Grizzly matmen third at Byron

By MICHAEL ROY

Staff Writer

The WEM-JWP Grizzlies are finding their groove early in the wrestling season. After dropping two matches at Medford, they turned things around with a win at Triton and a third-place finish at Byron last weekend.

 

WEM-JWP 57, Triton 24

The host Cobras were already at a disadvantage, giving up four forfeits for a free 24 points to the Grizzlies. Even with the 24-point head start, WEM-JWP still won six of the 10 matches wrestled and outscored Triton 33-24.

Parker James lost by fall to Triton’s Theo Kispert in 4:31 at 106 pounds. After two forfeits, WEM-JWP jumped ahead by 11 when Carson Petry defeated Alex Ortiz by a 16-1 technical fall in 3:48 at 126.

Other winners: Gavin Krause (152), 12-1 major decision; Lucas Morsching (160), fall, 3:58; Jack Cahill (182), forfeit; Maddox Moreno (195), forfeit; Avery Fall (220) fall in 1:45, and Keegan Kuball (285), fall, 1:15.

 

Byron Invitational

The Grizzlies historically struggle at the meet, but this year the team went 2-1 against opponents that co-head coach Adam Roesler considered very respectable teams.

The first team they faced was Byron, a team that always gave the Grizzlies trouble. This time, it was the other way around.

James and Brady Murphy won by fall, with Petry’s win by major decision giving the team a 16-point lead.

Byron chipped away at the lead with wins by fall in four out of six matches. Zach Quast, 132, defeated his opponent by fall, but Krause and Isaac Quast won by decision, allowing the Bears to narrow the lead. 

Cahill’s win by fall gave the Grizzlies an eight-point lead, but Byron won by fall and by forfeit to take its first lead. It was up to Kuball.

All Kuball needed to do was win the match, even if by decision. He instead won by fall.

Dover-Eyota shocked WEM-JWP back to reality. Only Murphy and Cahill won. Murphy won by fall in 3:59 while Cahill took a 16-5 major decision. The dual ended with a rare loss for Kuball in 1:11.

It put the Grizzlies in the third-place match, and they easily handled Westfield 54-18.

Winners: Murphy, James, Petry, Kelton Erler, Krause, Cade Christianson, Morsching, Keegan Lamont, Quast, Cahill, Fall and Kuball.

 

Current records

Roesler provided current stats for the varsity. As a whole, the team is 61-62 in matches. Individually: Kuball 8-2; Petry 8-0; Murphy 7-3; Krause 7-3; Cahill 5-1; Max Davis 4-3; Morsching 4-7; Kelton Erler 3-5; Fall 2-3; Zach Quast 2-5; Jaxon Hulsing 2-5; Isaac Quast 2-7; Carson James 2-6; Parker James 1-3; Lamont 1-0; Maddox Moreno 1-3; Trey Richards 1-1; Charles Adams 1-0; Ben Root 0-3; and Patrick Adams 0-2.

The Grizzlies travel to Glencoe-Silver Lake Friday, Dec. 16 for a tournament.