The Antigo Wrestling team competed at the Pulaski Invitational on 1-26-19, with 7 ranked teams and 62 ranked individuals.
The top individual effort came from Collinn Eldridge, who received a bye in the first round, and then picked up a pair of second period falls. In the finals, he faced the top ranked 182 pounder in the state and lost an 8-3 decision. Collinn had a solid day of wrestling, and is looking forward to a successful post season.
Nick roller also had an impressive day at 220 pounds. He started with a first round bye, and then picked up a victory by pinfall. In the semifinals, Roller lost an incredibly tight 8-6 decision. He rebounded well with a third period fall to get himself into the third-place match, and secured third place with a first period pin.
In a bracket that best displayed the level of talent at this tournament, Ben Stimac took fourth at 132 pounds. He achieved this placement with a first round bye, followed with a second period bye. In the semifinals, he lost to Caleb Gross, a two-time defending state champion. Stimac was able to rebound with a victory to qualify for the third-place match against Brandon Micksch, the 6th ranked wrestler in Wisconsin. Ben dropped a 5-2 decision to finish 4th. The winner of the 132 bracket was Bryce Bosman, who already has 3 state titles and is looking like a good bet for his fourth.
Jovanni Castaneda had a successful day finishing 6th at 160 pounds. Castaneda won a first round major decision, before dropping a match in the quarterfinals. Castaneda followed the loss with a victory via pinfall and then dropped his next two matches.
Logan Edwards started the day dropping a 13-2 major decision to Alec Ukkola. He received a couple of byes in the consolation rounds before winning his third consolation round by pinfall to set up a rematch with Ukkola for 7th place. Logan greatly improved his performance, but fell just short dropping a 5-4 decision.
Brady VandeWeerd also finished the day in 8th. He dropped a well wrestled first round match to Gabe Wertel, the fourth ranked wrestler in Division 2.
Dylan Warax went 2-2 at 138 pounds. He dropped a tight 10-8 decision in the first round before rebounding with an 18-2 technical fall in the first consolation round. He then won an 11-4 decision before dropping his fourth match 13-8.
Josh Huess went 1-2 on the day at 152 pounds. Huess started the day with a hard fought 4-2 loss, before rebounding with a decision victory. He dropped his final match of the day.
Also competing at Pulaski were Conner Dettman, Royce Bauer, and Talik Bussey.
The Junior Varsity also competed Saturday, traveling to Weyauwega. Collecting championships for Antigo were Seth Beaber and Jayden Schoeneck. Finishing second were Kyle Kamin and Jordan Dykstra. Coming in third were Hunter Cordova, Riley Tomczyk, Ben Brown, and Gideon Sass. If these results are any indication, the future is bright for Antigo Wrestling.
Up next for Antigo Wrestling is the Great Northern Conference tournament next Saturday, February 2nd, at the Medford High School. This tournament has some possible historic significance, as Tomahawk, Medford, and Antigo all finished the dual meet season 4-1. Whichever team wins the tournament will be the outright conference champion, something an Antigo team has not accomplished since 1969. Antigo had three champions and finished second overall at the tournament last year, both numbers they hope to improve on this year.
Conner Dettman (9-11) place is unknown.
Logan Edwards (21-17) placed 8th and scored 10.0 team points.
Benjamin Stimac (29-7) placed 4th and scored 16.0 team points.
Dylan Warax (16-16) place is unknown and scored 3.5 team points.
Joshua Heuss (20-12) place is unknown and scored 4.0 team points.
Jovanni Castaneda (13-15) placed 6th and scored 9.0 team points.
Royce Bauer (5-11) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Collinn Eldridge (29-7) placed 2nd and scored 24.0 team points.
Brady VandeWeerd (6-11) placed 8th and scored 1.0 team points.
Nick Roller (28-9) placed 3rd and scored 22.0 team points.
Talik Bussey (12-18) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.