By Michael S. Hoey
CORRESPONDENT
Badger Andrew Cychner (right) 4-3, Jr. (TF 20-5) wrestles Elkhorn’s Jake Stilling 10-0, Sr. in 170 class.
Cychner took second place overall at the SLC Conference Meet Jan. 24.
Things did not look good for Lake Geneva Badger’s conference championship hopes after losing a close dual match to Elkhorn on January 24. The Badgers (19-4, 5-2 SLC) needed everything to fall their way at Saturday’s Southern Lakes Conference Meet in Burlington to have a shot at sharing the SLC title and that is exactly what happened.
Badger fell into third place in the SLC with the dual match loss to Elkhorn but finished in first at the SLC Meet with 235.5 points. The Badgers needed Elkhorn to finish no higher than second and Burlington to finish no higher than third to secure the tie for the SLC overall title. If Burlington could have finished at least second at the SLC Meet the Demons would have won the conference title outright.
Elkhorn took second with 222 points and Burlington finished third with 209 allowing Badger to finish in a three-way tie for the conference championship with Elkhorn and Burlington.
“We took care of our business,” Coach Shane Koehl said. “It was a good day.”
Koehl added everything went as right on Saturday as went wrong during the regular season as the team struggled through injuries and other challenges.
The team received a big emotional lift as senior Rory Shine wrestled for the first time since last March’s state tournament appearance. Shine had surgery for a hip injury and Koehl said it was expected to be high school career ender. Instead Shine received clearance from his doctors to wrestle for a limited time and Koehl said he will be available as long as the post-season goes on.
Shine (152 pounds), despite not wrestling in almost a year, finished second and earning 19 team points. Shine pinned Wilmot’s Melvin Merkel in the quarterfinal and won by major decision over Elkhorn’s Brett Phillips before losing by decision to Burlington’s Cody Elsbury in the first place match.
Overall, Koehl said the win was a team win that resulted from good balance. Thirteen of Badger’s 14 wrestlers finished in the top four and everyone contributed valuable points. Koehl said the meet was close enough that every point counted.
Koehl said the difference between the win on Saturday and the loss to Elkhorn on January 24 was that the Badgers finished their big matches on Saturday. One example was a triple overtime win by pin by T.J. Hildenbrandt in his first place match against Dylan Linhart of Elkhorn.
Two other Badgers came through with first place performances. Randy Shine (145 pounds) scored 24 team points. He won by pin in the quarterfinal match, major decision in the semifinal, and major decision in the first place match over John Olsen of Elkhorn. Tyler Otero (182) won by pin in the quarterfinal, by decision in the semifinal, and won a tie-breaker decision over Kyle Mountford of Elkhorn for first place.
Four Badgers took second place: Rory Shine, Michael Peter (106 pounds), Andrew Cychner (170), and Robert Johnson (220). Alex Martinez (113), Zach Leonard (126), and Carlos Garcia (285) all finished third.
Koehl said Martinez avenged a loss to Elkhorn’s Bryce Fitzgerald in his third place match. Cychner and Johnson wrestled well and almost upset #1 ranked Jake Stilling and Dakota Johnson. Overall the Badgers scored many bonus points all day for pins and major decisions.
The Badgers will face off with Elkhorn again on Saturday in the WIAA Regional at Elkhorn. Koehl said Milton will be in the mix for a Regional title as well. Burlington is in a different sectional, so the Badgers will not face the Demons again unless both teams make it to the Team State Tournament.
