By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Saturday five Merrill wrestlers traveled to Menomonie for the sectional wrestling tournment. Two Bluejay wrestlers got close to a trip to state, however no one would qualify as the Jays season came to an end.
Jacob Woller would get the chance to wrestle after an injury opened up a spot in the sectional for him. Woller would fight hard, however would fall in his first match by a score of 16-4.
Tanner Depies was close to a trip to state, coming up just one win short. “Tanner wrestled hard all day.” comments Merrill head coach Brian Suchocki, “In the first match of the day he was down by 5 early in the match and came back to get the pin. Unfortunately he lost two hard fought matches after that. Tanner is a sophomore with a lot of wrestling ahead of him. I know he will do everything in his power to be successful.”
At 152 pounds Carter Bayer would lose his first match by pin. “Carter had a very tough match-up right off that bat. He will back next year more determined.” said coach Suchocki.
Bradley Leiskau wrestled at 170 pounds and would fall to his first opponent by a score of 9-3. ”Bradley started out well in his match but ended up on the wrong end of a scramble and lost his first.” adds Suchocki, “Bradley was our leader all year, a great kid and our only senior on varsity, he will be missed.”
Zach Iribarren would win his first match of the day at heavyweight, topping his opponent by a score of 17-6. Iribarren would then be pinned in both of his final two matches, falling short of a state apperance. Suchocki said, “Zach put himself in the semi-finals and had a real good opportunity to win that match. One mistake late in the match cost him probably a trip to state. The good thing about Zach is that he’s only a junior and this is only his third year wrestling. Zach is willing to work hard to reach his goals.”
Suchocki was pleased with his team this season saying, “As a team our kids worked hard all season and had great attitudes. We coaches enjoyed coaching all the wrestlers. They will work hard to be successful next season.”