Tosa finishes second at conference meet

The Wauwatosa East/West co-op wrestling team finished second to regular-season champion Pewaukee on Saturday at the Woodland Conference Wrestling Championships at Cudahy.

"We didn't have quite enough to knock off Pewaukee, although we gave it a good run," Tosa coach Kent Morin said. "We sent five wrestlers to the finals, which is the most we have ever had in my 10 years at Tosa.

"The difference in the tournament was the semifinals. We lost two matches in overtime. We also lost two other semi-matches by one point. So the meet was essentially decided by four moves. So we were disappointed with our finish at first."

But Morin took another look at the final results.

"Then, when you have time to actually dissect the results, you realize that conference runner-ups is still a nice accomplishment," he said. "Especially when you remember that we took sixth in the conference last year for duals and fourth in the tournament.

"To take second in both areas this year was a big improvement. We have come a long way in a year."

Morin was also happy it was a team effort.

"Getting three champs was outstanding, especially when two of them are only sophomores. It also was outstanding to have all 14 wrestlers finish in the top six, which meant everyone contributed to the team finish."

Sophomore AJ Minucci scored the most team points (24) in winning his 120-pound title. He received a quarterfinal bye, pinned his semifinal opponent, Blake Leslie of Whitnall, in 4 minutes, 6 seconds and then beat Alex Owens of Pewaukee with a 4-2 decision.

"The amazing thing is AJ was just cleared to wrestle on Thursday from a knee injury," Morin said. "I think AJ thought his season was over, so once we found out that the knee injury was able to be rehabbed, he became very determined.

"It isn't often you get a second chance, so AJ wasn't going to let it get away."

Sophomore Kai Castaneda scored 22 points at 106, getting a bye, and winning an 11-5 decision over Jared Rosen of Greendale in the semifinals and a 6-4 decision over Anthony Senthavisouk of Whitnall.

"Kai had a nice tournament, winning his first conference championship as a sophomore," Morin said. "He finished second last year. He won 6-4 in the finals in a match that really wasn't that close. He is just wrestling very well right now on his feet. It is very difficult for anyone to stop his takedowns."

The third title went to senior Michael Meade at 138, who scored 22 points. He also had a bye, won a huge match in overtime (3-1) over Garrett Shibilski of Pewaukee and then edged out Dominic Kroll of Greenfield in an 8-7 decision.

"Meade had the toughest weight in the conference and still won it," Morin said. "He scored a takedown in overtime in the semis and then was in complete charge of the match in the finals.

"Michael is wrestling really well and if he keeps his positive approach, should be a favorite to get to the state tournament."

Tosa also had two second-place finishes.

Akeem Harris at 170 (20 points) pinned Marc Mayer of Greenfield in 41 seconds in the quarterfinals and Jake Rosen of Greendale (3:19) in the semifinals, then was pinned by Ty Fischer of Whitnall (4:40) in the finals.

"Harris was our surprise finalist," Morin said. "He went into the tournament with only a 2-2 conference record. He not only won his first two matches, but did it by pins. He also had Fischer from Whitnall on his back in the finals but was unable to finish it."

Devine Burt was second at 182 (18 points), receiving a bye, winning an 8-4 decision over Sam Howard of Whitnall and then getting pinned (5:39) in the finals by Tom Mitchell of South Milwaukee.

"Burt dominated his opponent from Whitnall in the semis and then lost a hard-fought match in the finals," Morin said.

"Mitchell is an outstanding wrestler that just has Burt's number.

"The thing that needs to be said, though, is that Devine has wrestled up a weight class for us all year because it was in the best interest of the team. He will get to wrestle at 170 pounds in the regionals, which is his true weight. We expect good things from him at this new weight."

Max Nelson at 145 was the only third-place performer (11.50 points). He had a bye, lost 6-4 in overtime, won in the semifinals by a technical fall (15-0) and then won the third-place match (7-2) over Sam Walton of Greendale.

"Nelson lost a disappointing overtime match in the semis," Morin said. "Max just needs to develop his killer instinct more. He needs to be able to finish off guys when he has them on the ropes. If he can do that good, things will happen over the next couple weeks."

Tosa had four fourth-place wrestlers each scoring 14 points: Eric Ehlert at 132, Sam Bertz at 160, Larry Bryant at 195 and John Brennan at 220.

Alex Comte at 152 was fifth (seven points) and sixth-place finishers were Ben Reagan at 126 (six points), Michael Vogt at 285 (five points), Dylan Christman at 113 (four points).

"One guy that I would like to highlight is Dylan Christman," Morin said. "He only took sixth but he wrestled his heart off for his team. Dylan is only a freshman so he is taking his lumps at times this year. But he always keeps coming back, which is an attitude that the coaching staff really appreciates and will serve him well in future years."

UP NEXT

Tosa will take part in the WIAA Regionals at Nicolet on Saturday.

"We go into the regionals as the favorite to win it," Morin said. "Our goal is to not only win it but hopefully qualify our entire team to sectionals.

"If we wrestle up to our potential it should be a good day."

WOODLAND RANKINGS

1. Pewaukee (226.5)

2. Wauwatosa (195.5)

3. South Milwaukee (168.5)

4. Whitnall (167.5)

5. New Berlin (114.0)

6. Greenfield (80.5)

7. Greendale (61.0)

8. Cudahy (59.0)