For an opening match, outside of the outcome, Beaver Dam wrestling coach Jeff Slayton was fairly pleased.

Despite a 43-27 Little Ten loss, Slayton found plenty to be encouraged by regarding his team's effort.

"I'm not disappointed at all with the effort they showed out there tonight," Slayton said. "Slinger's a very good team and will probably challenge Hartford and Wisconsin Lutheran for the conference title once they get into wrestling shape."

BD (0-1 LTC) had six seniors in its lineup — only three of whom had a large amount of varsity experience. The Golden Beavers will be led by the trio of Jesus Nunez (130 pounds), Austin Kuzniewicz (152) and Raul De La Garza (285).

All three posted wins in their opening match. Nunez opened the night with a pinfall over Collin Cooper in four minutes, 40 seconds. Kuzniewicz followed with a 14-8 decision over Peter Stoleberg.

De La Garza pinned Luke Beistle in 4:41 while giving up nearly 60 pounds.

"We have a group of seniors who are very committed to the program," Slayton said. "They take criticism very well and are great leaders."

BD picked up a pair of unexpected wins in back-to-back matches. At 140, junior Cody Heinze, battling illness the past two days, pinned Owen Ciriacks in 1:21.

"I wasn't sure if he was even going to wrestle," said Slayton of Heinze. "When he did, I was hoping he wasn't going to get pinned.

"Instead, he comes out and gets the pin. That was a nice win for him."

At 145 pounds, freshman Blake Slayton gutted out a 4-3 decision over senior Brad Scherwinski.

"Blake gets into his first varsity match and comes up with a big win against a senior," coach Slayton said. "He's got a lot of experience wrestling. He's not going to win every match but this will help him become a better wrestler."

BD's other win came from Eric Wellnitz (125), who earned a 14-10 decision over Josh Kovocivich.

Coach Slayton hopes his team will show improvement throughout the season and can turn some of the team's pinfalls into decisions or even wins. Slinger had six pinfalls in a run of seven matches with De La Garza's pinfall the only BD counter.

"Their experience showed tonight," said coach Slayton of Slinger's senior-laden team.

BD heads to Campbellsport for an invitational Saturday and has West Bend West in a LTC dual next Thursday.

"Tonight, I saw a better match that I thought we would have," coach Slayton said. "That's encouraging for the team.

"I like the chemistry we have and we have a lot of guys who are hard workers. That's something we can build on."

SLINGER 43, BEAVER DAM 27

103 pounds - Luengen (S) pinned Hoang, 1:08. 112 - Roell (S) pinned Thairuammit, 3:55. 119 - Schough (S) pinned Buhalog, 1:45. Wellnitz (BD) def. Kovocivich, 14-10. 130* - Nunez (BD) pinned Cooper, 4:40. 135 - Kramoris (S) def. Baker, 12-3. 140 - Heinze (BD) pinned Ciriacks, 1:21. 145 - Slayton (BD) def. Scherwinski, 4-3. 152 - Kuzniewicz (BD) def. Stoleberg, 14-8. 160 - Sacotte (S) def. Piette, 5-1. 171 - Schwai (S) pinned Bentz, 1:00. 189 - Graziano (S) pinned Drumm, 1:39. 215 - Kanas (S) pinned Coleman, 3:09. 285 - De La Garza (BD) pinned Beistle, 4:41.