Lose to Westfield in Semifinals 43-27
All the meets, tournaments, and duals that WEM-JWP’s wrestlers went through led up to the past week. And as Co-Head Coach Adam Roesler said, “The hard work of the season is done.”
The real fun began when WEM-JWP, ranked #3 in the Section 2A Team Tournament, inched past #6 St. Clair in the first round of duals in the JWP High School gym on Thursday, Feb. 15. The wrestlers looked to get another win — possibly the Section 2A title — at Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Saturday, Feb. 17. But once again, the Westfield Razorbacks rained on their parade and kicked them out in the semifinal round 43-27.
Grizzlies 38, Cyclones 33
The Grizzlies won by a thin margin, but they got it done.
And they had to do it without their best wrestler, Keegan Kuball.
“Not having Keegan to anchor the lineup was a huge mental hurdle for this group,” Coach Roesler admitted.
The team also missed Carson and Parker James, two regulars in the varsity lineup. “Our entire team took a huge step forward tonight mentally. Not having 3 regular members of the lineup made our guys zone in on the task at hand. They knew they needed to perform in other spots to make up for points that were going to be missed.”
The night started off well for WEM-JWP when Brenden Masso pinned Carson Goodrich at 107 in 3:29. Talented Spartan Blake Sheppard at 114 then evened the score as he won against Isaac Miller by fall in 2:36. Trey Richards then took the win over Braydon Won in 1:04 with Carson Petry dispatching Riley Vaughan in 37 seconds.
After that point, things remained close. Ty Romnes at 133 pinned Grizzly Reed Sammon in 2:39 before WEM-JWP collected the only forfeit of the night at 139. That made the difference, as St. Clair outscored WEM-JWP in the second half of the matches wrestled 21-14.
Eli Kruse took a 7-0 victory over Lucas Morsching, while Gavin Krause took a 9-1 major decision over Brody McClinton. Chase Bade fell Grizzly Isaac Quast in 1:18 and Lucas Vaughan overwhelmed Maddox Moreno, pinning him in 1:34.
Avery Fall at 189 took a 14-2 major decision over Cooper Garlow, setting up the deciding match at 215. With Keegan Kuball out of the lineup, Dakota Blaisdell was forced to wrestle at 285, leaving Kaven Sheehy the only one on the roster at 215. Thankfully, Sheehy didn’t have to face Jacob Schimek, ranked #1 in Class A at 215; he wrestled in the 285 match instead. All Sheehy had to do was win, even if it was by a decision.
Steven Loeffler, his opponent, nearly took him out in the second period, but Sheehy hung on. Out of nowhere, he found the strength to take down Loeffler and set up the dual-clinching pin. Although Schimek easily took down Blaisdell in 32 seconds, it didn’t matter. WEM-JWP moved on to the semifinals.
“Kaven showed some tremendous perseverance by avoiding the fall early in the match and fighting off his back,” Roesler said. “Kaven made the comment after the dual that he was not going to go down by losing close.”
According to Roesler, the secret to his upset win was his grandfather teaching him a move called the “Jap Whizzor,” a type of hold used to control an opponent’s movement. Sheehy used that move at the right time, winning him the match. “Kaven is what some of the coaches like to call a ‘gamer,’ someone who does not shy away from a big moment. Us coaches are incredibly proud of him!”
The dual helped them enter into the second round of the Section 2A tournament, where they faced #2 Westfield.
Razorbacks 43, Grizzlies 27
Roesler knew the key to winning against Westfield’s Razorbacks wouldn’t be one match or another. It was going to take a team effort to move on.
The last time WEM-JWP faced Westfield’s Razorbacks was in late December, where they lost 42-32. Although the Grizzlies put up a good fight at Lake Crystal, Westfield’s lightweights and heavyweights were too much to handle, even with Parker James and Keegan Kuball returning to the lineup in time for the semifinals.
Brenden Masso, who won his match two nights before, fell to Derek Miner in 1:46. Isaac Miller fought against getting pinned by his opponent in 114-pound Kaden Ziegler to only lose by a 12-0 major decision. Parker James showed some promise in his return to action but fell short against Kevin Kodge with a 4-1 decision loss.
Although Carson Petry at 127 tried sparking some life into the team by pinning Isaac Fort in 16 seconds, it wasn’t enough. Reed Sammon, at 133, looked great in the first period against Jaxon Meier, which frustrated Westfield. But as it looked like he could pin Meier, he ended up rolling into a loss by fall in 3:17.
With state-ranked Bo Zweiner taking care of WEM-JWP’s Trenton Huber, the Grizzlies found themselves in a 25-6 deficit. It was going to take a Herculean effort to get back into it.
Lucas Morsching at 145 looked like he was having troubles with Gage Mullenbach. But when the score was 2-1 late in the third period, he found a way to escape and get a takedown to steal the victory with a 4-2 decision. Gavin Krause and Isaac Quast collected two wins by fall, and another victory by fall made it 27-26 Grizzlies.
If Avery Fall won his match, there was a high likelihood that the Grizzlies could have won it. However, he had to go up against Alex Lea, who had a respectable record of 26-11 walking into the matchup. Outside of a quick escape, Lea didn’t give Fall any leeway. After a close shave in the first period, Fall was eventually pinned.
Although they still had a slim chance to win it, Kaven Sheehy at 215 was pinned by Ty Bronson in 36 seconds. Instead of having Keegan Kuball wrestle a pointless match at 285, the team took a forfeit to end the day with a 43-27 loss.
It was a tough day for WEM-JWP. But in a way, they may have dodged a bullet. In the championship round #1 Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial won nearly every match against Westfield for a 63-2 victory. State-ranked Bo Zweiner was the only winner for the Razorbacks by a 10-2 major decision, but two of the four points he earned were undone by misconduct on Westfield.
With heartbreak for everyone but the Section 2A Team Tournament hosts, the Grizzlies will have a week off before traveling to Blue Earth Area for the Section Individual Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 24.
