By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter

On Saturday the Merrill wrestling team traveled to Wisconsin Rapids for the Regional tournament. Despite the Bluejays taking sixth as a team they were able to have a regional champ and send a total of four wrestlers to Sectionals.
Noah Bolling, coming off of an injury, won the Regional tournament in the heavyweight class, marking his second trip to Sectionals.
“It was good to get Noah back on the mat,” said head coach Brian Suchocki. “It was good for him to come away with the regional title.”
Bradley Leiskau had a nice day on the mat as he came in with a second place finish in the 170 pound weight class.
“Bradley made the finals and wrestled a common opponent. You can see Bradley closing the gap and that is good to see coming down the stretch,” noted coach Suchocki.
Casey Hoffman (145 weight class) and Walker Bathke (195 weight class) each took fourth in the Regional which was good enough to advance to Sectionals.
“Casey also came back in the line-up and wrestled hard all day,” coach Suchocki said.
The Bluejays also had a handful of wrestlers finish in fifth place including seniors Jake Spoehr and Brody Gehrke.
“Unfortunately we had five wrestlers take fifth, just missing out on going to the sectional tournament,” coach Suchocki said. “It’s hard to see Jake and Brody end their high school wrestling careers. For them this is the beginning of their next journey. They will be missed.”
The Sectional tournament will be held on Saturday at Wausau West High School as the four Merrill wrestlers look to keep their seasons alive.
“The goal is to keep advancing,” coach Suchocki said. “This is Walker and Noah’s second trip to sectionals. That experience should be helpful to them going into the sectional meet.”