Muskego taken down by top-ranked Kaukauna
No Milwaukee-area team reaches wrestling finals
MADISON - The Milwaukee area did not send a team to the WIAA Division 1 team state wrestling title bout in Friday's quarterfinal and semifinal matches, but several individual and team performances stood out.
Kaukauna and Marshfield will compete for the WIAA D1 state title, with the former knocking out Waukesha West (67-6) and Muskego (72-4) in convincing fashion to clinch their chance at a third-straight title. Mukwonago fell to Marshfield by a 47-14 score in the quarterfinals, and Germantown also exited in a narrow 36-33 loss to Muskego in the quarters as well.
Here are highlights from each team's performance:
Reaching semifinals a 'step forward' for Muskego
After finishing fourth in the Classic 8 Conference tournament it hosted just prior to the start of the postseason, Muskego coach Sean Fortmann was encouraged by how far his team had come at the right time.
"To be able to put things together, get healthy and put things together at the right time...kids kind of bought in to what we were doing, it's nice to be able to prove that we're a pretty good team," Fortmann said.
The Warriors fell behind 18-5 early against Germantown, with pins by Jacob Momper (170) and Ethan Riddle (182) giving the Warhawks the advantage. Muskego went on to take six of the next nine classes however, capped by a JT Brandstatter (132) pin to clinch an eventual 36-33 win. Fortmann said the Warriors may not have won all the classes they expected to, but much as the season had gone to that point, Muskego got contributions from across the lineup.
"It's always been a different guy every dual meet for us this year, so we had some guys step up that haven't played here a whole lot, but they did it for us tonight," Fortmann said.
The Warriors got four total pins in the quarterfinal win, which also included Adam Dzievit (220), Tim Madia (113) and Cael Zelinski (120). Ryker Morgan (160) won 24-9, Zach Current (195) won 13-1, and Nathan Schanen (126) was victorious in a 15-4 final to round out contributors to Muskego's advancing effort. Brandstatter also scored the only points for Muskego in their semifinal loss, winning 13-5 over Mason Hansen of Kaukauna.
Muskego reached the WIAA team state semifinal for only the second time in program history with the win, with their 1994 title being the other. Fortmann said he hoped it was a sign of things to come.
"Our kids gave it their all, they really gave it their all, so I'm really proud of them," Fortmann said. "It's a step forward. Not the way to finish, but it's a step forward for our program."
Fortmann also highlighted the impact of graduating seniors Dzievit and Matt Kinzel, who he said were pivotal in the team reaching state the past two seasons.
"The mark that they've left on our program is something that I can never repay them for that," Fortmann said. "I don't think they fully know, and I hope at some point they do understand how much of a mark they've left for us."
'This is the standard now': Germantown competes for first time at state
Germantown head coach Mike Krause said he knew his team entered their first-ever state appearance not at full strength. The disqualification of Talan Schutte (152) at individual state wrestling the week prior also made him ineligible for team state, causing some shuffling in the lineup for the third-year coach. Nevertheless, the Warhawks got out to a 6-0 start thanks to a Eli Rabideau (145) 9-7 sudden victory and a Ryan Michalski (152) 6-4 win.
"Our backup 152 pound beat a state qualifier," Krause said. "We just had to get creative, just didn't get creative enough."
Krause said he had been hoping for five pins on the night to lead them to victory. Momper, Riddle and Owen Becker (106) gave them three as they led 28-15 after the first nine classes. Pin losses at 113 and 120 saw that lead dwindle to one before giving way in a major decision loss at 126 that preceded the lossclinching pin at 132 pounds. A Riese Thornberry (138) 19-4 win came too little, too late in the 36-33 loss, which was bookended by an unsportsmanlike infraction by Muskego to drop them down from 37 points.
Krause was nevertheless excited with the growth and future potential shown by his team's first state appearance in his third season at the helm. He said he did not believe the moment was too big for any of his wrestlers, and that he hopes to see them continue to raise the bar in the future.
"They've laid the groundwork for future teams," Krause said. "This is now the standard they've set for Germantown."
Mukwonago, Waukesha West defeated in quarterfinals
Waukesha West and Mukwonago's appearances at state were short-lived in the face of some stiff competition in their quarterfinal matchups. Waukesha West had toughest draw as the No. 8 seed, which pit them against twicereigning champion Kaukauna. The Galloping Ghosts lived up to their billing as the favorite, pinning seven Waukesha West wrestlers and winning two other weight classes by tech fall in a 67-6 victory. Trevor Moss (120) took the lone victory for the Wolverines on the night, pinning Moses Hammen in 3:08.
The appearance was nevertheless historic for a Waukesha West team with only one other state appearance in program history, which occurred in 1997.
Mukwonago, making their 11th program appearance and fourth in five years, also made an early exit as the No. 6 seed. No. 3 seed Marshfield defeated Mukwonago 47-14 on the strength of five pins, four of which occurred in the first six classes. Ryan Mazer (220) defeated James Clements 6-0, Josephine Stachowski (113) beat Ava Gardner 5-0, Brian Whipple (120) won by major decision over Jace Kelnhofer 17-6 and Adam Whittier (132) also won by major decision over Keenen Landwehr 15-1 to round out the scorers for Mukwonago.