February 26, 2018 at 1:44 p.m.
The end of the road
DeMeyer, Kurtz and Guzik go out winners at state
The end of the road
Seniors Jacob DeMeyer and Alec Kurtz each finished third in their brackets while Reuben Guzik finished fifth Saturday after reaching the state semifinals the night before. Three place winners is the most Rhinelander has ever had in a single state tournament.
Rhinelander's two other state qualifiers, Tyler Olson and Colton Krueger, both lost in the first round of the consolation bracket Friday morning.
"It's an amazing class, an amazing group," coach Paul Ellenbecker said afterward. "Unfortunately we didn't get anyone in the finals like we hoped, but you're going to win some, lose some. We competed and I can't say enough about our effort this weekend."
DeMeyer and Guzik were both beaten by the eventual undefeated state champs in their brackets - Sun Prairie's Drew Scharenbrock and Hortonville's Eric Barnett - in Friday night's semifinals. DeMeyer won both of his matches Saturday to finish third - one spot higher than where he placed in the Division 1, 145-pound bracket a year ago. It was Rhinelander's best finish at state since Eddie Stefonek's runner up showing at 152 in 2005.
Kurtz matched DeMeyer's feat a short time later, avenging a loss to Kimberly's Alex Mischka from Thursday night's quarterfinal round.
For DeMeyer, Kurtz, and Guzik, the joy of winning their final high school match was mixed with the cold realization that their wrestling careers - at very least on the high school level - are over.
"It's hard, putting so much work into the sport and something you love so much, watching it come to an end," said Guzik, whose glassy-eyed demeanor as he walked off the mat belied the fact he had just defeated Milton's Mason Dutcher to place fifth at the state tournament.
"They cried when they were done. They were sad. They weren't ready to be done," Ellenbecker said. "It means a lot to them. To get something like this out of it, some of the memories they can take with them the rest of their life, that's what matters to me."
DeMeyer dominates final match
In a twist of fate for DeMeyer, his last match was against a familiar foe - Antigo's Brandon Lucht. DeMeyer had defeated the fellow Great Northern Conference grappler back on Jan. 16 and again in Thursday's state quarterfinals. Both eventually made their way through the wrestleback to the third-place match.
The third battle was similar to the first two, with DeMeyer in control much of the way en route to a 9-0 major decision. Leading 4-0 in the third, DeMeyer got a takedown and back points to built a substantial lead.
"The last period I wasn't trying to do anything fancy. I knew I had a pretty big lead there so I was just trying to get through the two minutes there and that's what I did," DeMeyer said. "It's weird my last match is against an Antigo kid who's right down the street from us. He's a great kid, great competitor and it was great to get the win."
DeMeyer was relegated to Saturday morning's placement rounds following a 5-1 loss the night before to Scharenbrock, who went on to win his second state title and finish the season 51-0.
"He's a really good wrestler," DeMeyer said. "There's a reason he's going to be wrestling for the Badgers. He's tough, strong and I couldn't get anything going against him. I give him a lot of credit."
Brackets at the state tournament are not seeded, so Friday night's semifinal was a matchup between the first and second-ranked grapplers in the class, according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online. It was the second straight year that DeMeyer ran into the top-ranked wrestler in the semifinals. He lost to La Crosse Central's Jaden Van Maanen a year ago.
"I think everyone knows that should have been the finals match down here. I feel bad that he wasn't able to do the march of champions and get the accolades that he should have," Ellenbecker said. "I know he didn't win the state titles but who he's wrestled, the amount of wins, what he's accomplished. Jacob's the real deal. He's up there with the best wrestlers in Rhinelander history and his wins record's going to be there for a while."
DeMeyer fended off Sparta's Brett Von Ruden 3-2 in Saturday morning's opening round to earn the opportunity to wrestle for third. DeMeyer got an escape seven seconds into the third period that proved to be the winning point.
"It's a great way to end the career, taking third place, I couldn't be happier," said DeMeyer, who ends with a career record of 162-20. "It's been a fun journey. I was getting pretty emotional. Hard to do that, but it was fun."
