The Hatchet grapplers used a little home cooking to craft a fine recipe last week. They kicked it off with Thursday’s 45-28 dual triumph over Mosinee, then rose to the top of Saturday’s 14-team Tomahawk Invite.
THS took down the tourney title with a 177-147 margin over new rival Crandon. The locals topped Crandon for wins in their first and third tourneys this year, while the Cardinals tipped Tomahawk in the second
“I thought we wrestled pretty dang well,” Hatchet coach Bob Garrou said. “(The Crandon rivalry is) kind of crazy, because we’re not used to it, but they’ve got a good group of seniors that make us wrestle better. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get 4-5 kids to state. We’re an average team that’s getting better, but we’re in Wisconsin and average teams can do pretty well right now. Most teams don’t have a full varsity. It’s a very demanding sport and the average person doesn’t want to give the high level of dedication that’s necessary.”
Eleven of 14 wrestlers ranked in the top 6 for THS. Kevin Zurfluh (106), Nate Flohr (126) and Austin Bellile (195) all won, while Peter Pintens (152) was nipped 6-3 in his finals match. Zurfluh pinned all four foes, putting him at 15-0 with 14 falls. Flohr had 3 pins to improve to 8-2, and Bellile’s 3 falls put him at 15-0. Pintens is 4-1.
“Austin pinned a state qualifier, and Kevin pinned the #7 kid at 106,” Garrou said. “Even Nate beat a state qualifier in the finals.”
Jake Borchardt (182) ranked 3rd, besting Henry Helland 7-2 in the 3rd-place match. Fourths came from Kaleb Kaminksi (160) and Helland, while Cullen Wegener (113), Austin Story (120), Adam FauFau (220) and Mitchell Schauer (285) all rated 5th. Dane Borchardt (170) ended up 6th.
Team scores-Tomahawk 177, Crandon 147, Ladysmith 142, Somerset 136, Amherst 118, Turtle Lake 91.5, Elcho 89, Cadott 86.5, Three Lakes 80, Hayward 71, Marathon 70, Rosholt 44, Chequamegon 21, Bark River 20.
Mosinee rally
After Flohr’s forfeit, Mosinee earned maximum points in four straight to grab a 24-6 lead. But the Hatchets ripped off five straight themselves with pins from Pintens (3:56), Kaminski (3:22) and Bellile (220, 3:17) and forfeits to J. Borchardt and Jacob Schaper (195). After Schauer’s 8-0 loss, Zurfluh defeated Cole Ellis 6-2. A double forfeit followed at 113, then Story pinned in :57 to end it.
Jacob McGuire (2:24), Quinton Wallenfang (1:09) and Slade Erdman (3:41) all took falls, and T. Wegener (4:22) suffered a serious injury.
“It was a great meet other than losing Turner Wegener, probably for the year,” Garrou said. “His elbow popped out of the socket. I’ve never seen a worse dislocation. It’s too bad for him because he’s having a good year and he’s a nice senior. We’re just hoping we can get him back at the end of the year so he can finish on his terms. That’s a big loss to our program. Luckily, we’re 2-3 deep at that weight.”