A/C wrestlers battle at St. Croix Falls, Wausau tourneys

The Abbotsford/Colby girls wrestling team traveled to St. Croix Falls last Friday while the boys made a trip to Wausau East on Saturday for their respective weekend tournaments. The two squads had a pair of top-five finishes between them as Makenna Herrmann and Jacob Hoppe both notched fourth-place performances.

Herrmann went 2-2 on the day and collected 14.0 team points for the girls’ co-op squad. Representing Abby/Colby in the 126-pound bracket, Herrmann’s day began with a bout with Brooklyn D`Jock of Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren. The coop senior earned a first round takedown of D’Jock before eventually pinning her opponent at the 1:04 mark to move on to the quarterfinals.

There she faced off against Merrill’s Kendell Klug. In a match that would go all three rounds, Herrmann once again took initiative with a first round takedown. Klug managed to get on the board with a late escape, but another takedown in the second period put Herrmann up 6-2. Her opponent kept things close with a reversal and after two warnings for stalling in the third, Klug was awarded a penalty point to draw within two. Herrmann closed the door with her third takedown of the match and a four-point nearfall gave her a 13-4 major decision victory and a spot in the semifinals.

Going up against St. Croix Falls’ Lauryn Vee, Herrmann was forced out of the contest by injury at the end of the first round. She then forfeited her third place match due to injury.

Hoppe had a similar day for the co-op on Saturday. Wrestling in the 175-pound category, his first round opponent was Appleton East’s Aiden Pack. Hoppe dominated the affair, grabbing a trio of first round takedowns and a four-point nearfall before another takedown and a three-point nearfall in the second earned him a 19-2 technical fall victory.

He then took on Sawyer Doering of La Crosse Logan/Central in the quarterfinals. After a minute and a half of neutral play, Hoppe took the lead in the match with the first takedown. A four-point nearfall with just seconds left in the round gave him a 7-0 lead heading into the second and a reversal extended his lead. Hoppe then used the positioning allotted to him by the reversal to work a pin of his opponent in the second period, winning by fall at the 2:59 mark.

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set bid.

The Falcons made 52.4 percent of their field goal attempts, including going an impressive 16-for-23 from two-point range. While more offensive rebounds and fewer turnovers gave Loyal an advantage in offensive opportunities, they could not capitalize upon those, shooting 37.5 percent from the field and making just four of their 19 shots from beyond the three-point line.

Midway through the first period, a three from Totzke and a layup courtesy of Jack Sheahan gave the Falcons a 14-12 advantage. However, Loyal scored seven straight points to start an 18-8 run to give them a lead that they would hold for much of the evening.

Decker shot 7-for-10 from the field and made four of his six free throw attempts to collect his team-high 20 points in the win. Totzke added 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and six assists, leading the Falcons in the latter two categories. Aguilera had 10 points, five assists and two steals, Brodhagen picked up eight points and six rebounds and Fuentes finished with four points and three assists. Bautista had three points and three assists and Sheahan rounded out the scorers with two points.

Edgar, 77-51

Abbotsford traveled to Edgar last Thursday evening for a Marawood conference matchup with the Wildcats. The hosting Edgar squad used strong post play and an effective offensive second half to cruise past the Falcons 77-51.

The Wildcats took control of the boards on Thursday, outrebounding Abbotsford 47-24 and scoring 50 of their 77 points in the paint. Meanwhile, the Falcons collected just 22 points at that same range. Edgar proved to be more efficient shooting the basketball as well, connecting on 50.8 percent of their shots compared to Abbotsford’s 33.9 percent.

AJ Brodhagen put the Falcons ahead 7-5 with a play in the paint in the opening minutes of the contest, but things quickly shifted in favor of the home team. Abbotsford was held scoreless for the next six minutes, allowing Edgar to score the 10 unanswered points. Brodhagen broke the scoring drought on a similar move to his last basket, but the Falcons still found themselves in a multi-possession deficit Abbotsford battled back a few minutes later, going on their own 9-3 run and getting baskets from Brodhagen, Koren Decker, and Jack Sheahan to pull back within two points.

They could not quite close the gap, however, and a 17-2 stretch for the Wildcats across the end of the first half and the beginning of the second period put the Falcons in a position that they would not be able to recover from. Grayson Totzke finally got the visitors on the board in the second period, but they still found themselves in a 39-24 hole after Edgar scored on their first four possessions of the half.

The two teams traded baskets back and forth after Totzke’s make, but Abbotsford was unable to make much headway cutting into Edgar’s now double-digit lead. A three from Christian Fuentes at the midway point in the half brought them within 14 points, but that was all the closer the Falcons could get. The Wildcats went on to score the next 11 points of the game and outscored Abbotsford 24-12 over the final nine minutes of the contest.

Irvin Aguilera had the most points for the Falcons on Thursday, putting up 13 while gathering four rebounds and two assists. Decker added 10 points and two assists, Sheahan had nine points while shooting 4-for-6 from the field, and Brodhagen had eight points, four rebounds and two assists.

Fuentes had five points and Totzke, Chase Boller and Carter Cihlar all had two points each. Totzke also led the team in rebounds with six.

The Falcons will continue their campaign after a small break, traveling to Rib Lake to take on their Marawood-North conference rivals next Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Redmen got the better of Abbotsford last time the two squads faced off, defeating them 70-62. The game will start at 7:15 p.m.

SCORING SURGE - Jack Sheahan scores two of his 10 points during Abbotsford’s season-high 92 point performance.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD