Wrestlers flatten Watertown, 65-12; pull to .500 mark
By JOANN WALLA
Enterprise Staff
Oconomowoc
Enterprise, Jan. 24, 2008
OCONOMOWOC – Cooney junior Fernando Viso made the most of an opportunity and set
the stage for an impressive 65-12 Oconomowoc win over Watertown on Jan. 17.
Cooney is now 3-3 in the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference. Viso stepped on the
mat at 160 pounds because fellow junior Andy Nord had an injured knee. The first
point of the match came when Viso was called for an illegal hold. But shortly
thereafter, Viso got a takedown to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. The
Raccoon took the down position to begin the second period, almost immediately
got a reversal and had the pin at 3:15. “That was a great feeling, Viso said.
“It is my first conference win.” Cooney coach Steve Olson said Viso has been
working hard in the practice room. “He learns a lot and really does well up
there,” Olson said. “He needed that win to get confidence. That was an excellent
win for Fernando.” The meet opened at 145 pounds, and without breaking a sweat
junior co-captain Tyler Swanson put the first six points in the Cooney column.
Watertown forfeited the match. Sophomore Josh Nettesheim was never in trouble as
he overwhelmed Gosling junior David Hanson, 10-5. When the lineup was first
presented, junior co-captain Jake Jungbluth was to receive a bye. But Watertown
coach Rob Harms changed his mind at the last minute and moved junior Jake Rupnow
into the slot. Not to worry, as Jungbluth immediately got a takedown and just 43
seconds into the match, the Raccoon got the pin. At 189 pounds, freshman Scott
Fillmore got the forfeit that was taken from Jungbluth, which brought his
record to 4-4 on the season. Senior Zak Czeszynski (215) followed with a pin of
freshman Josh Wolfgram at 1:16. Before the pin, Czeszynski already had earned
seven points in the match compared to two for the Goslings, which were
intentional escapes. Two juniors, Shane Hicks of Oconomowoc and Bill Caudle of
Watertown, took the mat at 285 pounds with the Goslings getting the pin at 2:23.
“Shane just could never get going in that match,” Olson said. Freshman Alex
Graeff notched his 11th win against 12 losses at 103 pounds when he held
sophomore Jameson Pirkel scoreless. Graeff got a pin at 2:34. “That guy was
really talented,” Graeff said. “But I think I did really well. I tried some new
moves that I learned in practice and they worked just fine.” “Alex is wrestling
well,” Olson said. “He is a heck of a wrestler and will give you a fight every
time he goes out there.” After a forfeit to Zach Mommaerts at 112 pounds
Oconomowoc was leading 45-6. The forfeit kept the sophomore in first place
win-wise as he is 22-4 on the season. The two Nicks, Niggemeier (119) and
Krelwitz (125), added eight points as Niggemeier had a technical fall over
sophomore James Ortega at 4:18 and Krelwitz had a tough battle with sophomore
Josh Asiani before pulling out the 6-0 win. Jake Morrison, a sophomore, pinned
Joe Grimm at 3:49 in the 130 pound match. Morrison carried a 5-4 lead into the
second period, took the down position, got a reversal and the pin. Sophomore
Tyler Yost ran into Watertown’s stud, Justin McFarland and the Gosling pinned
the Raccoon at 1:44. In the last match, Cooney junior J.J. Schmitz had sophomore
Aleks Downey in a headlock immediately, tossed him to the mat and the referee
slapped his hand, signaling a pin after just 16 seconds. Oconomowoc will travel
to Beaver Dam for the final WLT dual Friday. Both teams go in with 3-3 records
and will be looking to better themselves for WLT conference seedings for the
championships, which will be held at Slinger on Feb. 2.
(Joann Walla can be reached at
jwalla@conleynet.com)
OHS takes 4th in wrestling tourney
By JOANN WALLA
Enterprise Staff
MEQUON – The
Oconomowoc wrestlers returned home from the 10-team Highlander Invitational
tired but feeling good about their fourth-place finish. Co-captain Zach
Mommaerts dropped down to 103 pounds and took the championship, as he pinned
teammate Alex Graeff at 1:25. It was the Cooney sophomore’s fifth pin of the
night. Junior co-captain Jake Jungbluth was cruising through the 171-pound
weight class and then bowed to Billy Hietpas of Kimberly in the championship
match. Hietpas came into the match with a 29-0 record. He pinned the Raccoon at
3:16. Jungbluth went into the second overtime before beating Bradley Tech’s
Justin Young, 13-8. Several members of the Cooney squad had close matches as
junior co-captain Tyler Swanson took third place as he pinned Jeremy Duruji of
Owatonna, Minn. at 1:09. To reach the championship match, Swanson defeated
Angelo Timm of Kimberly, 16-14. Swanson came into the match with a 18-9 record
while Timm was 25-5. “I learned a lot in the match,” Swanson said. “I came into
the third period leading by two points. He chose down and I let him escape. Then
he got a takedown and a three-point near fall and won by two points. I thought I
could ride him out but it just didn’t work that way. Next time I will know just
what to do so he doesn’t get away.” “The kids all did a good job,” Coach Steve
Olson said. “The team is coming together and we are going to make a decent run
with the
tournaments coming up.”
(Joann Walla can be reached at
jwalla@conleynet.com)
Wrestlers deliver a pounding to
Suns
10 of 14 matches go to Cooney
By JOANN WALLA
Enterprise Staff
Oconomowoc Enterprise, Jan. 10, 2008
OCONOMOWOC – Oconomowoc wrestling coach Steve Olson had different faces in some
slots and some of the same faces in different slots. And it paid off big time.
The Oconomowoc team won 10 of the 14 matches, besting the West Bend East Suns,
55-17, on Jan. 3. The tone was set during the first two matches when 103-pound
freshman Alex Graeff pulled out a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Mitchell Gundrum.
Then, sophomore Zach Mommaerts pinned Trevor Pruett at 5:13 in the 112- pound
bout. Graeff was trailing after the first and second periods. He chose the down
Wrestlers deliver a pounding to Suns 10 of 14 matches go to Cooney
By JOANN WALLA
Enterprise Staff
Oconomowoc Enterprise, Jan. 10,
2008
OCONOMOWOC – Oconomowoc wrestling coach Steve Olson had different faces in some
slots and some of the same faces in different slots. And it paid off big time.
The Oconomowoc team won 10 of the 14 matches, besting the West Bend East Suns,
55-17, on Jan. 3. The tone was set during the first two matches when 103-pound
freshman Alex Graeff pulled out a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Mitchell Gundrum.
Then, sophomore Zach Mommaerts pinned Trevor Pruett at 5:13 in the 112- pound
bout. Graeff was trailing after the first and second periods. He chose the down
position to begin the third period, escaped with 45 seconds left in the match
and then got a takedown for the winning score. Mommaerts had Pruett 4-0 after
the first two minutes, 8-1 after the second period and then, bam, the pin at
5:13. “Zach had a phenomenal match,” Olson said. “He was so technically sound.
He worked that kid and got him discouraged and then the pin. That was nice.”
Senior Nick Krelwitz dropped down to 125 pounds. He was never in trouble as he
had a 2-0 lead over Jesse Bizub after the first period and then led 6-1 after
two periods. Bizub chose to begin the third period in the neutral position;
Krelwitz had a takedown and the pin at 4:42. The Coons led 15-4.Sophomore Tyler
Yost stepped in at 135 pounds for his first experience at the varsity level. He
wasted little time in showing Vince Adamo who was boss as Yost led 9-3 after the
first period and got the pin in the second period at 3:59.4 – just six-tenths of
a second before the buzzer was to sound to end the period. “Tyler has been
working really hard,” Olson said. “He deserved the chance, and he made the best
of it. “All of these kids are good wrestlers – they just need confidence and
need to know they are good wrestlers.” Tyler Swanson, a junior, improved his
overall record to 9-7 as he won a major decision over Mike Olson at 145 pounds.
