Hanson, Federl and Hatfield go 1-2-3 for the Black Hawk girls

Grafton High School’s three girl wrestlers placed at the E.H. Stech Invitational on Saturday.

“I think they’re continuing their momentum building,” coach Mike Dodge said.

Audrey Hanson led the way at 132 pounds, pinning all four of her opponents in barely six minutes — the length of one full match.

Hanson (10-3) pinned Raquel Gerovac (8-7) of New Berlin in 1 minute, 51 seconds, then pinned Madilyn Sanovich (6-5) of Janesville Craig in 2:18. Taylor Butler (2-11) was Hanson’s next victim and only lasted 33 seconds.

In the final, Hanson pinned Jae’l Norrington of Brown Deer/Messmer/Shorewood in 1:14.

“What can you say — she was calm and she went at it, and in the finals I think there was a strategic plan,” Dodge said. “She came after Audrey and tried to throw her. Audrey’s got a little judo background and that kicked in, and the next thing you know Audrey’s got her on the ground.”

Ellie Federl (10-3) was second at 126 pounds. She pinned Kya Krueger (6-4) of West Allis Hale in 3:19 and Charlotte Forystek (2-3) of Waukesha North in 1:12 before losing an 11-0 major decision to Rosemary Triggs (13-0) of Whitefish Bay/Dominican/University School of Milwaukee.

“She wrestled great the entire day. She’s kinda picking up where she left off at Brillion (third). She had a tough match in the finals,” Dodge said.

Madison Hatfield (6-5) was third at 138 pounds. She was pinned by Kate Jacobs (2-2) of Waukesha North, then pinned Janeliz Areizaga Mendoza (8-5) of New Berlin in 3:44 and got revenge on Jacobs with a 15-10 decision.

“Maddie is a competitor. She just keeps going,” Dodge said.

Schumacher stands out

The scores don’t show it, but the Grafton boys put on a strong performance on Saturday.

“I thought for our young squad we had some pretty solid performances. I think everybody fought well. I didn’t see anybody giving up or anything like that,” Dodge said.

Thomas Schumacher (9-6) was the only wrestler to place. He was sixth at 165 pounds.

Schumacher pinned Roman Draheim (1-3) of Wauwatosa in 2 minutes, then won a 13-0 major decision over Nolan Klippel of Wauwatosa. He was pinned by Paiton Norrington (8-4) of Brown Deer/Messmer/Shorewood in 3:06, and was held out of the next two matches due to injury.

“He had a great, great tournament. He’s really put in a lot of work. I’m really impressed with him,” Dodge said.

“He had a tough kid from Brown Deer in the semifinals. He took the kid down, was riding him and made one little mistake and got beat.”

Schumacher got dinged up just enough to not risk a more severe injury.

“It’s December and we’re going to be cautious,” Dodge said.

Schumacher already drastically improved over last season at the tourney, when Schumacher went 0-2.

Dodge said Jacob Quint (5-4) at 126 pounds wrestled well. He beat Blake Krueger (8-10) of New Berlin in a 16-0 technical fall before losing in an 18-3 technical fall to top-seeded Owen Becker (16-3) of Germantown.

Quint then won a 10-0 major decision over Brody Walsh (4-12) of Joliet Central and a 10-3 decision over David Howe (4-5) of Waterford before losing a 15-3 major decision to Isaiah Gibbs (17-3) of Janesville Craig.

Dodge also liked the effort of his big guys. Nathaniel Kahmann (8-5) at 190 pounds went 1-2. Caleb Ernst (9-5) at 215 went 2-2 and Miles Muilenurg (3-2) at 285 went 1-2.

“All three needed another match to get into the placement rounds – that’s how close they were. All wrestled on the second day,” Dodge said.

Grafton scored 35.5 points and finished 21st of 24 teams. Wisconsin Rapids won with 243 points, followed by West Salem/Bangor’s 207.

On Dec. 18, the Black Hawks lost two dual meets by one point at Whitefish Bay. Grafton first lost to West Bend West, 37-36.

Eli Parker at 113 pounds and Zak Kahmann at 190 each earned pins.

The Hawks lost to the hosts, 39-38. Ernst pinned Boden Fisher at 215 pounds. Christian Medina won a 19-4 technical fall at 138 pounds and Schumacher won a 13-12 decision over Cyrus Butler at 165.

“Those kind of sting,” Dodge said of the tight losses.

“We’re way closer in duals this year than last year. We’re seeing improvement. We’re close. The wrestlers are doing the stuff we practice. It’s one of those things we need to use as motivation. We’re going to get these if we just keep working hard in the room.”

Grafton wrestles in the Lourdes On The Waters Classic on Friday, Dec. 27, and Saturday, Dec. 28.