Wrestlers take four of top-five positions
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
A little Northern excursion last weekend ended in solid style for the East Troy High School wrestling squad.
The Trojans recorded four top-five finishes and placed eighth overall at the 24-team Bay Port Invitational.
Freedom won the team title with 512 points, followed by Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln with 475, Luxemburg-Casco with 411.5, Two Rivers with 400.5 and Bay Port with 385.5.
East Troy finished with 341 points,
Andy Strey won the title at 145 pounds to lead the East Troy effort.
Strey needed just two minutes on the mat to post a pair of pinfall victories in the opening two rounds. He pinned Amery’s Turner Luke in 58 seconds, followed by a pinfall win in 1:04 over Muskego’s Blake Grube.
In the quarterfinal, he edged Oconto Falls’ Nate Trepanier 5-4, followed by a pinfall victory in 3:14 over Ashwaubenon’s Zac Benton.
That win sent Strey to the finals, where he pinned Wrightstown’s Josh Verbeten in 3:28 to bring home the title.
The Trojans also had a second-, third- and fifth-place effort Saturday.
Finishing second was Jeremy Dedick (160), while Cody Vogel (120) was third and Kyle Storandt (285) was fifth.
Dedick, who was 4-1 for the day, advanced to the championship round with an 8-4 win over Bay Port’s Jack Rathburn. In the finals, he fell to Freedom’s Seth Vosters 1-0.
Vogel won his first two matches before he fell in the semifinals 3-0 to Two Rivers’ Paul Bianchi. He bounced back in the third-place matchup to defeat Menomonee Falls’ Aaron Daly 5-3.
The Trojans’ final top-five finisher, Storandt, split his first two matches, but won his last two. In the second round of the consolation bracket, he pinned Muskego’s Jorin McGuire in 54 seconds, followed by a pin in 58 seconds over West De Pere’s Nick Metoxen to claim fifth.
Other East Troy finishes were recorded by Gabe Braam (132), seventh overall at 3-2; Sam Foley (152), seventh at 2-2; Travis Cadman (182), ninth at 1-3; Chris Storandt (195), 12th at 1-3; Griffin Baker (138), 14th at 1-3; Joe Moede (106), 15th at 1-3; Devin Petersen (126), 16th at 0-4; Mario Hernandez (170), 16th at 1-4); and Nathan Dallas (220), 17th at 2-2.
Prior to the tournament, the Trojans hosted Waukesha North Dec. 11 in a non-conference dual meet and rolled to a 56-18 win.
East Troy won three matches on the mat, as Strey (145) pinned his opponent in 44 seconds, Dedick (160) won by technical fall 23-7, and Chris Storandt (195) won 5-0.
The Trojans picked up forfeit victories at 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 170, 182 and 285 pounds.
East Troy traveled to Evansville Tuesday night for its Rock Valley Conference dual meet opener; results were not available at press time. The Trojans host Johnson Creek next Monday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m.
