Four top-three finishes leads A/C in Merrill tournament
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford/Colby wrestling team competed in two events over the past week, hosting Cadott and the Spencer/Columbus Catholic/Granton co-op for a conference triangular on Thursday before traveling to Merrill for the Bluejay Challenge on Saturday.
Bluejay Challenge
Four A/C wrestlers finished in the top three of their respective brackets at the tournament held in Merrill over the past weekend. The boys’ team as a whole finished in 14th out of 23 teams, ending the day with 152.0 points while the girls team also placed 14th out of 23 squads, collecting 37.0 points.
Makenna Herrmann picked up her first tournament title on Saturday, battling her way through the 126-pound bracket to grab the co-op’s sole first place finish in Merrill.
In a round robin tournament, Herrmann had to face off against three opponents before a final placement bout. Her first opponent of the day was Athens’ Taylor Hein, who the A/C senior defeated quickly. While Hein was able to escape from Herrmann’s initial takedown in the first period, Herrmann earned another takedown shortly after and pinned her opponent in under a minute.
Her next match against Jadlyn Moravec of Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards proceeded similarly, though Herrmann only needed one takedown to work a first round victory by fall. Her final round robin bout against Rhinelander’s Mya Swanson was her most competitive, going into the third round. Still, Herrmann looked in control for most of the match, earning a takedown and a threepoint nearfall in the first before picking up a reversal to start the second. Swanson picked up a reversal of her own later in the second round, but when the match shifted into the third, Herrmann used her top starting position to earn her third straight victory by fall, pinning her opponent at the 4:46 mark.
Herrmann’s trio of victories in the round robin portion of the bracket earned her a spot in the championship match where she faced off against Merrill’s Kendell Klug. A takedown midway through the first period earned Herrmann a 3-0 lead and she added to it with a late takedown in the second period. She then scored a reversal in the third to take a commanding 8-0 advantage and while Klug managed an escape, Herrmann delivered the dagger with a takedown and a four-point nearfall in the final seconds. The 15-2 major decision gave Herrmann the 126-pound title and 34.0 team points.
Meanwhile, Matt Jakel and Tristen Smazal led the boys team by earning a pair of second place finishes. Jakel worked his way through the 138-pound weight class while Smazal battled in the 126-pound category.
Jakel started his day with a first round bye and then faced off against Antigo’s Owen Medo. While Medo managed to hang on for two rounds, Jakel was in control for the entire match, scoring seven points in the first period before an escape, takedown and four-point nearfall in the second gave him a 15-0 technical fall victory.
He then faced off against St. Croix Central’s Jake Swenson in the quarterfinals and quickly dispatched his opponent, using a first round takedown to pin Swenson and move on to the semifinals. Wittenberg-Birnam-
See BLUEJAY CHALLENGE/ Page 16
EYEING UP THE COMPETITION - Makenna Herrmann measures up her opponent during the co-op’s home triangluar last Thursday. She took first place at the Merrill tournament on Saturday. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Bluejay Challenge
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wood’s Easton Davis awaited him there and while a takedown gave Davis an early advantage, Jakel dominated the rest of the match. The A/C junior worked an escape and then picked up a takedown and both a four-point nearfall and a three-point nearfall in the final minute of the first period. He then grabbed two more takedowns in the third and won with a 17-4 major decision.
The victory earned Jakel a spot in the championship match, where he went up against Wausau West’s Christopher Galang. A dominant first period for Galang swung the match in the Warrior’s favor as he outscored Jakel 14-2 over the opening two minutes. Two escapes in the second period nearly countered Galang’s takedown in the second round, but a scoreless third period gave Galang a 17-4 major decision. Jakel’s runnerup performance earned the co-op 40.5 points.
Smazal had a pair of preliminary bouts to open his day. He started with an 18-2 technical fall victory over Antigo’s Jonathan Wissbroecker, racking up all 18 points in the first and only period of the bout. He then faced off against Crandon’s Reid Votis, and while the match went the distance, Smazal was in control throughout. A takedown in the first put him ahead and a reversal in the second and a takedown in the third solidified his lead. In the end Votis was unable to notch a point and the A/C junior earned his spot in the championship bracket with an 8-0 major decision.
