Tosa wrestling enjoying the holidays

The Wauwatosa wrestling team finished second at the Hamilton Holiday Duals last week at Milwaukee Hamilton.

Tosa began by beating Oshkosh Lourdes (66-12), Marshall (41-40, tiebreaker criteria) and Madison East (74-5). They then lost twice to Kenosha Bradford (38-33) and Kenosha Tremper (36-33).

The locals then won their last five dual meets, whipping Milwaukee Hamilton (78-6), Milwaukee Pulaski (84-0), Milwaukee Riverside (53-30), Bradley Tech (42-32) and Milwaukee King (76-6).

"Our victory over Bradley Tech avenged our loss to them at the Bradley Tech Duals on Dec. 3," Tosa coach Kent Morin said. "Bradley Tech is also currently ranked No. 9 in the area rankings. Our victory over Marshall (city near Madison) was nice in that they are currently ranked No. 6 in the state in Division 2."

Individual results were: Kai Castaneda (10-0), including a win over Christian Haggarty from Kenosha Tremper who is ranked fifth in state; Ben Reagan (10-0); Max Nelson (10-0); Sean McDuffie (3-0); Mason Startz (3-0), Zach Hoffland (1-0); Michael Meade (9-1), including a pin over Devin Weber from Marshall who was undefeated and ranked seventh in state; Akeem Harris (3-1); Anthony DeHoyos (2-1); AJ Minucci (8-2), Dylan Christman (7-2), Larry Bryant (7-3), including a win over Sam Clifford of Oshkosh Lourdes who is ranked fifth in state; Sam Bertz (7-3); Devine Burt (7-3); John Brennan (7-3); Marcus Morrow (6-3), Sam Hanrahan (3-4) and Matt Miller (1-2).

"It was a total team effort," Morin said. "Every single guy contributed to this second-place finish. The Marshall match came down to JV wrestler Matt Miller coming through without getting pinned against an outstanding wrestler. If he gets pinned, we lose 41-40 instead of winning on tiebreaker criteria.

"In the Marshall dual, Michael Meade was also huge, pinning Devin Weber in 5:40 who was undefeated and ranked seventh in state."

Looking at some of the individual efforts, Morin had this to say:

Castaneda: "Kai was outstanding again, finishing with six pins and an excellent 4-0 win over Christian Haggarty from Kenosha Tremper."

Christman: "He had a huge pin over Bradley Tech that set us up for the win."

Reagan: "He was amazing, improving his record to 21-2, with six pins."

Nelson: "He had nine pins and a major decision. He had a disappointing first match at the Stech. Since then, he has been wrestling outstanding. He is wrestling aggressively and more physically which is what he needs to do if he is going to have long-term success."

Bryant: "He had a huge win in our first dual against Oshkosh Lourdes. He beat Sam Clifford, 8-7, and Clifford is currently ranked fifth in state. Larry really helped set the tone for day one."

Meade had eight pins, Minucci five, Brennan four and Burt two.

Overall, the team went 103-28 in individual matches with 49 pins.

"A big reason for our overall success thus far is that we are not only beating people but we are pinning them," Morin said. "This year, we have been very aggressive in going after the pins."

Tosa accomplished this without starting 132-pounder Eric Ehlert, who broke his hand at the Stech Tournament, DeHoyos at 285, who was sick the first day, and Harris, who was out for a funeral the first day.

"We have had a nice December," Morin said. "We need to correct some things over the break but as long as we stay focused and continue to improve, there is no limit to what we can accomplish this year."

HAMILTON DUALS

1. Kenosha Tremper (10-0)

2. Wauwatosa (8-2)

3. Bradley Tech (8-2)

4. Marshall (7-3)

5. Kenosha Bradford (6-4)

6. Milwaukee Riverside (5-5)

7. Oshkosh Lourdes (5-5)

8. Madison East (5-5)

9. Milwaukee King (2-8)

10. Milwaukee Hamilton (1-9)

11. Milwaukee Vincent (1-9)

12. Milwaukee Bay View (3-2)

13. Milwaukee Pulaski (0-5)