It’s not the way the five members of the Oconto Falls High School wrestling Class of 2016 will want to be remembered.
After a disappointing 49-12 loss at the hands of the visiting Luxemburg-Casco Spartans on Thursday night, the Panthers should have enough motivation to finish the season in a strong way.
“For the seniors, even the new kids, pretty much everyone who watched it, it was pretty disappointing to go out like this,” Oconto Falls senior Kyle Wolf said. “Overall, I think we could have fought a little bit better. They outwrestled us, from top to the bottom.”
Oconto Falls started off the dual with junior Nate Trepanier’s third-period pin to remain undefeated on the season on the night he was recognized for winning 100 matches in his high school career.
Brice Delzer, at 160 pounds, was trailing 4-2 going into the third round before escaping Bryson Alsteen and almost securing a takedown, but did so out of bounds, leaving him trailing for the final minute of the match.
Mac Winkler finished another close match at 182 pounds, trailing by 2 points going into the final period, before Spartan wrestler Nate Lloyd was penalized for stalling, but Winkler could then not overcome the 1-point deficit.
It was Garret Cole, at 195 pounds, that had the opportunity to change the dual in the Panthers’ favor, which is exactly what he did, with a pin in an even 5 minutes to help the hosts take a 12-10 advantage.
It turns out that would be the final victory for Oconto Falls.
The next three wrestlers — Cory Holtger, Bryce Peterson and Bodee Woods — were all pinned late in the first period as the Panthers fell behind 31-12.
“We couldn’t be flat. We worked hard this week,” Luxemburg-Casco head coach Chas Treml said. “The guys came through and showed that they did improve. They came out ready to wrestle today.”
Once the dual started turning in favor of the Spartans, the younger Panthers were looking for someone to help get the momentum back on their side, but it never happened, with Luxemburg-Casco taking the final nine matches, including pins at 285, 106 and 113 pounds.
“They were all looking for someone, who was looking for someone else to make the move,” Oconto Falls head coach Marc Kinziger said. “Nobody got the juices going and the spark flowing. And then we were just flat. You look to your seniors to make a move, and I think they both got beat.”
The seniors, Tristen Brown, who wrested at 170 and lost by a major decision, and Wolf, who lost, 3-0, at 220 pounds, along with Mac Winkler’s loss at 182, allowed the visitors to win 12 of 13 matches after Trepanier’s win.
The other seniors, who were not able to break into the varsity lineup, could still leave behind a strong work ethic, which Wolf hopes will be the legacy of the class.
“We had some really good seniors that never got the shot to wrestle varsity, but still wrestled hard up in the practice room,” Wolf said. “I think the younger kids will see that, work towards that.”
But with moving wrestlers around the lineup to fill the gaps from injuries and a missed weight, the Panthers were not at their strongest when and where they needed to be.
“I hope that we learn that if we don’t put our best out there every day, guess what’s going to happen?” Kinziger asked. “You’re going to get embarrassed out there with the score, and that happened.”
Luxemburg-Casco 49, Oconto Falls 12
152: Nate Trepanier, OF, pinned Jacob Zellner, L-C, 5:16.
160: Bryson Alsteen, L-C, dec. Brice Delzer, OF, 4-3.
170: Cullen Ducat, L-C, mdec. Tristen Brown, OF, 14-2.
182: Dalton Smerchek, L-C, dec. Mac Winkler, OF, 3-2.
195: Garret Cole, OF, pinned Zak Petasek, L-C, 5:01.
220: Nate Lloyd, L-C, dec. Kyle Wolf, OF, 3-0.
285: Phil Rasmussen, L-C, pinned Cory Holtger, OF, 1:41.
106: Bryce Bosman, L-C, pinned Bryce Peterson, OF, 1:38.
113: Nathan Ronsman, L-C, pinned Bodee Woods, OF, 1:57.
120: Denny Christoff, L-C, dec. Evan Konitzer, OF, 15-8.
126: Colton Worachek, L-C, dec. Kenton Peterson, OF, 7-2.
132: Devan Vandenbush, L-C, pinned Trevor Pankratz, OF, 1:17.
138: Kyle Routhieaux, L-C, dec. Bryce Ash, OF, 5-3.
145: Hunter Larkin, L-C, dec. Cliff Yuma, OF, 7-1.
Categories
