Five Weyauwega-Fremont wrestlers went undefeated Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Central Wisconsin Conference Duals in Shiocton.
The Indians also picked up a conference win Tuesday, Jan. 18, over Rosholt.
CWC Duals
SHIOCTON – W-F entered the week in a log jam tied for second in the CWC standings with three other teams, but after five wins in Shiocton and one over Rosholt, the Indians are alone in second place with a 6-1 record behind unbeaten Bonduel.
Bonduel defeated W-F earlier in the month, but the Indians outwrestled the other top contenders – Shiocton, Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Menominee Indian – over the last two weeks to lock the team in second place with one conference dual left in the season before the conference tournament.
W-F improved to 13-5 on the season.
Team records in Shiocton were W-F, 5-0; Shiocton, 4-1; W-B, 3-2; Freedom, 2-3; Amherst, 1-4; and Manawa, 0-5.
The Indians defeated Freedom 58-16, W-B 44-32, Manawa 75-6, Shiocton 48-27 and Amherst 72-4.
W-F opened the day with seven wins in a nonconference win over Freedom.
The Indians built a big lead early led with back-to-back pins from Nick Stelzner (189 pounds) and Casey Haase (215) over W-B, but the Chargers responded and pulled within three points with five matches to go before Dylan Hansen (119), Jared Gruetzmacher (125) and Trevor Potratz (135) each recorded pins to seal the victory.
Manawa gave away too many forfeits to compete with the Indians in the third round. Brandon Loehrke (130) picked up a big win for the Indians over another freshman for the Wolves.
W-F then won eight of 14 matches with defending CWC champion Shiocton, with all eight wins coming by pin.
Nick Thomas (112) and Allen Bentle (285) picked up pins in matches that could have gone either way.
The Indians capped the day with eight pins against Amherst, as Mike Nelson (140), Casey Lenz (145), Devon Starks (152) and Ben Fox (160) strung together consecutive pins.
“Winning the CWC Duals was a total team effort with different kids stepping up to the challenge in each dual,” coach Tim Potratz said. “Shiocton and Wittenberg-Birnamwood were huge wins for the team and we wrestled very well to win those duals. What a great day.”
Individual records on the day were Isaac Danke, 4-1 (103); Thomas, 4-1 (112); Hansen, 5-0 (119); Gruetzmacher, 5-0 (125); Loehrke, 2-3 (130); Potratz, 4-1 (135); Nelson, 2-3 (140); Lenz, 5-0 (145); Devon Starks, 2-3 (152); Fox, 3-2 (160); Jacob Chmielewski, 4-0 (171); Stelzner, 4-1 (189); Haase, 5-0 (215); and Bentle, 3-2 (285).
Gruetzmacher picked up his 100th career win by pinning W-B’s Kevin Reick.
“Jared joins an elite group of athletes at Weyauwega-Fremont who have achieved 100 wins in a career,” Potratz said. “He is a fierce competitor on the mat and a top student in the classroom. There are now 13 W-F wrestlers who have achieved 100 career wins, including his current teammate, Casey Haase, who reached the milestone earlier this season.”
The team reached another milestone at the tournament, as Potratz picked up his 300th dual meet win.
His career record is 301-87 in 21 years at W-F. Under Potratz, the Indians have won nine conference championships, six regional championships and 31 tournament titles.
W-F 73, Rosholt 6
Hansen (119) and Chmielewski (189) had pins for the Indians, while Loehrke (130) and Nelson (140) also picked up a win. The Hornets forfeited nine matches.
The Indians will take on Plainfield Tri-County/Almond-Bancroft at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, for the final conference dual of the season before heading to Stevens Point Saturday, Feb. 5, for the CWC Meet. Matches are scheduled to start at 10 a.m.