Swanson, a captain, said the coach gave them a pep-talk before the dual began.
“One of the things he told us to do was to go out there and have fun. Well, we
had fun. He told us to just let things flow, to just let things happen, and we
did,” Swanson said. Sophomores Josh Nettesheim and Andy Nord were at different
weights, as Nettesheim took the mat at 152 pounds while Nord was at 160. Both
won their matches on pins, with Nettesheim’s coming over Keith Keskiner at 3:20
and Nord sticking Ross Shickey at 1:33. Co-captain Jake Jungbluth answered the
whistle at 171 pounds, and it took him only 1:33 to get Thomas Stevenson in a
cradle for the pin. With Jungbluth moving down, it created an opening at 189.
Olson inserted Scott Fillmore into the position. It was Fillmore’s first
experience with the varsity. The Cooney freshman put up a real battle as he went
into overtime before being defeated by Ross Neill, 6-4. Fillmore had a 4-2 lead
after the second period but Neill got a reversal in the third period for the
tie. Senior Zak Czeszynski had a rather easy match at 215 pounds but he was
disappointed. “Coach (Deacon) Stanek showed us a new move in practice and said
whoever got the quickest pin off from the move could name the move,” Czeszynski
said. In the first period, Czeszynski got a takedown on Jacob Moder with 20
seconds remaining in the period. But he couldn’t put him away before the buzzer
sounded. “I missed by five seconds,” Czeszynski said. In the second period,
Czeszynski started on the bottom and got a reversal and the pin at 2:25.
Heavyweight Shane Hicks was to finish the dual as he was to take on Kyle Gehrke.
Gehrke forfeited. “Boy, that was easy,” Hicks said. “I am happy,” Olson said.
“These kids are good.” Today, the Cooney squad travels to Wisconsin Lutheran,
which is 3-0 in Wisconsin Little Ten Conference dual meets. Oconomowoc is 2-2.
(Joann Walla can be reached at
jwalla@conleynet.com)
JV grapplers bring home five
medals
Trip to Fargo, N.D., tiring for all
By JOANN WALLA
Enterprise Staff
Oconomowoc Enterprise
Jan. 3, 2008
FARGO, N.D. – Before Oconomowoc varsity wrestling coach Steve Olson left with 18
of his grapplers for North Dakota, he said it would be awesome if any of them
could medal. (finish eighth or better). Well, five of them did, and they all
came from the junior varsity squad. Wrestling at the Rumble on the Red in Fargo,
N.D., on Friday and Saturday, 11 of the wrestlers were on the junior varsity
team, while the other seven remained as varsity teammates. “We put them on teams
that would give them the most matches with the
best competition possible,” Olson said. There were 51 teams in the junior
varsity tournament, and Oconomowoc came in eighth place with 155 points. A team
from Minnesota took first with 298.5 points. There were 50 teams on the varsity
side, and Oconomowoc took 45th with 27 points, while a team from Jackson County
Central took first with 274.5 points. “With that many teams wrestling, those two
days provided a big-time atmosphere,” Olson said. Junior Mike Britten competed
with 27 others in the heavyweight division and claimed the fourth place medal,
which was the highest placement by a Cooney matman. Britten had eight matches
with one bye. His most
impressive win was over Parker Betts of St. Michael-Albertville, where he
managed an escape for the final 1-0 score. “Only those going for placement
wrestled on Saturday,” Cooney senior Justin Pellmann said. “We had six guys
wrestling for medals, and five
of them got medals, and that was quite an accomplishment. But, it was really
tiring, too.”
Pellmann took fifth place at 215 pounds where he was in competition with 32
others.
In the match for fifth place Pellmann pinned his opponent, Cody Finck of
Aberdeen Central in 18 seconds. The Coon’s record was 6-2 with two byes.
Freshman Lucas Swanson took sixth place at 112 pounds. There were 45 competitors
in the weight class, one of them his teammate, freshman Marty Wells. Swanson
had nine matches with one bye and he, too, said it was really tiring by the end
of the tournament. “But it was exciting to wrestle so many people, too,” he
said. “Those guys wrestled different than we do. They have a different style.”
