The Tomahawk wrestling team took on Saturday’s 17-team Rebel Invitational in Wabeno and narrowly missed out on their second consecutive title of the year.
Crandon prevailed 197-183 over the Hatchets.
“I was disappointed a little bit,” THS coach Bob Garrou said. “Crandon is a nice D3 team but we had four starters out and that hurt us. Otherwise, we wrestled pretty well.
“We have some skin issues already, and one boy was suspended for being disrespectful in school. We’re pretty strict on that so we had to sit him out.”
Kevin Zurfluh (106), Kaleb Kaminski (160) and Austin both improved to 9-0 on the season with championships. Zurfluh has pinned every foe, and Kaminski is a freshman. Austin Bellile (195, 5-0) also won.
Turner Wegener (132) and Henry Helland (182) were runners-up. Helland was edged 4-3 in the finals. Adam FauFau (220) placed fourth, and Quintin Wallenfang (145) Mitch Schauer (285) were fifth. Jake McGuire (126) and Slade Erdman (152) ranked 6th.
Bellile (7th), FauFau (9th), Zurfluh (HM) and Wegener (HM) earned early-season state notoriety.
Team standings-Crandon 197, Tomahawk 183, Athens 145, Wausau East 138.5, Crivitz 128.5, Kewaunee 116.5, Norway 114, Florence 109.5, Three Lakes 90, Elcho 84.5, Wabeno/Laona 72.5, Menominee 64, Coleman Reserve 40.5, Mishicot Reserves 33, Kingsford 30, Bark River 17, Appleton Xavier 15.
The Hatchet Invite will be held Saturday, starting at 9:30 a.m. “It’s the perfect level of competition for this time of year,” Garrou said.