January 7, 2019 at 1:09 p.m.
Hodag grapplers ninth at Bluejay Challenge
Fox wins title at 106 pounds
Hodag grapplers ninth at Bluejay Challenge
What the Hodag wrestlers lacked in quantity they made up for in quality. Three Hodags reached the podium in their respective weight classes, led by a championship for sophomore Tim Fox at 106 pounds, and all eight grapplers won at least one match on the day.
"Overall, as a team, I like the way we performed, especially early," coach Nathan Piasecki said. "I think we could have done a little bit better at the end. The execution was not great at the very end, but we had a lot of placers and two guys in the finals ... I have no qualms with how we finished as a team, especially considering everyone got wins."
Fox cruised through the preliminary rounds, recording three pins in just 4 minutes, 2 seconds of mat time to win his pool and reach the semifinals. In the semis Fox earned a hard-fought 3-1 overtime win over sixth-ranked (Division 3) freshman Pierson Potrykus of Wittenberg-Birnamwood to reach the championship match. In the finals, Fox controlled Wausau West's Rachel Trevino en route to an 11-2 major decision.
"Timmy Fox beat a really solid guy in the semifinals, beat a state-ranked guy that he hasn't beaten before," Piasecki said. "That shows improvement from Timmy, which I really love to see. He pulls out an overtime match, which is great. It shows he's been working really, really hard, which I've very proud of him about."
Fox was joined on the podium by teammates Walker Hartman and Eric Grulke.
Hartman was dominant in a 4-1 day at 152. After opening with a technical fall, he pinned his next three opponents, including 11th-ranked (D2) Bradyn Saint of Prairie du Chien in the semifinals. Hartman ran into one of the state's top wrestlers in the finals, however, top-ranked (D3) and undefeated Brock Schlough. The Boyceville senior pinned Hartman in only 54 seconds.
"He wrestled probably one of the top three or four overall wrestlers in the state in the finals and it was a tough match for him, but he was excited to wrestle him," Piasecki said. "He was excited to wrestle the best guy in the state. That's just another little tendency that shows me he's going really good and fun to watch going forward.
"He's down at a new weight class and is coming into his own. He had three good victories and then, in the semifinals, comes up against a very tough guy from (Prairie du Chien) and he mops the mat with him. He has two good takedowns and then pins him."
After pinning his way to the semifinals, Eric Grulke lost in overtime to Edgar's Ty Guden before being pinned by Chippewa Falls' Ross Kaz in the third-place match at 160.
Gavin Ostermann was the only other Hodag wrestler to finish above .500 on the day. Wrestling at 170 pounds, Ostermann got a pin while trailing in the final seconds of a match against Sun Prairie's Yusef Nolley in the consolation bracket. It was the highlight of the freshman's 3-2 day and a sixth-place finish.
"He's losing a match by five, six, seven points but he's still in it because he's a competitor," Piasecki said. "He loves to win and hates to lose. Being a freshman and getting into the fifth- and six-place match in a tournament that has 18, 20 teams, something like that isn't easy, especially considering he's now up at 170."
Hugh Wiese went 2-2 on the day and earned an 11-2 win over Three Lakes/Phelps Zander Ginet to secure seventh place at 113. Ben Sinclair and Chase Redmond finished eighth at 182 and 285, respectively. Will Swanson went 1-4 and was 14th at 120.
"Everybody who came today all won matches, which is good for the young guys that are inexperienced to find ways to get wins," Piasecki said. "Our guys are starting to progress. The fight was there today. We had a couple of close losses, a couple really powerful wins and I think we can walk away from the week feeling good."
Tomahawk won the 19-team meet, beating Wisconsin Valley schools Merrill and Wausau West in the process. Lakeland, the only other Great Northern Conference team in the field, placed 15th.
The Hodags wrestle Lakeland Thursday night in a GNC dual at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium in a match that holds significance on a number of levels. Both teams will be looking for their first GNC dual win of the season. It will also be the first time Piasecki and assistant coach Jake Hairrell coach against their alma mater and Thursday's dual will be the inaugural Handrick Hammer match, in honor of former RHS and Lakeland assistant coach Tom Handrick, who passed away shortly after last year's wrestling season.
"It's one we've been keying on and looking forward to. Other than Northern Badger, it's probably our second most important meet that we've had so far in my opinion," Piasecki said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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