Big East names its best in wrestling

The Cedar Grove-Belgium and Ozaukee wrestling teams were well represented in Big East postseason honors this year.

The Rockets landed three members on the first team, one on the second and six on the third.

Ozaukee earned two selections, one on the second team and one on the third.

The awards were determined by where the wrestlers finished at the conference tournament.

Cael Erickson at 145 pounds heads the Rockets’ list. He went 50-1 and finished second at the Division 3 meet.

Erickson went 157-9 in his career. He holds the school record for pins and takedowns. He would have likely broken the record for wins — 179 — but the pandemic shortened last season. Erickson went 17-0, missing out on more than 30 matches.

Erickson has a scholarship to wrestle for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, a Division 2 school.

Diego Morales finished 48-5 and was fourth at state at 285 pounds.

Jesse Burg was 39-6 and qualified for state at 113 pounds.

Justin Anzia was named to the second team. He went 26-16.

Six Rockets placed third and made the third team. Deven Soerens finished 24-18 at 195 pounds. Owen Race went 24-18 at 126 pounds. Gavin Davies went 20-16 at 132 pounds. Winston Reichle went 32-15 at 152 pounds. Jordan Platner went 10-13 at 220 pounds. Joe Schoeder went 24-14 at 170 pounds.

For Ozaukee, Efrain Altamirano went 15-9 and nearly advanced to the sectional at 126 pounds.

“Efrain came on strong in the second half of the year, winning matches to opponents he had lost to earlier in the season,” coach Cole Large said.

Mya Delleree went 7-3 and finished second in the girls’ state tournament.

“Mya had a good season in the conference. There could have been a challenge to mentally reset after girls’ state the weekend prior to the conference tournament, but she wasn’t fazed. She dominated in her wins at conference, losing to the champ in the semis,” Large said.