Olson liked the way Pellmann managed his opponents as well. Senior Nick Krelwitz
went along on the trip, but it was not known ahead of time if he would be able
to compete as his knee had been banged during practice. Not only did he go on
the trip, but he ended up taking sixth place out of 44 contestants in the
130-pound weight class. Krelwitz had nine matches with the last one being the
hardest. He won a 4-3 decision over Mitch Patterson of Prior Lake. The Coon’s
placement earned 20 team points for the junior varsity squad. “When we started
not knowing if he would even wrestle, that was quite a showing,” Olson said.
Sophomore Nash Bell (145) took eighth place out of 46 wrestlers, and he had
eight matches with no byes. Bell had three pins and one major decision with his
quickest pin coming over Rick Brandt of Frazee in 59 seconds. In round six, Bell
had a real battle on his hands where he defeated Austin Lubinski of Coon Rapids
3-2. “There was a lot of team building going on during the tournament, too,”
Pellmann said. “The last day when it was just junior varsity wrestlers
going for placement, the varsity wrestlers were there rooting us on and
encouraging us. That was nice.” On the varsity side, sophomore Josh Nettesheim
ran into a real buzzsaw.
“First of all, our varsity guys all seemed to get on the wrong side of the
bracket, and they really had tough competition,” Olson said. After receiving a
bye, Nettesheim faced Carter Adams of Coon Rapids who came in with a 15-1
record. Adams went on to take third in a field of 36 wrestlers. In his final
round, Nettesheim faced Paul Ericson of Grand Forks Red River, who was seeded
seventh with a 14-4 record. Sophomores Zach Mommaerts (112), Nick Niggemeier and
Jake Morrison and junior Shane Hicks (285) each scored six points for the
varsity. Zak Czesynski, a senior, had three team points.
(Joann Walla can be reached at jwalla@conleynet.com)
Grapplers
heading off to Fargo, N.D., for tourney
By JOANN WALLA
Enterprise Staff
Oconomowoc Enterprise
Dec. 27, 2007
OCONOMOWOC – For the third time in the history of the Oconomowoc High School
wrestling program, the team is going out of state for a tournament. Today, more
than 20 of the wrestlers, their coaches and many of their parents board a motor
coach and head to Fargo, ND. In the past the team has gone to the San Francisco
area and to Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Oconomowoc has wrestled in the big
Oshkosh tournament during Christmas break, but this year a friend of assistant
coach Deke Stanek invited them to the “Rumble on the Red” which will be held
Friday and Saturday in Fargo. There will be 50 teams from North Dakota, South
Dakota, Minnesota and the surrounding area. “The competition will really be
tough,” Cooney coach Steve Olson said. “The top five teams from Minnesota will
be there, as well as the top competition from North Dakota.” Sophomore Nick
Niggemeier,, who wrestles at 119 pounds, is going with the attitude of taking
first or second place. “I have never been in North Dakota before but I expect
there will be a lot of snow,” Niggemeier said. “And they must have a big high
school because I heard they are going to have 18 mats.” Actually, the tournament
will take place at the FargoDom, which houses a minor league hockey team.
Freshman Alex Graeff, who takes the mat at 103 pounds for Oconomowoc, says he
plans on sleeping on the long trip. “I will take my homework along, too,” Graeff
said, “and maybe I can get some of that done while I’m on the bus.” According to
Olson, it should take nine to 10 hours to get there. Olson said the group had
planned on driving vans, but thought better of it because it could possibly run
into a snow storm. “It will be better to let a bus driver worry about the
weather,” Olson said. The coach hopes his team can make an impact. “I expect
they will award medals to the first six places,” Olson said. “If we can get some
of our guys to medal, that would be a great accomplishment.” The Oconomowoc team
can be followed on trackwrestling.com.
