Peacy’s pace pins down a wrestling title for Port

Port Washington High School senior Jacob Peacy made a little school history last week.

The Pirates’ wrestling team competed in the Bi-State Classic in La Crosse for the first time on Dec. 29 and 30, and Peacy brought home the team’s only championship in dominant fashion.

The 220-pounder seeded 11th pinned five of six opponents in the 70-team tournament and exacted some revenge along the way.

“He wrestled outstanding, probably the best he has his whole high school career,” coach Angelo LaRosa said.

The only opponent Peacy (18-3) didn’t pin was Carson Westcott (15-3) of Holmen, who pinned Peacy at the Luxembourg Duals early in the season. This time, Peacy won a 14-7 decision in the semifinal.

Most of Peacy’s victories went quickly.

 He pinned Wyatt Mulder (3-4) of Zumbrota-Mazeppa in 4 minutes, 19 seconds; Ethan Burch (6-5) of Tomah in 16 seconds; Paxton Hanke (12-3) of Lancaster in 1:38; Jack Schweitzer (21-4) of Waunaukee in 1:22; and in the final pinned Austin Leflay (17-3) of Hastings in 2:45.

 LaRosa said Peacy has one thing that sets him apart, especially at 220 pounds.

 “Jacob’s got a huge gas tank, and at that weight class a lot of people can’t handle his pace,” he said.

Peacy scored 50 points toward the team’s 120, which was good for ninth among Division 1 squads and 24th overall. Wrestlers competed across divisions with brackets of 50 to 60 people.

Marshfield won the Division 1 meet with 292.5 points, followed by Holmen’s 251.

Port had two other wrestlers place in the top 12, led by 12th-seeded Kaiden Schumacher (15-7) at 126 pounds, who took sixth. He knocked off two wrestlers who previously beat him.

Schumacher pinned Jake Shaver (13-6) of Sheboygan Falls in 1:23, after losing to him at the Luxembourg Duals, then won a 10-0 major decisionover Dax Smelzer (7-12) of Iowa-Grant/Highland.

He lost an 18-4 major decision to Lucas Sullivan (18-4) of Mineral Point, then beat Owen Noel (19-6) of Bay Port in a 5-2 decision, getting revenge for an early season loss.

He beat Ryder Koenig (13-5) in a 4-1 decision before being pinned by Jack Bainbridge (15-4) of Hastings and losing by a 30-11 technical fall to Sullivan for fifth.

“He’s been making big strides,” LaRosa said of Schumacher. “Kaiden had three state champs in bracket and the Mineral Point kid was runner-up.”

Brandon Grabowski (12-10) at 145 pounds finished 12th after coming in as the No. 30 seed.

 He pinned Maverick McCauley (4-5) of Kickapoo/La Farge/Youth Initiative in 40 seconds, won a 3-2 decision over Maddox O’Reilly (10-4) of Goodhue and won a 6-2 decision over Brady Gille (15-3) of Pulaski.

“That first day was the best I’ve ever seen him wrestle. He beat the No. 3 seed — a state medalist from Minnesota — then a tough Pulaski kid,” LaRosa said. “We’re just trying to get what we see in practice every day into matches. I think he’s going to have a big second half.”

Grabowski lost a 14-4 major decision to Gabriel Ramos (17-1) of Wausau West, was pinned by Logan Henningson (13-3) of Winona/Winona Cotter) in 4:08, lost a 3-1 decision to Luke Kramer (13-4) of Praire du Chien and lost a 6-3 decision to Landon Radtke (20-3) of River Valley in the 11th-place match.

LaRosa said he was hoping to get a couple of more wrestlers to place. Brady Krueger (13-7) at 138 pounds and Ever Armendariz (12-6) at 285 lost in the “blood round” before guaranteeing a top-12 finish.

“It’s a really tough tournament. If you lose early, you’ve got to string a bunch of wins together (to place),” LaRosa said.

The excursion to the other side of the state included more than just wrestling. LaRosa got to show his team where he competed in college and they checked out a couple of tourist attractions La Crosse has to offer.

“Just having that experience will bring our team a lost closer and hopefully will help us have a really nice second half,” LaRosa said.

 Port was to compete at North Shore Conference foe West Bend West on Wednesday and hosts an invite on Friday.