Eight Merrill Varsity Boys Wrestlers qualify for Sectionals; Varsity Girls will compete at same Sectionals
BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
On Saturday, Feb. 10, 2022, Merrill Varsity wrestlers traveled to DC Everest to compete in the WIAA Division 1 Regional tournament for a chance to advance to the Sectionals. “The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance,” Merrill Head Varsity Wrestling Coach Brian Suchocki said.
From Merrill, eight Varsity wrestlers qualified to move forward to the Sectional tournament. Those wrestlers, listed with their place in the Regional tournament for their respective weight classes, are: Remington Skic (second), Dusty Schmirler (third), Hunter Opper (third), Noah Klug (third), Callum Wheeler (fourth), Austin Depies (fourth), Carson Brooks (fourth), and Mikal Plautz (fourth).
“Remington has been rock solid all season and had another solid performance,” Suchocki said. “Good things will continue to happen for Remington by staying consistent and aggressive. Remington did a nice job staying poised and sticking to what he does best.”
“Dusty wrestled tough,” he said. “He continues to wrestle hard at the end of matches, giving himself a chance.”
“Hunter is wrestling his best he has all season right now,” Suchocki said. “Hunter has progressed well and stayed the course. He picked up a nice pin in the third-place match. It’s exciting to see him competing well.”
“Noah had a tough break in the semifinal match but finished the day strong,” he said. “Noah is wrestling in a style that is steady which is good this time of the year. Noah will work to get a few more scoring opportunities.”
“Callum had some really nice matches and has all the tools needed,” Suchocki said. “Callum finished the day with a nice win, helping him advance. I’m excited to see what he can do next week.”
“Austin also finished the day with a good win, pinning his opponent to advance,” he said. “Austin has good technique and this week will be working on sticking with the wrestling positions best suited for him.”
“Carson had his work cut out for him; after losing his first match, he needed help to get an opportunity to qualify,” Suchocki said. “He made the best of it and wrestled really solid to move on. Carson missed a lot of the season, so he is still getting back in the swing of things.”
“Lastly, it was awesome to see Mikal advance,” Suchocki said. “As our lone Senior, he has been the rock for us. I know he wanted it so badly and sometimes that creates extra nerves that don’t help a wrestler compete their best. He did a great job coming back, after a disappointing loss to a wrestler he lost to earlier this season. I’m very proud he was able to deal with the adversity and make it to Sectionals.”
“Unfortunately, Brady Norton suffered an injury, ending his chance to advance” Suchocki said. “I think he had a real good opportunity to move on, but he will recover and be a force next season.”
“We had other wrestlers in the hunt but came up short,” he said. “They are all underclassmen and they had valuable experience competing at a very competitive Regional.” Suchocki was referring to wrestlers Jayden Graap (fifth), Brett Suchocki (sixth), Will Miemietz (DNP), and Preston Schuelke (DNP).
“Even though we had some struggles throughout the day, we finished strong in the wrestleback round, which shows how much our wrestlers wanted it,” Suchocki said. “It’s the time of season where wrestlers get anxious, knowing their season can end. We, the coaches, are proud of how hard the wrestlers worked throughout the season and convey that to them to ‘trust the training.’ I think that mindset helped at times, but some still struggled with nerves.”
“Going into Sectionals, we want to compete our best no matter what that is,” Suchocki said. “We will focus on the things we can control and not what the outcome could be. When wrestlers do that, they perform their best.”
The Sectional tournament will be held this Saturday, Feb. 17, in Marshfield.
The Merrill Girls Wrestling Team will also compete at the same Sectional for a chance to go to the State tournament.
