CG-Belgium has high wrestling hopes

Reedsville deals a big blow early but Rockets rebound; Ozaukee struggles with numbers again
By 
MITCH MAERSCH
Ozaukee Press staff

Cedar Grove-Belgium High School’s wrestling team bounced back at the Lomira Duals on Saturday from a tough loss against Reedsville that made their goal of a conference title much harder.

The Rockets went 5-0 and won the tournament in Lomira. They beat Milwaukee Hamilton, 76-5; Lomira, 46-22; West Allis Nathan Hale, 53-19; and Chilton/Hilbert, 45-34.

“The boys wrestled very well,” coach Trevor Peterson said.

Freshman Mason Hoopman at 113 pounds went 5-0 with one forfeit and freshman Jesse Burg at 106 went 5-0 with two forfeits.

Sophomores Winston Reichle at 120 and Cael Erickson at 132 each pinned four foes and won one match by forfeit. Erickson is coming off a fourth-place finish at state.

“Cael continues to wrestle well. It’s like he picked up from last year, did a ton of offseason work,” Peterson said.

Junior Sawyer DeRuyter at 170 pinned three foes in going 5-0.

Among those going 4-1 were senior Tyler Kowalkowski, 138; junior Marcus Ramirez, 220; Aaron Duenk at 182 and 195; and freshman Diego Morales, 285.

The Rockets came back to beat Chilton/Hilbert. Ramirez won a 2-1 decision and Morales pinned his man in 3 minutes, 58 seconds. Burg won by forfeit and Hoopman pinned his opponent in 4:51.

Morales, Peterson said, came through in the clutch with a needed victory for the Rockets to win that match. He said he was especially proud of his young wrestlers’ performances on the day.

The comeback came 48 hours after losing at Reedsville, 40-34.

It hurt, Peterson said, that the Rockets lost the coin flip at the start that lets coaches determine match-ups.

“They could move their guys around,” he said. “In that match, it was very big who won the coin flip. We both were thinking the same exact thing.”

Up, 34-31, with two matches left, Rocket Logan Filtz at 113 was pinned by Caleb Delsman in 1:06, and Hoopman lost a 7-3 decision to Bryer Christel.

“It was a rough go. Reedsville’s got a real good team,” Peterson said.

The Rockets have 27 wrestlers, the most they’ve ever had. Ten are freshmen.

The Rockets are coming off of a school record seven state qualifiers. Besides Erickson, Kowalkowski and Duenk are back.

The team still wants to give powerhouse Random Lake a run for the Big East Conference title.

After the loss, Peterson told his team it can’t change the beginning of the book but it can write the end.

Ozaukee sports a small team again

Ozaukee has five wrestlers out this season.

Cael Large returns with the most experience. Coach Kevin Koepke said that Large’s knowledge is helpful.

“He’s determined to go out on the mat each and every single week and give his best performance,” he said.

Jason Dellerree is back as well and knows the sport but needs more mat time, he said.

Three sophomores, Jack Genzmer, Philip McLarty and Zach Bell, show promise, Koepke said.

“They all are coachable and listen to what we say. It’s going good so far,” he said.

At the 17-team Tom McGarvie Earlybird Scramble last Saturday at Watertown, Ozaukee finished last of 17 teams, scoring 70 points.

Large at 126 pounds had the best finish, taking fifth and going 4-1. He pinned two opponents, lost a 4-2 decision and won two 2-0 decisions in his final two matches. All other wrestlers won at least one match.

The Warriors started the season Dec. 3 with a 40-18 loss to Mishicot. Genzmer pinned Van Davis in 30 seconds for their team’s only non-forfeit win.

“My goal as a team is to keep these five guys together this entire year and bring them all back next year,” Koepke said adding  an eighth-grade class of eight to 10 wrestlers are expected next year.

Ozaukee was to host Random Lake on Tuesday night and wrestle at Reedsville on Thursday, Dec. 19.

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Ozaukee Press

Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

125 E. Main St.
Port Washington, WI 53074
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