Team takes eight wins in Tuesday’s dual meet
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
When the Big Foot wrestling squad is at or near full strength, coach Craig Utesch is confident the Chiefs can more than hold their own.
And that certainly was the case in a non-conference dual meet Tuesday night.
Big Foot opened 2015 in style with a convincing 52-27 non-conference win over visiting Shoreland Lutheran.
“We only had three open weight classes,” Big Foot coach Craig Utesch said. “We bumped some younger kids up and they did a great job.
“When we have everybody wrestling, we’re decent this year. We’re giving up a couple weights, but we’re better than what we’ve been for quite a few years.”
The Chiefs collected eight victories, including seven by pinfall. Earning wins for Big Foot were Will Utesch (220), in 1:22; Evan Graham (285), in 1:34 Kent Myerson (113), in 34 seconds; James Welsh (126), in 2:45; Ronald Weber (132), in 5:12; Peter Briggs (152), by major decision 20-12; and Raul Reyes (160, in 1:29.
Big Foot also received a forfeit win at 138 pounds.
Dropping matches to Shoreland were Kase Myerson (106), by pinfall, time unknown; and Travis Berryman (120), 6-3. Big Foot gave up forfeits at 170, 182 and 195 pounds.
Prior to Tuesday’s matchup, the Chiefs took six wrestlers to the always competitive Mid-States Tournament Dec. 29 and 30, on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.
“It went pretty well,” Utesch said. “We had a couple kids out sick, a couple kids on vacation, a couple kids with some medical conditions, which was why we were so short numbered.”
Utesch finished third at 220 pounds, while Berryman was sixth at 106 to lead the Chiefs.
After two victories to open the tournament, Utesch (12-2 overall) fell to the state’s top-ranked Division 2 wrestler, Elkhorn’s Dylan Linhart, 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
But from there, he bounced back with wins over two more state-ranked athletes to finish third.
In the consolation semifinal, Utesch pinned Mayville’s Kody Priesgen in 56 seconds, followed by a 5-3 overtime win over Union Grove’s Cole Ryan.
“Will had a lot of good kids in his bracket, too,” Utesch said. “He beat some quality kids. He did really well. He missed the one tournament (earlier in the year), so he’s just starting to get into the swing.”
Berryman (15-5 overall) fell into the consolation bracket with a 4-1 loss to Stoughton’s Brandon Klein in the quarterfinals, but bounced back to win two straight and advance to the consolation semifinals. Klein entered the tournament ranked No. 2 in the state in Division 1.
In that match, he fell 4-3 to Elkhorn’s Benji Peak, followed by a 4-3 loss to Maine East’s Jon Youself in the fifth-place match.
“Travis improved on what he did last year by one place,” Utesch said. “He was in a very good bracket. He wrestled really well. He went after it hard.”
Also competing but not placing for the Chiefs were Titus Frederick (113), 0-2; Welsh (120), 2-2; and Weber (126), 1-2.
Big Foot finished 27th overall in the 32-team event with 50.5 points. Stoughton was first with 279 points, followed by Elkhorn with 221, Oconomowoc with 165.5, New Trier with 159 and Harvard with 135.5.
The Chiefs returned to Rock Valley Conference action Thursday night at Brodhead, and will compete at the Whitewater Tournament Saturday morning.
“We’re going to get a lot of good matches in, a lot of good tournaments (from here on out),” Utesch said. “Hopefully, all the kids keep working hard, buy into it and have a good, strong finish.”