(Joann Walla can be reached at
jwalla@conleynet.com)
OHS wrestlers lose
tiebreaker heartbreaker
Slinger gets nod on rare technicality
By JOANN WALLA
Enterprise Staff
Oconomowoc Enterprise
Dec. 27, 2007
OCONOMOWOC – The Oconomowoc wrestling team let its Wisconsin Little Ten
Conference dual meet with Slinger slip away Friday, losing on a tiebreaker
technicality after the teams wrestled to a 39-39 tie. The tie was broken by
“Criteria F” – six deep in the list of tiebreakers – which awards a point to the
team to earn the most individual first points. Slinger had the edge, 12-10.
After losing the first match. Cooney won five straight, including two forfeits.
It had built a 30-3 lead. The lead increased to 39-9 with just five matches left
before Slinger mounted a comeback with five straight pins. The forfeits would
come back to haunt Cooney, however, as no individual first points can be
determined from them. Heavyweight Shane Hicks got Oconomowoc going as he pinned
Billy Currin at 3 minutes 32 seconds. It was difficult for Hicks, a junior, to
get a hold on Currin, also a junior, because Currin was so much shorter. “I
think I was a foot-and-one half taller than he was,” Hicks said. “He is about
the same size as my girlfriend. “And he was really agile and moving around a
lot. He was more athletic than me but I wrestled all through the first period
and then won the match.” The first period ended with neither grappler scoring
any points. Currin chose the down position to begin the second period and he was
awarded two points for a penalty. Both wrestlers were awarded points for
stalling and that’s when Hicks turned Currin over and pinned him. “Shane did a
great job out there,” Cooney coach Steve Olson said. “I was pleased with how he
handled that.” Two freshmen, Alex Graeff of Oconomowoc and Jake Aderman of
Slinger, took center stage at 103 pounds. Graeff was never in trouble as he had
the Owl’s shoulders flattened in 58 seconds. At 119 pounds, Nick Niggemeier
pinned Konrad Roell in 53 seconds. That match was sandwiched in between two
forfeits. The first came to sophomore Zach Mommaerts at 112 pounds. The other
was to freshman Gavin Liesener at 125 pounds. Because senior Nick Krelwitz had
injured a knee in practice, Adam Shea stepped in at 130 pounds for his first
varsity action. The freshman was pinned by Owls freshman Mike Borst in 28
seconds. Oconomowoc came right back with two more wins – sophomore Jake Morrison
at 135 pounds and junior J.J. Schmitz at 140 pounds. Morrison defeated sophomore
Owen Ciriacks, 6-0. “That was a real sluggish match,” Morrison said. “He just
wasn’t doing much.” “Jake and J.J. did well,” Olson said. Schmitz pinned senior
Brandon Berger in 39 seconds. “I was getting myself psyched up before the
match,” Schmitz said. “I was pacing and just getting into it. I like to do that
because it seems to work pretty good.” But after Schmitz’s match, Oconomowoc’s
freefall began. “I need everyone on this team to wrestle as one,” Olson said.
“When we do that we will be awesome. If we don’t, it will be a long season.”
(Joann Walla can be reached at
jwalla@conleynet.com)
TIEBREAKER BREAKDOWN
Oconomowoc
Enterprise
Dec. 27, 2007
Here’s the process that officials went through to determine Slinger won Friday’s
wrestling match over Oconomowoc.
• Criteria A : Gives a point to the other team if a team is chargedwith a
flagrant unsportsmanlike foul. There were none.
• Criteria B : Awards a point to the team that has the most wins. The teams
tied, 7-7.
• Criteria C: Awards a point to the team that has the most pins. Each team had
six, with two of Oconomowoc’s coming on forfeits.
• Criteria D: Awards a point for the team having the most technical falls. There
were none.
• Criteria E: Awards a point for the team having the most major decisions, there
were none.
• Criteria F: Awards a point for the team having the most individual first
points. Slinger won that, 12-10. Because there were no individual
points in the forfeits, there were none for Cooney to count in itsfavor. Thus,
the forfeits ended up being a disadvantage in this case.
