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Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School freshman Jacob Giese wrestles Menominee Indian senior Patrick White during Bonduel’s 42-36 win Thursday. Giese pinned White.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Menominee Indian High School freshman Alfred Hernandez tries to escape from Bonduel’s Chris Salerno in the final match of Thursday night’s dual, won by Bonduel, 42-36.
When Bonduel High School freshman Jacob Giese stepped onto the mat Tuesday night, the Bears were holding onto a 6-0 advantage, but the weight class represented more than that.
Giese, in his first competitive high school wrestling meet, had fallen behind Menominee Indian senior Patrick White 8-0 by the start of the third period.
The freshman gained his composure, however, gained a reversal and takedown, and then pinned White to jumpstart the Bears to a 42-36 victory.
“That was huge,” Bonduel head coach Chris Rank said. “That determined the outcome of the match with how everything came to play. So very happy for our freshmen to come in here and do that.
“I know Jacob is a very good wrestler, but when you fall on a deficit in your very first match of your high school career and have that type of attitude, that you’re still going to come out on top, that was pretty exciting.”
Eagles head coach Kirk Bahr had predicted each of the matches on the night, expecting at least a decision out of his senior at 138, which turned out to be the decisive match.
“He’s got to learn from it. I know he’s probably pretty upset with himself right now, but he’s going to have to bounce back because it’s a long season,” Bahr said.
Menominee Indian has never defeated Bonduel in wrestling.
“That was our shot to beat Bonduel, and we blew it,” Bahr said.
Menominee Indian won a forfeit at 145 before sophomore Elliot Miller pinned Bonduel freshman Nathan Kelly to even the score.
Beginning with Eli Mastey at the 160-pound weight class, the Bears showed their strength, winning by pins in four of the next six matches and earning a forfeit in another to seal a victory with the score 42-18.
“We knew if we could win at 220 and get some pins at 220 and heavyweight, that we had this match won and in control,” Rank said. “That was our goal, because with our two guys that had never wrestled before, with Ian (Prey) at 120 and Chris (Salerno) at 126, I thought they did a nice job, but there was a lot of uncertainties there.”
Menominee Indian took advantage of just that, taking the next three bouts: a forfeit at 113, and pins at 120 and 126 by freshmen Alfred Hernandez and Morgun Fish to tighten the final score.
Bahr saw one main area in the season opener where his team will have to improve if it wants to surprise people this season.
“If we had a couple of decisions tonight instead of getting pinned, things could have been different, too,” Bahr said. “We’ve just got to go six minutes and get back to the basics and work on it.”
The match was a little closer than Rank had expected, but with three-time state qualifier Garrett Siolka sitting out, the coach was proud of the effort from his team.
“They had a lot of fight in them. I’m very proud of that,” Rank said. “You’ve got to give everything; everything at all times. You can never relax. They did a nice job. I’m proud of them.”
Bonduel 42, Menominee Indian 36
106: double forfeit; 113: Vel Hakwins, MI, won by forfeit; 120: Hernandez, MI, pinned Prey, B, 2:21; 126: Fish, MI, pinned Salerno, B, 2:45; 132: Jordan Boldt, B, pinned Austin Bubolz, MI, 4:47; 138: Giese, B, pinned White, MI, 5:00; 145: Antonio Mahkimetas, MI, won by forfeit; 152: Miller, MI, pinned Kelly, B, 1:10; 160: Eli Mastey, B, pinned Omaha Warrington, 1:22; 170: Jacob Banker, B, pinned Tony Moses, MI, 1:50; 182: S. Gunderson, B, won by forfeit; 195: Kyle Komanekin, MI, pinned Adrien Keiler, B, 2:23; 220: Colin Wussow, B, pinned Alonzo Haack, MI, 2:57; 285: B. Gunderson, B, pinned Alenex Warrington, MI, 3:03.