By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The 10th-ranked Lake Geneva Badger wrestling team was upset by Elkhorn 35-31 in a dual meet on Dec. 5.
“We were not ready to go,” Coach Shane Koehl said. “I take some responsibility for that.”
Koehl gave Elkhorn credit – they were ready and were more physical than Badger. Koehl said his team did not respond well.
“We have a lot of new faces in our line-up, and I think nerves played a big part,” Koehl said. “However those are excuses, and the bottom line is we will get better.”
Badger fell behind 16-0 but battled back and even took a 31-28 lead on a major decision by Alex Martinez over Elkhorn’s Connor Leahy at 113 pounds. Elkhorn’s Bryce Fitzgerald pinned Badger’s Sam Carmona at 120 pounds in the last match for the win.
Other individual winners for Badger were Tony Howard at 152 pounds by forfeit, Trevor Steiner at 160 pounds by decision, Andrew Cychner at 182 pounds by forfeit, Andrew Nugent at 285 pounds by pin, and George Somerville at 106 pounds by forfeit.
Badger finished second at the 15-team Watertown Invitational on Saturday behind Appleton North.
“The kids rebounded very nicely,” Koehl said. “They looked like the team I thought we had.”
Koehl said the team will improve dramatically as the new faces in the line-up develop and get used to the intensity at the varsity level.
“There is that learning curve, and our coaching staff is working hard to bring these kids along as fast as we can,” Koehl said.
Koehl said if Badger had a wrestler at 170 pounds and that wrestler won, Badger would have won the invitational. Koehl said he saw a lot of good things from those who did wrestle.
Individual champions were Martinez at 113 pounds for 58 team points and Cychner at 182 pounds for 59 points. Third-place finishers were Somerville at 106 pounds for 37 points and Zac Leonard at 138 pounds for 39 points. Fourth-place finishers were Michael Peter at 126 pounds for 32 points and Bryan Nugent at 145 pounds for 32 points. Fifth-place finishers were Robby Mutimer at 120 pounds for 26 points, Howard at 152 pounds for 32 points, Ruben Garcia at 220 pounds for 29 points and Nugent at 285 pounds for 20 points.
Badger faces Delavan-Darien in Delavan tonight.
Boys win twice
The Badger boys’ basketball team improved to 3-2 (1-1 Southern Lakes Conference) by winning two out of three games last week.
Badger lost a non-conference game 51-42 at Brookfield East (1-1) on Dec. 3. East jumped out to an early lead and led 13-5 at the end of one. An even second quarter left Badger trailing 19-12 at the half. Badger stayed even with East in the second half but could not narrow the gap.
Lincoln Wieseman led the Badgers with 20 points. No one else reached double figures. East was led by Jimmy Englehart’s 18. Christian Simon added 13.
Badger came back with a 67-60 home win over Delavan-Darien (0-4, 0-2 SLC) on Dec. 5. Badger led by one at the end of one but trailed 31-28 at the half to a winless team that has been in every game. Badger used a strong fourth quarter to outscore the Comets 21-12 to pull away for the win.
Jake Kozlowski led all scorers with 26. Wieseman added 15, and Bryant Sontag had 13. Jesse Collins led the Comets with 20. John Damrow added 14, and Isiah Ramos had 13.
The Badgers beat Slinger (3-1) 49-42 at home on Saturday. Badger had a big first quarter and led 17-6 at the end of one. Slinger came back strong to pull within 26-21 at the half. The rest of the game was even as Badger hung on for the win.
Wieseman led Badger with 16. Tony Ashley added 11. Josh Hau led Slinger with 11. No one else had more than five.
Badger played at Westosha Central on Tuesday and hosts Burlington tomorrow night.
Girls fall to Wilmot
The Badger girls fell to SLC favorite Wilmot (3-0, 1-0) 49-38 on the road last Friday. Badger kept things close in each quarter, but Wilmot did just enough to pull out the win. Wilmot did not win any quarter by more than four points and led 22-16 at the half.
Badger was led by Lily Quinn and Kortlyn Freeman with 10 points each. Maria Mieres Rey was held to six points. Wilmot was led by Rachel Szyldowski with 15 points. Kari Clements added 14.
Badger defeated Milton (0-2) 55-40 at home on Dec. 3. Badger built up a 30-22 halftime lead and pulled away with an 18-10 fourth quarter. Badger was led by Rey with 19. Freeman had 11. Milton’s Sydney Harms had over half her team’s points with 21. No one else had more than five.
Badger hosts Delavan-Darien tonight and plays at Westosha Central next Tuesday.
Swim takes second
The Badger boys’ swim team finished second at the Southern Lakes Conference Relays on Dec. 5 at Jefferson High School with 207 points, just one point behind Elkhorn.
The Badgers took first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.83), the 400-yard medley (4:24.69), the 100-yard freestyle (47.79), and the 400-yard breaststroke (4:55.24). Badger took second in the 200-yard medley (1:50.07), the 200-yard butterfly (1:51.14), and the 500-yard freestyle crescendo (5:31.30).
Badger finished fourth at the Comet Invitational in Delavan on Saturday with 249 points. The New Berlin Marlins won the event with 414 points.
Badger’s top finishes were seconds turned in by Andrew Shane in the 200-yard freestyle (1:56.12) and the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Remy Glogovsky, Tom Ritzman, R.J. Szweda and Shane (3:37.52). Szweda took third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.82). Glogovsky took third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.14).
