Jeremy Ratliff
Editor
Since their season debut two weeks ago, the Bluejay varsity wrestling squad has certainly put on their share of miles and plenty of wins to boot. Following a 48-18 drubbing of Wausau-East in both their season and WVC opener on the Lumnberjacks’ home turf Dec.5, the Jays’ momentum has continued to build with a stellar 4th place finish at the annual Papermaker Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 7, and another powerhouse performance this past weekend at the Neenah Invitational.
Merrill (167) fell just three-points shy of a second place finish at the 13-team Neenah Invite on Saturday, while the host Rockets took the top-spot with 199 points.
Ryder Depies (170) and Zach Iribarren (285) enjoyed championship finishes, each going 3-0 on the day.
Depies took his first match in rather convincing fashion, pinning Cole Ruelle from Two Rivers in just 1:28. Although his match versus Larken Betry of Witt-Bern wouldn’t be over quite as quick, Depies would go on to win the match rather decisively, claiming a 6-1 decision. New Berlin’s Brady Wagner would be all that stood between Depies and first-place hardware, the winner was decided after just a minute and 47 seconds; via pin by Depies.
Iribarren would have very similar results in assembling his second consecutive tournament championship of the season; pinning his first opponent, Kevin Morales of Johnson Creek in a matter of 52 seconds. His semi-final bout with Homstead’s Alec Perelshtein would be a bit closer as Iribarren triumphed by 8-4 decision. Iribarren would go on to claim the 285 pound class championship by pin over Witt-Bern’s Allen Uttecht.
“Overall we built off of last week,” comments head coach Brian Suchocki.
“The wrestlers are starting to understand how to compete. We had five wrestlers in the finals and two were able to come away as champions. For Ryder to win his first varsity tournament as a freshman, shows that he can compete very well at the high school level. The best part is he does it by outworking his opponents. Zach had two really tough matches to get his second championship of the season,” he explains.
“In the semi-finals and in the finals, it was the third period that was the determining factor. Zach being able to win close matches will help him grow as a wrestler. Casey Carter and Tristan did a nice job getting to the finals. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the results they wanted but they competed well. It was nice to see Tyler and Jacob battle back to third place after losing their first matches. Both Jacob and Tyler are starting to figure out how to compete.”
Other top finishers for Merrill included:
132 Pound Class- Tristen Brewington (2nd Place):
Quarterfinal – Tristen Brewington (Merrill) won by pin over Cayden Boldra-Murack (Two Rivers/ 1:54)
Semifinal – Tristen Brewington (Merrill) won by pin over Stephen Pullen (Appleton East/2:43)
1st Place Match – Logan Edwards (Antigo) won by pin over Tristen Brewington (Merrill/ 3:27)
160 Pound Class-Carter Bayer (2nd Place):
Quarterfinal – Carter Bayer (Merrill) won by pin over Tyresse Hoefler (Appleton East/4:46)
Semifinal – Carter Bayer (Merrill) won by major decision over Will Urquhart (Wittenberg Birnamwood/MD 11-2)
1st Place Match – Preston Morgan (Berlin) won by pin over Carter Bayer (Merrill/2:13)
182 Pound Class-Casey Hoffman (2nd Place):
Quarterfinal – Casey Hoffman (Merrill) won by pin over Chase Kurczek (Berlin/0:45)
Semifinal – Casey Hoffman (Merrill) won by fall over Kyle Linke (Wittenberg-Birnamwood/3:36)
1st Place Match – Jacob Steidinger (Cedarburg) won by major decision over Casey Hoffman (Merrill/MD 13-2)
138 Pound Class-Jacob Woller (3rd Place):
Quarterfinal – Austin Lewis (Neenah) won by decision over Jacob Woller (Merrill/Dec: 8-2)
Cons. Round 1 – Jacob Woller (Merrill) won by pin over Matthew Hervert (Milwaukee Reagan/1:23)
Cons. Round 2 – Jacob Woller (Merrill) won by technical fall over Ethan Frasier (Berlin)
Cons. Semi – Jacob Woller (Merrill) won by forfeit over Jaden Schoeneck (Antigo)
3rd Place Match – Jacob Woller (Merrill) won by decision over Bryce Zoromski (Wittenberg-Birnamwood/Dec. 10-7)
195 Pound Class-Tyler Leistikow (3rd Place)
Quarterfinal – Justin Taylor (Homestead) won by pin over Tyler Leistikow (Merrill/0:52)
Cons. Round 1 – Tyler Leistikow (Merrill) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 – Tyler Leistikow (Merrill) won by pin over Luis Martinez (Appleton East/0:39)
Cons. Semi – Tyler Leistikow (Merrill) won by fall over Jacob Jungwirth (Fox Valley Lutheran) 3-3 (1:58)
3rd Place Match – Tyler Leistikow (Merrill) won by fall over Anderson Kopidlansky (Two Rivers) 3-7 (Fall 2:17)
126 Pound Class-Tanner Depies (4th Place)
182 Pound Class-Wyatt Bathke (4th Place)
120 Pound Class-Trevor Schenzel (5th Place)