Shorthanded Port struggles on mat

Port Washington, battling injuries and illness, took 15th of 16 teams at the Pulaski Invitational last Saturday.

The Pirates’ eight wrestlers scored 44 points. Kaukauna won with 221, edging Coleman’s 216.

Coach Angelo LaRosa said they “didn’t have the greatest day” in a “really tough tournament.”

Jacob Peacy (22-10) at 195 pounds took fourth.

He won a 12-9 decision over De Evian Ross (25-14) of New London, was pinned in 2:48 by Gabe Wertel (30-3) of Denmark, pinned Kayden Verboomen (16-14) of Kaukauna in 49 seconds and in the third-place match was pinned in 41 seconds by Drake Anderson (30-6) of Bay Port.

Lucas Schumacher (24-14) took fifth at 182 pounds. He pinned an opponent and got pinned before losing a 4-3 decision to Mason Wells (24-14) of Pulaski. In the fifth-place match, he won a 6-2 decision over Matt Grzybowski (23-12) of Bay Port.

Ryan Brandt (9-11) at 285 pounds took sixth. He was pinned, then pinned an opponent before being pinned again. In the fifth-place match, he lost a 9-2 decision to Elijah Zelinski (17-11) of Oconto Falls.

Kaiden Schumacher (29-8) at 126 pounds was seventh. He was pinned, won a 9-5 sudden victory (overtime), won a 5-3 decision and in the seventh-place match won a 3-0 decision over Luke Trepanier (13-15) of Oconto Falls.

“He came back and won a nice match in overtime and showed a lot of heart and fire,” LaRosa said.

“Peacy and the Schumacher boys really wrestled well. They beat some tough kids.”

Just about everyone at this tournament is tough, he said, with brackets filled with many future state qualifiers and champs. “It’s neat to look back and see how well people do there.”

Admittedly, he said, Port’s small lineup was “like bring a Super Soaker to a gunfight.”

At defending North Shore Conference champion Slinger on Thursday, Port lost, 52-19.

Shem Castillo pinned Andrew Glaszcz in 5:18 at 220 pounds and Nick Gonzales pinned Luke Weber in 32 seconds at 106 pounds.

“I thought Nick Gonzales wrestled well. He just went out there and took care of business,” LaRosa said. “Shem showed a lot of heart.”

Lucas Schumacher won an 11-2 major decision over Nathan Rafko at 182 pounds and Cody Pierron won a 4-2 sudden victory over Kale Sinclair at 160 pounds.

 “A couple of matches I thought we could get didn’t go our way,” LaRosa said. “I think it was closer than the score showed. We wrestled hard. Any bad habits or cutting corners got exposed.”

Anytime there was a 50-50 battle, “they just outhustled us. Some of it was technical and some of it was just hustling, I think,” he said.

Star Blake Peiffer was taken out of his match due to injury and missed Saturday’s tournament. LaRosa said Peiffer probably could have finished the match but he is looking at the big picture.

Slinger won four matches by pin, two major decisions, one technical fall, one decision and one forfeit. LaRosa said he is tired of losing to the Owls, now in five dual meets in three years.

“They definitely heard the message on that,” he said of his team.

“At the end of the day, we just need to get better and a lot tougher.”

LaRosa said once his team gets healthy, it should finish the year with a good run.

The Pirates compete in the conference tournament at Hartford at 4 p.m. Friday.