Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School freshman Jacob Giese, top, tries to get control over Wittenberg-Birnamwood junior Stetson Potrykus at 138 pounds. Giese lost, 6-2.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School sophomore Jacob Banker, bottom, looks to escape from Griffin Magee in Thursday’s home dual against Wittenberg-Birnamwood. Banker won his match 10-4, but the Bears lost, 51-18.
Coming into Thursday’s dual, the Bonduel High School wrestling team knew a successful program stood in its way.
Even with the Bears fighting hard in all of their matches, Wittenberg-Birnamwood dominated the meet for a 51-18 victory.
“They’re the team to beat in the conference. We’ve had our run to try to compete against them the past couple of years,” Bonduel head coach Chris Rank said. “Unfortunately, this year is not the case.”
The visitors earned five pins, including four in the first period.
“I just want (them) to keep battling, no matter who your opponent is,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood head coach Troy Ostrowski said. “Whether you are winning or losing, you need to battle for six minutes and get used to doing that because tournament time is coming up.”
Bonduel managed three wins among the nine matches wrestled. The Bears gave up three forfeits and received one; there was one double forfeit.
At 160 pounds, sophomore Jacob Banker (26-8) controlled Chargers senior Griffin Magee for a 10-4 decision. Sophomore Jordan Boldt (30-4) secured a pin in 3:52 at 120 pounds, and senior Garrett Siolka (19-1) defeated Gavin Czerwonka, 5-1, at 132.
Siolka allowed an escape in the second period, earned a takedown and was given an escape to start the third period. A last-second takedown gave him the 5-1 win.
One of the closer matches was at 220 pounds. Bonduel’s Colin Wussow battled with Mitch Amundson, almost escaping on multiple occasions, but Amundson turned a third-period reversal into a pin and a win.
The Bears’ younger wrestlers — Chris Salerno, Jacob Giese (13-4), Nathan Kelly and Alex Schill — struggled against the Chargers.
Giese lost 6-2 to Stetson Potrykus, one of the Chargers’ top wrestlers, but competed well after being a bit intimidated early on, according to Rank.
“Once (Giese) figured out he could wrestle with (Potrykus), it was a very close-fought battle for the second and third period. I think that is going to help him in the long run,” Rank said. “He figured he can go to battle against these good wrestlers.”
Rank hopes to build the younger wrestlers’ confidence over the final week of the regular season, with the Central Wisconsin Conference meet looming Feb. 6.
“You’ve got to go out and be confident,” Rank said. “That’s just sort of the avenue we’ve taken all year long. …
“Our younger guys are just not at the level they need to be at yet, but what I’m very happy about with those young guys is that they keep coming to practice every night, working hard and they’ve got a good attitude. I’m very proud of those young guys, too.”
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 51, Bonduel 18
152: Dylan Sprague, W-B, pinned Alex Schill, B, 1:02.
160: Jacob Banker, B, dec. Griffin Magee, W-B, 10-4.
170: Alex Peplinski, W-B, won by forfeit.
182: Kyle Premeau, W-B, pinned Scott Gunderson, B, 0:45.
195: August Peplinski, W-B, won by forfeit.
220: Mitch Amundson, W-B, pinned Colin Wussow, B, 5:10.
285: Bennett Gunderson, B, won by forfeit.
106: Garrett Kersten, W-B, won by forfeit.
113: double forfeit.
120: Jordan Boldt, B, pinned Jeremy Landowski, W-B, 3:52.
126: Devin Paszek, W-B, pinned Chris Salerno, B, 1:25.
132: Garrett Siolka, B, dec. Gavin Czerwonka, W-B, 5-1.
138: Stetson Potrykus, W-B, dec. Jacob Giese, B, 6-2.
145: Zach Urquhart, W-B, pinned Nathan Kelly, B, 0:36.