Abby-Colby wrestling competes in Merrill
The Abby-Colby wrestling team traveled to Merrill this past Saturday for the 2023 Bluejay Challenge. The co-op took 12th out of 25 teams at the event, scoring 191.0 points. Wittenberg-Birnamwood took first overall with a final score of 413.0, narrowly defeating second place Wausau West, which finished with 411.0 points.
Tristan Smazal had Abby-Colby’s top finish at the tournament, taking third in the 120-pound weightclass. The freshman navigated through the opening rounds with three consecutive victories, pinning Noah Evenson of Boyceville, Grant Braskamp of Waupun and Cade Koch of Edgar to move into the championship bracket. In the first round of the championship bracket, he faced off against Sawyer Ostrum from Nekoosa/Assumption. Smazal took an early lead in the match, getting a takedown in the first period. A close second round saw Smazal hold on to his lead, though Ostrum pulled within a point. He used this to his advantage after choosing to start on the bottom for the third period, which, after a reversal, gave him a 6-5 advantage, which would be enough to push Ostrum to the championship match.
After taking the tough decision loss, Smazal had to take on Crandon’s Brexden Kane in the third place match. This too went to a decision, but this time Smazal found himself on the right half of the final score. An escape from an early takedown in the first round of the match kept Smazal within one, and a nearfall and a reversal in the second and third periods gave the freshman the 5-2 decision. His third place performance earned his team 36.0 points.
Brayden Meyer took fifth in the 152-pound bracket. A win by fall over Adam Foss of Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/ Prairie Farm pushed Meyer into the quarterfinals, where he faced off against Jacob Smith of Marathon. Smith pinned Meyer at the 5:25 mark, forcing him into the consolation bracket. Meyer bounced back with two consecutive victories, pinning Timothy Gospodarek of Wausau West and then taking a dominant 10-3 decision over Caleb Pinkalla of Amherst in the fifth place match. After all was said and done, Meyer went 3-1 on the day and earned 32.0 points.
Jacob Hoppe and Levi Dommer both took sixth place Saturday.
Hoppe went 2-2 in the 160-pound weight class on the day, getting a victory by fall over Edgar’s Preston Erickson in his only opening round match to push him to the quarterfinals. He was bounced there by Cole Shepherd of Crandon, pitting him against Marathon’s Reed McCain in the consolation bracket. Hoppe pinned McCain to move on to the fifth place match, but could not secure a victory there, falling to Henry Galang of Wausau West in the decider.
Dommer, wrestling in the 220-pound weight class went 3-2, pinning all three of his opponents in his wins. Dommer won two of his opening round matches, taking down Garret Glewen of Waupun and Caleb Vandenlangenberg of Antigo but losing to Zach Hellendrung of Boyceville. The 2-1 record in the first three rounds put Dommer in the consolation bracket, where he won his first match against Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Dominic Weso, pinning him at the 2:00 mark. Dommer then faced Jacob Berends from Saint Croix Central in the fifth place match, but a loss there earned him sixth place.
Other varsity finishes included Christian Fuentes taking eighth place, Erik Martinez taking 10th, Luis Nava Rojas taking 13th, Eddy Monroy taking 14th and Alex Sundermeyer taking 14th.
The co-op wrestlers will host Marathon, Osseo-Fairchild, and Bloomer-Colfax this Thursday, Jan. 12. The event is set to start at 4:30 p.m.