Kurtz avenges loss
Kurtz didn't get a chance to wrestle in the semifinals, following an upset loss Thursday night, but exacted some revenge on Saturday when he defeated Mischka 3-1 for third place in the Division 1, 195-pound weight class.
Kurtz found himself in a similar position to what he faced Thursday night when he gave up a five-point move to Mischka in the third period to lose, 7-5. This time, Kurtz never let Mischka off the mat in the final two minutes and withstood everything the Kimberly grappler threw at him - legal or otherwise - down the stretch.
Mischka threw a series of elbows at Kurtz's head over the final 30 seconds, among other tactics, in an effort to get Kurtz to relent.
"I think I have a couple of fingers broken from that," Kurtz explained, adding that the tactics Mischka used down the stretch angered him. "I got elbowed three times in the head and I chipped my tooth during that match."
Added Ellenbecker, "It turned into the guy being a dirty dog at the end of the match and pulling a bunch of crap I would get after my kids for. He probably should have been kicked out of the tournament for the stuff he was doing but Alec beat him on the mat and that was huge for him."
Kurtz had to take the long way to the third-place match following Thursday's loss to Mischka. On Friday he pinned Arrowhead's Derek Polczynski and fended off Kettle Moraine's Josh Nowak 2-1 to reach the placement rounds for the first time in his high school career. Kurtz pinned South Milwaukee's Adam Jones 19 seconds into the second period Saturday morning to set up the rematch with Mischka.
"I just had one goal after I lost to him, which was to come back to take third. He ended up losing. He was in my way and I took him out. I was happy about that," said Kurtz who finished his career as Rhinelander's all-time pins leader.
Guzik goes out a winner
Guzik was no match for Barnett in the semifinals, losing to the North Carolina recruit via technical fall with 44 seconds remaining. It was Guzik's third loss and the second to Barnett - the first two were by pin.
"Barnett's an amazing wrestler and I'm excited to watch him take home his third state title tonight," Guzik said, predicting Barnett's 12-2 major decision over Arrowhead's Jack Ganos in the championship match at 113.
Regardless, Ellenbecker said it was a neat opportunity for Guzik, who lost both of his matches at state a year ago.
"He got to chance to wrestle in front of 15,000-16,000 people. He got an opportunity to wrestle the most impressive wrestler in the state of Wisconsin, pound-for-pound the best wrestler," Ellenbecker said. "I'm glad that he got the experience he got down here, that he got to be on the big stage and to win matches with people watching."
Guzik was majored by Ashwaubenon's Noah Leisgang 12-2 in Saturday morning's first round, but bounced back with a 7-4 win over Milton's Mason Dutcher in the fifth-place match.
"Once I got the takedown, I knew I was going to win," Guzik said of his last match.
A lasting legacy
Olson and Krueger were unable to join their teammates in the placement rounds. Olson lost via technical fall to Watertown's Edward Wilkowski Friday morning at 120 while Krueger fell in a 9-4 decision to Oak Creek's John Wright.
Still Ellenbecker said the first-time state qualifiers should be proud of their accomplishments.
"They have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about," he said. "They laid it out there for the last four years and, looking back on it, they're going to be proud of what they did."
The were also part of a senior class that led the Hodags to three Great Northern Conference championships and accounted for 10 state tournament appearances.
"We're very happy about what we accomplished, looking back on it. Ultimately, we all achieved possibly about as high as we could," Kurtz said. "A lot of stuff didn't quite go our way but we did the best we could with what we had.
"To have everyone make it to the second day was really special. It was said to see them go out, one by one. I teared up a little bit for every one of them because of all the mat time I've had with them. I'm just glad everyone made it down here."
Though they didn't win a state championship, or even reach a state final - Rhinelander's drought is now 19 and 13 years, respectively, for those two feats - Ellenbecker said the legacy this year's seniors will leave with the RHS wrestling program is undeniable.
"They put us back on the map in the state of Wisconsin, I believe. A lot of people know who we are and that our kids compete. This group of kids, they really did a great job," he said. "That class is going memorable for a long time and some of those records aren't going to be broken for a long time."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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