Tough sectional rings true for Port

Port Washington High School wrestling coach Angelo LaRosa cautioned that Saturday’s Division 1 Hartford Sectional would be difficult, and the competition didn’t disappoint.

None of Port’s five wrestlers, including a state medalist from last season, finished in the top two to qualify for the state meet.

Kaiden Schumacher (15-2) at 120 pounds came the closest, finishing third. Schumacher won a 10-4 decision over Henry Niebauer (8-5) of Hortonville and won a 6-5 decision over Nicolet’s Aaron Johnson (12-3), a state qualifier last season. Johnson had beaten Schumacher, 16-5, in an exhibition match earlier this season. This time, Schumacher took control.

“He got out to a lead and was wrestling really smart. He got a couple of takedowns early, just slowing that kid down. He wrestles at a really high pace,” LaRosa said.

In the finals, Schumacher lost an 11-3 major decision in the finals to top-ranked Alec Hunter (16-0) of Oshkosh West.

In the second-place match, Schumacher lost a 9-2 decision to Bryan Winans (15-2) of Kaukauna.

“He was wrestling awesome,” LaRosa said. Against Winans, Schumacher got put in a hole in the first period and couldn’t come back.

Senior Lucas Schumacher (no relation), who earned a sixth-place medal at last season’s Division 2 state meet, finished fourth at 170 pounds. Schumacher (13-5) pinned Kade Neumann (9-4) of Manitowoc Lincoln in 2 minutes, 20 seconds, before losing a 6-3 decision to Brayden Rosenow (13-3) of Menomonee Falls.

In the consolation semifinal, Schumacher pinned Bryce Crook (7-10) of Neenach in 5:26 and lost the third-place match to Griffin Bekish (15-1) of Kaukauna in an 11-1 major decision.

“Sometimes when you lose at sectionals, that person has to win the tournament. They have to pull you back in,” LaRosa said. “When you lose in the semis or before that, it just makes it very difficult.”

Schumacher, he said, was a “great leader in our program and a fun kid to be around.”

Brady Krueger (12-6) finished fifth at 132 pounds and LaRosa called that an accomplishment.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him wrestle,” he said. “Fifth doesn’t seem like much but in that bracket it was outstanding for him as a freshman.”

Krueger was pinned by Germantown’s Talan Schutte (17-2) in 1:52, then beat Neenah’s Nick Novak (8-7) in a 5-1 decision. In the consolation semifinal, Jake Hendricks (14-3) of West De Pere pinned Krueger in 1:22. He came back with a 3-1 decision over Nicolet’s Luke Lewandowski for fifth. Krueger had lost to Lewandowski, a state qualifier last year, earlier this season.
Jager Eisch of Kaukauna, the defending state champion, won the bracket. Bryce Jankowski of Cedarburg, a two-time state medalist, was second.

At 126 pounds, defending state runner-up Michael Parker of Slinger took third and didn’t return to state. Nationally ranked Greyson Clark of Kaukauna won the bracket.

“Every bracket was loaded. I’ve just never seen a sectional tournament like that before,” LaRosa said.

At 138 pounds, Port’s Brandon Grabowski (10-7) was sixth, forfeiting his final two matches due to injury. He lost an 18-2 technical fall before pinning Dylan Besaw (8-4) of Oshkosh North in 5:02 in the consolation round.

Aiden Drotzur (6-6) was pinned in 1:11 and then lost a 7-4 decision to Judah Hammen (5-5) of Kaukauna.

Kaukauna won the 24-team meet with 183.5 points and moves on to team state. Slinger scored 108.5. Port, which qualified for team state in Division 2 last season, was 13th with 39.

LaRosa said he was thankful that a postseason tournament was held and hopes next year is closer to normal, with the return of large tournaments and not cutting the state tournament in half.

While most every team had people in quarantine due to exposure to Covid-19 from family and friends, no outbreaks came from wrestling, he said.