Solid victory over Burlington sets up potential perfect regular season
By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
A win tonight and the Elkhorn Area High School wrestling team wins the Southern Lakes Conference’s regular season title.
The Elks wrestle at home tonight at 7 p.m. against SLC foe Westosha Central. Elkhorn beat Burlington 47-21 Jan. 19 in a SLC meet at home.
“They’re always a really good, well-coached team.” Elks coach Ken Reynolds said of Burlington. “I felt we would put up big numbers on them, but still – a 20-point win was pretty impressive.”
Reynolds said he felt the Elks could have wrestled better against the Demons, in spite of the considerable margin of victory.
“We go out and win by 20-some points, and I can’t help feeling we didn’t wrestle our best,” Reynolds said. “I just want the guys to peak at the right time, and I feel that’s my job.”
With the victory over the Demons, the current class of Elkhorn seniors improved to 26-1 in conference dual meets. The only blemish is a dual meet loss last season at Badger.
Against Burlington, Quentin Woyak (106), Grant Truesdale (113) and Richard Heidemann (220) each won by pin.
Benji Peak (132) beat Jake Skrundz by technical fall (18-2) in 3:57. Daniel Stilling (138) beat Max Ehlen 9-3 and Bryce Jacobson (160) beat Lance Otter 5-2.
Jacobson normally wrestles at 152. Reynolds said he bumped Jacobson up a weight class to get him a match against Otter, one of the Demons’ better wrestlers. Jacobson scored two first-period takedowns.
The Elks wrestle Saturday in the Pulaski Invitational at Pulaski High School, a meet Reynolds said rivals the WIAA state tournament in terms of the level of competition. Eight teams ranked in the top five in their division will be at Pulaski.
The Elks are fourth in Division 1 in the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online state poll.
Individually, in the same poll, Stilling is ranked third at 132, Peak is fifth at 126 and Truesdale is sixth at 113. Jacobson is ranked eighth at 152, Richard Heidemann is eighth at 220 and Riley Remington is ninth at 182.
