Larson brings home second from tournament
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
With each passing day, the young East Troy High School wrestling squad is making strides.
And at this point of the season, that’s a pretty significant goal.
East Troy traveled to Bay Port for the Battle on the Bay Tournament on Saturday and came away with a 19th-place finish in the 24-team tournament.
Luxemberg-Casco won the event with 505.5 points, followed by Sparta with 400.5, Oconto Falls with 388.5, Freedom with 377.5 and Pewaukee with 350. The Trojans finished with 146 points.
“The team is improving week-to-week,” East Troy assistant coach Ryan Holle said. “We are young, so any time you hit a tough tournament like Battle on the Bay, you are going to experience some lumps, but we will make adjustments and improve.”
Freshman Tommy Larson led the way with a 4-1 record to finish second overall.
Larson dropped a hard-fought 7-6 decision to Luxemberg’s Lucas Joniaux for his lone loss on the day.
“Tommy had a really good tournament,” Holle said. “He is learning how to overcome a 12- to 15-pound weight deficit and is really doing an awesome job adjusting.”
Holle said the title match came down to Larson just being a bit tentative against a talented opponent.
Larson trailed 5-1 heading into the last period, had three takedowns and nearly a fourth that would have given him the win as time expired, Holle said.
“He seemed to really find his groove in the third period and was really clicking,” Holle said. “(He) just ran out of time.”
The Trojans’ other top place came from Chris Storandt at 195 pounds, as he finished fifth with a 3-1 record.
Storandt defeated Ashwaubenon’s Tyler McVane by pinfall in 1:14 in the fifth-place matchup.
“Chris had a really good tournament,” Holle said. “He really wrestled well in all of his matches. He simply got caught in the quarterfinal match.”
Also competing were Chase Coleman (152), 10th at 2-2; Jacob Price (182), 17th at 2-2; Joe Moede (120), 12th at 1-3; and Calvin Collins (113), 18th at 1-3. Kelcye DeMara (160) and John Veselka (145) both were 0-4.
There certainly wasn’t any lack of competition all day, Holle said.
“This is one of the better tournaments in the state, and kids from all over compete,” he said. “It is a huge test for the kids, and now we have to make adjustments to improve.”
The schedule won’t get any easier this week, as East Troy travels to the Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Saturday to compete in the 28-team Badger State Invitational.
“The goal never changes,” Holle said. “(We want to) improve each week. (It’s) a real tough challenge, but we will give our best effort and see what happens.”
