sauk Prairie's Dylan Herbrand 6-3 in the semifinals, which gave Guzik a spot in the wrestleback. He was set to face Herbrand late Friday morning. Bess will face Kenosha Bradford's Jake Deates in the consolation bracket, while Kurtz will face Madison La Follette's Salvatore Schiro. Guzik, Bess and Kurtz would need to win twice Friday to make their way into Saturday's placement rounds.
"For us, it's going to be the Super Bowl," Ellenbecker said. "We've got all of our guys going and competing. We're going to have to wrestle well to get them on the podium, but we can do it."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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