Team finishes second to Lake Geneva Badger
By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School wrestling team won five individual titles and finished second Feb. 6 in the Southern Lakes Conference Varsity Wrestling Meet at Waterford.
The Elks begin their march through the postseason Saturday with a WIAA Division 1 wrestling tournament at Elkhorn Area High School.
Coach Ken Reynolds, who’s been involved with the program since the late 1970s, said he believes the Elks’ five individual titles at the conference meet is a school record.
“I don’t think that’s been done in school history,” Reynolds said. “That’s pretty special for Elkhorn. As bittersweet as it was to walk away in second, we brought home five championships. That says a lot.”
The Elks finished with a team total of 210.5 points. Badger won the meet and conference title after scoring 231 points.
“We gave them a good run,’ Reynolds said. “We got it under 10 points once late. We just couldn’t finish them off. They’re very deep and all of their guys scored points.”
Grant Truesdale (106), Benji Peak (113), Daniel Stilling (120), Bryce Jacobson (152) and Richie Heidemann (285) each won SLC titles.
“Those bottom three weights have been doing the job,” Reynolds said. “A freshman and two sophomores – I can’t tell you how proud I am of those guys.”
Truesdale and Stilling are freshmen and Peak is a sophomore. Stilling pinned his way through the tournament and finished the season with a record of 8-1in SLC matches.
Stilling pinned Burlington’s Luke Iverson in 3:07 in the title match at 120.
“He’s just a mature athlete,” Reynolds said. “He’s been wrestling for a while and he listens to us. He’s coachable and works hard.”
Truesdale (9-1) beat Wilmot’s Jacob Wageman 10-4 in the title match at 106 and Peak beat Waterford’s Sam Winski by major decision (13-4) in the title match at 113.
Heidemann (7-2) beat Badger’s Cole Mikrut in the title match at 285. Mikrut entered the SLC meet ranked No. 2 in the state in Division 1 at 285 in the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online state poll. Heidemann was ranked ninth in the same poll.
“We expected Richie to wrestle with him and make his adjustments, and he did” Reynolds said of the match against Mikrut. “It was nice to see him come up big and wrestle his style in that match.”
Jacobson (10-0) beat Badger’s Chase Craig by major decision (15-5) in the title match at 152. Reynolds said Jacobson was dominant at the SLC meet.
Konnor Mohr (160) finished second. James Welsh (126) and Rile Remington (170) placed third. Myles Schumaker (182), Jordan Barr (195) and Trey Howes (220) finished fourth (182) and Brandon Constable (138) finished fifth. Kevin Pauley (145) finished sixth
In the remaining team standings, Waterford finished third (167.5), Burlington fourth (148), Union Grove fifth (120), Wilmot sixth (119), Westosha Central seventh (73) and Delavan-Darien eighth (39).
The top four finishers in each weight class at Saturday’s regional meet advance to the sectional meet Feb. 290 at Verona Area High School. The top two finishers in each weight class at the sectional meet advance to the WIAA Division1 State Individual Wrestling Tournament Feb. 25-27 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