In the semifinals, Smazal had to go up against Wausau West’s Henry Ruffi. After taking a 7-0 lead heading into the third period, Smazal quickly racked up 10 points in the first minute of the third period, picking up a reversal, a four-point near fall, a penalty and a takedown in that span to deliver a 17-1 technical fall and move on to the first place match.
In a hard fought battle, Crandon’s Mason Dewing edged out Smazal for the title. Dewing was the first to get on the board, and while Smazal was able to earn an escape from that initial takedown, he would not be able to fully recover. Two escapes in the second period kept him in contention and while he notched a takedown in the third to bring the score to 7-6, he could not overtake Dewing and fell in a 10-6 decision. Smazal’s second place finish earned Abbotsford/Colby 40.0 team points.
Jacob Hoppe also had a strong day for the co-op in the 190-pound bracket. He defeated Kody Steivang of Chippewa Falls by pinning him in his first match of the day and then followed the win up with a 9-2 victory over Merrill’s Carson Brooks, using a late takedown and a two-point nearfall in the third to crush any potential rally from Brooks.
The pair of wins earned him a spot in the semifinals, where he faced off against the eventual 190-pound champion, Pulaski’s Andy Servais. Servais grabbed a 7-0 lead over the first three minutes of the match, and while Hoppe earned himself a trio of escapes over the latter half of the match, he couldn’t match the early offense from his opponent and fell in a 10-3 decision.
This moved Hoppe into the third place match, where he faced off against Edgar’s Lucas Stahnke. The A/C senior held complete control over the bout, picking up a takedown and both a three point and a four point nearfall in the first period before adding a reversal, a two point nearfall and takedown in the second period to end the match there with a 17-2 technical fall win. The third place finish for Hoppe earned the co-op 35.5 points.
Alix Colby grabbed sixth place and 26.0 points by going 2-2 in the 132-pound category. A victory by fall in the second period over Antigo’s Jack Sundermeyer started Colby’s day off with a win, but a loss to Sawyer Ostrum of Nekoosa/Assumption/ Port Edwards relegated him to the consolation bracket.
There Colby defeated Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Bo Davis in a high scoring match. Davis started the match off with a takedown, but Colby escaped and outscored his opponent 7-2 over the rest of the period to take a 7-5 lead into the second period. The two wrestlers both scored five points in the second, giving Colby a narrow two-point advantage heading into the third, but an early takedown and a four-point nearfall shortly after gave him a significant lead and he was able to hold on for a 19-12 decision over Davis. He couldn’t get the same traction against Wausau West’s Caleb Feil in the fifth place match and was pinned in the first round.
Kori Geiger wrestled for the girls varsity squad and took eighth in the 235-pound bracket, while Izaac Sundermeyer place 14th in the 175-pound bracket, Carlos Martinez earned 16th in the 150-pound category and Eyan Cortista placed 16th in the 144-pound bracket.
Home Triangular
The co-op also hosted a pair of tough conference opponents for a triangular on Thursday, facing off against the Cadott Hornets and the Spencer/Columbus Catholic/Granton co-op.
In their first head-to-head matchup with Cadott, Jakel got Abby/Colby started with a win by fall over Monte Lodahl, but things very quickly turned in the Hornets’ favor.
Five straight victories for Cadott suddenly gave them a 28-6 advantage and while Hoppe earned the co-op another win by pinning Brock Webster, five consecutive forfeits for Abby/Colby sealed their fate. Tristen Smazal notched a win over Steven Williams in the second-to-last match, but Cadott ultimately came out on top with a 63-18 team win.
Forfeits also played their part in the contest against Spencer/Columbus/Granton. The two squad traded forfeits in the 150 and 157 pound weight classes, with Christian Satey earning a forfeit win for Abbotsford/Colby, but three straight victories for the opposing co-op gave them a significant lead heading into the midway point.
Hoppe grabbed his second win of the day with a 16-0 technical fall win over Wyatt Karl, but three consecutive forfeits that went in the favor of Spencer/Columbus/Granton ensured their win. Jakel earned another technical fall win for Abby/Colby by defeating Drew Lang 19-2, but the hosting squad still fell 52-16.
FORCING A TAKEDOWN - Matt Jakel was in full control of his match with Cadott’s Monte Lodahl on Thursday, where he managed to pin his opponent in the second period.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
