Wrestlers fourth at Stech Invitational

Looking at the overall picture, it was a good week for the Wauwatosa co-op wrestling team.

The local grapplers opened the week by losing to perennial Woodland Conference power Pewaukee, 29-24, on Dec. 14 and then finished fourth out of 17 teams in the prestigious Ed Stech Invitational at West Allis Central on Friday and Saturday.

In the loss to the Pirates, Tosa came up with seven winners.

Max Nelson at 145 pounds won on a technical fall (17-2) and Devine Burt at 182 won a major decision (12-1) to lead the way.

Tosa's other five wins came in decisions: Michael Meade at 138 (7-4), Kai Castaneda at 106 (5-4), AJ Minucci at 120 (3-1), Ben Reagan at 126 (5-2) and Eric Ehlert at 132 (8-4).

"What an exciting night," Tosa coach Kent Morin said. "Pewaukee has not lost a dual meet since they joined the Woodland Conference in 2006.

"The difference is down to one match. We will have to find a way to make up that difference before the conference tournament on Feb. 4. The effort the guys put forward in this dual was outstanding."

Tosa went 7-7 in matches wrestled, but the Pirates had two pins and that was the difference.

"My guys came out and wrestled very aggressive and wrestled extremely hard," Morin said. "We won four of the last five matches, with three of them - Castaneda, Reagan and Ehlert - winning their matches by scoring in the third period.

"It was as hard as a Tosa wrestling team has wrestled in several years. They are starting to realize what their true potential can be."

Morin knew his team frustrated Pewaukee; the Pirates' coach received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty point for arguing referees' calls.

West Allis Central won the Stech Invitational with 220.5 points, followed by Mukwonago (220), Hartford (191), and Wauwatosa (142.5). It was Tosa's best finish in more than 10 years. The locals had eight medal winners vs. just two last year.

John Brennan at 220 led the way at the invite, taking second with a team-high 22 points. He pinned his first three opponents (1 minute, 35 seconds, 1:10 and 3:24) before being pinned (2:13) in the title match by Luke Belich of Mukwonago (14-2).

Castaneda at 106 also finished second in his weight class and scored 20 team points, getting a bye, a pin (0:42) and a decision (6-1) before losing 2-0 to Tere White of West Allis Central (12-1) in the first-place match.

"Kai just dominated in his route to the finals," Morin said. "In the finals, he wrestled really tough and lost on some very controversial calls. He is finding his groove again. In my opinion, he is now wrestling like one of the top-10 106-pounders in the state.

"Our other finalist, John Brennan, just continued his pinning ways en route to the finals with three pins, including one over Luke Witty from Milwaukee Lutheran in the semis. John was definitely the underdog in that match but he just flat-out outworked Witty to get the win."

Reagan finished third at 126, scoring 16 team points. He won a major decision (9-1), a decision (11-10, and lost in the semifinal by a pin (1:26), with the consolation semifinal by a decision (4-1) and getting a pin (2:41) in the third-place match over Anthony Skrede of Janesville Craig (9-3).

Burt also had a third at 182, scoring 15 team points. He opened with a decision (8-3) and a pin (5:26) before losing in the semifinal by a decision (8-2). He then won in overtime in the consolation semifinal (3-1) and won the third-place match 7-2 over Zac Werner of West Allis Central (4-4).

"Neither Reagan or Burt were favored to win," Morin said. "They both were very aggressive and just were not going to be denied."

Four wrestlers finished in fifth place: Minucci at 120 scored 17 points, Akeem Harris at 170 scored 16, Meade at 138 scored 14 and Nelson at 145 scored 11.50.

Minucci won by pin (1:33), lost by a pin (5:42), then pinned two (1:45, 1:42) before losing in the consolation semifinal by a 3-2 decision. He then pinned (2:00) Peter Moore of Whitnall (6-3) in the fifth-place match.

Harris lost on a tech fall (21-5), then pinned three opponents (0:37, 3:49 and 2:42). He was pinned (2:37) in the consolation semifinal but won the fifth-place match with a pin (0:25).

"Akeem Harris was our big surprise place winner," Morin said. "He pinned four of his opponents. He was fun to coach, as he just dominated several of his opponents."

Meade won by a pin (2:36) to begin the day, but lost 7-3 in the quarterfinal. He then won by a pin (2:01) and a decision (9-3) in the consolation round, but was pinned (5:35) in the consolation semifinal. He won the fifth-place match by an 11-2 major decision over Evan Olson of Whitnall (10-9).

Nelson lost by a pin (3:10), but then whipped off three wins in a row by a tech fall (18-2), a 9-3 decision and a 3-2 decision. He lost 4-2 in the consolation semifinal but won the fifth-place match with a pin (0:39).

Morin talked about his team's progress so far.

"Each time out every guy has to give us their best," he said. "We are not a deep team so everyone has to contribute. But we are learning how to win close matches and that is a critical step if we are going to rise to the next level."