Not settling for second

By Dan Larson and Travis Houslet/Capital Newspapers

Reedsburg delivered two swift body blows early, but Sauk Prairie responded with a flurry that left it in clear control, only to lose that control when the Beavers struck with a flurry of their own.

Of course, that’s only a metaphor for what transpired between the two prep wrestling teams through the first nine matches Tuesday night, but it certainly fits what amounted to a heavyweight dual meet that continued that way over the final five matches.

Reedsburg’s flurry erased a 14-point deficit and gave the Beavers a 5-point lead, but Sauk Prairie immediately tied it then took a 3-point lead with two matches to go.

Then came the knockout punch, delivered by Reedsburg’s Tyler Fogo and Blake Koch with back-to-back pins at 125 and 130 pounds to give their team a 39-31 win that put the Beavers in position to earn at least a share of the Badger North Conference dual title.

Reedsburg’s final dual is Thursday at Portage, while Sauk Prairie’s is Feb. 2 vs. Waunakee — with the overall conference champion to be determined by results from the conference meet hosted by Reedsburg on Feb. 5 and 6.

“They have some dangerous kids in their line-up that can score the fall from anywhere,” Sauk Prairie coach Scott Smith said of Reedsburg. “And credit to them, they go for that pin. Down by two, up by two — they go for the fall.”

Reedsburg needed them, especially Fogo’s. He answered Mike Miller’s pin at 119, which gave Sauk Prairie a 31-28 lead, to allow Koch to keep the Beavers in contention for a share of the dual title.

“We had been second two years in a row,” Reedsburg coach Matt Bauer said of finishing behind DeForest, which narrowly defeated the Beavers earlier this season, both years. “Coming in this year, I thought that we had the advantage to take the outright title. Right now, for the first time all season, I feel like we’ve finally put DeForest in the past.”

Miller’s pin came after perhaps the most exciting match of the night at 112, where Reedsburg’s Macklyn Bautch won a back-and-forth tilt over Dylan Wilson-Shaker.

Bautch fell behind 4-1 early, but rallied to take a 5-4 lead after the first period. Neither scored in the second, and they traded the lead twice in the third before Bautch won 10-8.

“(Wilson-Shaker) fought like crazy,” Smith said.

The meet was tied at 25 entering that match after Sauk Prairie’s Courtney Mefford earned a 14-1, major decision over Taylor Roessler at 103,  and Bautch’s win gave Reedsburg a 28-25 lead.

The tone of the meet could have been different entering the match at 112, though. Mefford just missed earning 2 more points, pinning Roessler just after the match finished.

Ben Wiersma also had a chance to pin at 160, but when the match was called in the second period because Ryan Kohler sustained an injury, Wiersma wasn’t afforded the chance to do so and earned 5 points with a 17-1, technical fall.

Meanwhile, Reedsburg won five of its eight matches by pin and another by major decision.

“They got a few more bonus points than us,” Smith said when asked what the difference in the meet was.

The Beavers earned wins at 135 and 140 to open the meet with a 7-0 lead, but pins by Thomas Seiler (145) and James Wixom (171) highlighted an Eagles’ surge that gave them a 21-7 lead.

But Reedsburg answered with pins by Shane Rockweiler (189), Keith Craker (215) and Seth Brandt (Hwt.) to take a 25-21 lead.

Bauer said he would have liked to see Rockweiler — ranked sixth at 171 in WIAA Division 1 by Wisconsin Wrestling Online — wrestle Wixom, who’s ranked fifth. But Bauer felt his team had more of an advantage with Rockweiler at 189.

“I told (Rockweiler and Craker), if we’re going to give up that match (at 171), I needed both ... to get pins for us,” Bauer said. “They gave it what they had to to make it happen.”

103 pounds — Courtney Mefford, Sauk Prairie, won by major decision over Taylor Roessler, 14-1. 112 — Bautch, Reedsburg, def. Dylan Wilson-Shaker, 10-8. 119 — Mike Miller, Sauk Prairie, pinned Gates, 3:44. 125 — Fogo, Reedsburg, pinned Dallas Breunig, 1:12. 130 — B. Koch, Reedsburg, pinned Zach Borcherding, 1:25. *135 — T. Koch, Reedsburg, def. Jared Schaaf, 8-2. 140 — Jasper, Reedsburg, won by major decision over Dylan Slotty, 15-5. 145 — Thomas Seiler, Sauk Prairie, pinned Lemoine, 2:43. 152 — Garrett McNeely, Sauk Prairie, won by major decision over Sieber, 10-2. 160 — Ben Wiersma, Sauk Prairie, won by technical fall over Kohler, 17-1. 171 — James Wixom, Sauk Prairie, pinned Keele, 1:59. 189 — Rockweiler, Reedsburg, pinned Caleb Sisbach, 4:37. 215 — Craker, Reedsburg, pinned Michael Gamboa-Katers, 5:07. Hwt. — Brandt, Reedsburg, pinned Dante Lewis, :46.

* indicates starting weight.

Double up Warriors

Like a football team that is trying to win the turnover battle, the Reedsburg wrestling team was looking to win the pin battle against Portage. The Beavers were able to do just that, as they out-pinned Portage 5-2 en route to a 47-23 victory over the Warriors Thursday night at Portage High School.

“We started playing a pin-ratio game. I want a plus-three (pin ratio) in every dual,” said Reedsburg head coach Matt Bauer after Thursday’s match. “If they can end with a plus-three, they get an award. We had that as a goal tonight and we accomplished that.”

Reedsburg took control of the match with three straight pins from Shane Rockweiler, Keith Craker and Colton Brott. Seth Brandt received a forfeit at heavyweight to complete a 24-point swing for Reedsburg which gave the visitors a 37-7 lead.

Portage had closed the gap to just six points with 5-1 victory by Peter Braun at 152 pounds and then a 11-2 major decision victory by Randy Wade at 160. That would be as close as the Warriors would get, as Reedsburg took six of the final nine matches to close out the victory.

“Reedsburg’s a really good team. They have six or seven outstanding individuals, and we were in a lot of close matches,” said Portage head coach Don Nichols. Bauer said his team will be looking to win a conference title when it hosts the Badger Conference meet next weekend.

“We want the whole thing. Shares are fine and if we have to settle for a share, you know what, if we can settle for a share, that would be fine, but our goal coming in was to control our own destiny in the conference invite, and we’ve accomplished that,” Bauer said.

REEDSBURG 47, PORTAGE 23

135 — T. Koch (R) def. R. Anderson 13-5; 140 — Jasper (R) pinned Huston, 1:15. 145 — LeMoine (R) def. Miller, 7-6. 152 — Braun (P) def. Sieber, 5-1. 160 — Wade (P) def. Keele, 11-2. 171 — Rockweiler (R) pinned Lindner, 3:54. 189 — Craker (R) pinned Brener, 2:48. 215 — Brott (R) pinned Cummings, 2:49. 285 — Brandt (R) received a forfeit. 103 — Vesely (P) def. Roessler, 12-2. 112 — Bautch (R) pinned Perez, 1:18. 119 — Peterson (P) pinned Gates, 2:57. 125 — Fogo (R) def. Mitchell, 10-0. 130 — B. Anderson (P) pined Green, 1:34.