– Joann Walla
Oconomowoc Enterprise
Dec. 27, 2007
Weekend update: The
OHS wrestlers Saturday took fifth in the eight-team Stoughton Invitational, with
sophomore Zach Mommaerts being the only
Cooney wrestler to reach a championship match. He lost it 3-2 at 112 pounds to
Stoughton’s Tanner Klitzke. Stoughton won the tournament
Cooney wrestlers take charge
down the stretch
OHS takes 30-0 lead, hangs on for WLT win
By BOB WOTHE
and JOHN MORTON
Enterprise Staff
Dec. 20, 2007
WEST BEND – Cooney’s wrestlers took nine of 14 matches Dec. 13 and topped West
Bend West, 54-20 to improve its conference record to 1-1. West fell into a quick
30-0 hole after forfeiting the match at 125 pounds and getting pinned four times
in a total time of five minutes and twelve seconds. The pins came from OHS’ Nick
Niggemeier (119), Nick Krelwitz (130), Jake Morrison (135) and J.J. Schmitz
(140). Oconomowoc coach Steve Olson was pleased with his team’s early onslaught.
“The kids are wrestling good,” he said. “They are doing what we do on the
practice mats. We are coming out in an aggressive, attack style. Right when the
whistle blows.” The Spartans’ coach felt disappointed. “We're a young team,
we’re taking our lumps,” coach Mike Bauer said. “I was hoping this match would
be a little closer than it was and I thought we'd have a good chance to win, but
we're still making too many mistakes.” Then, the Spartans’ seniors entered the
fray. The only three seniors on the team, Andy Dock, Klug and Drew Medinger,
reeled off three straight wins for West at 145, 152 and 160 pounds,
respectively. Despite the losses, Olson loved the middelweight showdowns. “Those
were some of the most exciting matches of the night,” he said. “Josh
Nettesheim’s match at 160 – he lost in (6-5), but it was incredible.” When
sophomore Jeremy Walter turned in a 5-0 win at 171 pounds to give the Spartans
four straight wins and bring the score within 30-16, it looked like Oconomowoc
had a battle on its hands. But West Bend West got pinned in the next three
matches – by Jake Jungbluth (189), Zak Czeszynski (215) and Shane Hicks (285) –
and the deficit had grown to an insurmountable 48-20. “We took care of business
when we needed to,” Olson said. Cooney hosts Slinger on Friday before the winter
break, which features a trip to a tournament Dec. 28 and Dec. 29 in Fargo, N.D.
(Bob Wothe can be reached at
bwothe@conleynet.com)
(John Morton can be reached at
jmorton@conleynet.com)
Oconomowoc wrestlers take New Berlin West tournament by storm, win all
five matches
12.13.07
NEW BERLIN – After being the thumpee in a dual wrestling match with Hartford on
Dec. 3, the Oconomowoc squad was the thumper at the New Berlin West tournament
Saturday. The Cooney grapplers cruised through the competition by winning all of
their duals on the day. They bested teams from Delavan-Darien, East Troy,
Hortonville, Mishicot and Whitnall. “I didn’t do anything extra in practice
Friday,” Cooney coach Steve Olson said. “The kids didn’t get down on
themselves, they just went back to work.” Jake Jungbluth and Zach Mommaerts,
both captains, disagreed with Olson’s assessment of practice. “We went over a
lot of technical stuff in practice,” Mommaerts said. “We learned moves that
kicked in, and everything clicked on Saturday.” Jungbluth agreed. “Everything
clicked on Saturday,” he said. “The captains (Jungbluth,
Mommaerts and Tyler Swanson) picked it up, and the rest of the team followed
their example. I was in a zone.” The three captains each posted a 5-0 record
Saturday. Mommaerts, a sophomore, was at 112 pounds, Swanson and Jungbluth,
both juniors, at 145 and 189, respectively. Mommaerts leads the team with 10
wins and a loss, Jungbluth went from 1-5 to 6-5, while Swanson now is 6-2.
– Joann Walla