Sauk Prairie wrestlers 9th at Fondy

Sauk Prairie recorded four top-three finishes and placed ninth at the Fondy Cardinal Invite wrestling meet in Fond du Lac last Saturday. Despite competing with just seven wrestlers, Sauk Prairie finished with 104.5 points behind a quartet of third-place finishers — sophomore Colton Uselman (106 pounds), and seniors Marcus Hankins (195), Simon Patterson (220) and Austin Rider (285). Burlington won the meet with 236 points, followed by Stevens Point with 205 points. Bay Port (193.5), Random Lake (181) and Denmark (156) rounded out the top five. “The guys bounced back really well today,” Sauk Prairie coach Matt Gaffney of the Eagles, following a 54-21 loss to Waunakee in a Badger Conference dual last Friday night. “We may have some forfeits. But the guys we do have are ready to battle every night.” Sauk Prairie finished with nine pins with Rider (14-1) leading the way with three. Hankins (13-2) and Patterson (8-2) had two each. Uselman (13-2) recorded a technical fall and won two of three matches that were decided by decisions. • Waunakee 54, Sauk Prairie 21 — Marcus Hankins and Simon Patterson recorded pins for the host Eagles (0-2 Badger North) on Alumni Night, but the Warriors (2-1) used three pins and five forfeits to pull out the victory in a Badger North Conference dual last Friday night. The match opened at 145 pounds, and Waunakee jumped out to a 27-0 lead after earning a decision, securing a pin and receiving three forfeits in the first five matches. But Sauk Prairie won four straight matches to pull within 27-21. Senior Marcus Hankins jump-started the Eagles’ surge, pinning Chase Borchardt in 1 minute, 11 seconds at 195 pounds. Simon Patterson then pinned Jack Schweitzer in 1:23 at 220, Austin Rider received a forfeit at 285, and Colton Uselman earned a 5-3 decision over Jayden Freie to close out Sauk Prairie’s rally. But Waunakee closed out the dual with two pins, two forfeits and a decision at 138 to close out the dual.  “Waunakee is pretty solid and giving up those forfeits makes it tough to compete in a dual meet,” coach Matt Gaffney said. “It was our first home meet, so there were some nerves. “But after the meet, I told the guys when you wrestle at home, you have to make it an ‘our house’ type of thing. They responded real well.” • On deck: Sauk Prairie will travel to Merrill to compete in the Northern Exposure Duals on Friday and Saturday with competition beginning both days at 8 a.m.   Dec. 20 Waunakee 54, Sauk Prairie 21 145: Braysen Ellis, W, dec. Carson Saladis, 3-0. 152: Berhett Statz, W, won by forfeit. 160: Kaden Hooker, W, pinned Sam Vils, 5:34. 170: Daniel Ford, W, won by forfeit. 182: Kael Johnson, W, won by forfeit. 195: Marcus Hankins, SP, pinned Chase Borchardt, 1:11. 220: Simon Patterson, SP, pinned Jack Schweitzer, 1:23. 285: Austin Rider, SP, won by forfeit. 106: Colton Uselman, SP, dec. Jayden Freie, 5-3. 113: Coltan Nechvatal, W, won by forfeit. 120: Kolby Heinz,W, pinned Riley Minette, 0:54. 126: Robert Lofredo, W, won by forfeit. 132: Gabe Guralski, W, pinned Dylan Breunig, 3:37. 138: Sam Lorenz, W, dec. Luis Elizondo, 7-3.   Dec. 21 Fondy Cardinal Invite Team Scores: 1, Burlington, 236; 2, Stevens Point, 205; 3, Bay Port, 193.5; 4, Random Lake, 181; 5, Denmark, 156; 6,  Lodi, 152; 7, Hudson, 141; 8, Freedom, 127.5; 9, Sauk Prairie, 104.5; 10, Manitowoc Lincoln,  76; 11, Port Washington,  75; 12, Kewaskum, 70.5; 12, Menomonie, 70.5; 14, Fond du Lac, 60; 15, Kiel, 58; 16, Menomonee Falls, 52; 16, Oak Creek, 52; 18, Kenosha Bradford, 49.5; 19, Cedarburg, 46; 20, Oconomowoc, 45; 21, Mosinee, 29; 22, Sheboygan Falls, 11; 23, Middleton, 10; 24, Winnebago Lutheran Academy, 4.   106: Colton Uselman (13-2) placed third and scored 21.5 team points. Championship round – won tech fall over Owen Noel, Bay Port, 5:44 (15-0); dec. AJ Henn, Hudson, 9-3; lost by dec. to Parker Heintz, Lodi, 3-0; Third-place match – dec. over Holden Willett, Oconomowoc, 4-1. 138: Luis Elizondo (9-5) did not place and scored 3 team points.  Championship round – lost by dec. to Parker Scholler, Random Lake, 5-1; pinned John Ndoyi, Middleton, 2:06; lost by dec. to Ben Stevenson, Burlington, 5-0. 145: Carson Saladis (5-6) did not place and scored 2 team points.  Championship round – won by dec. over Joey Sullivan, Hudson, 12-10; lost by pin to Ethan Schwartz, Denmark, 1:40; lost by dec. to Cooper Behnke, Stevens Point, 5-2. 160: Sam Vils (6-9) did not place. Championship round – lost by dec. to Terry Guell, Winnebago Lutheran Academy, 6-2; Consolation round – lost by pin to Colton Berna, Bay Port, 2:46; Consolation Back -- received a bye; pinned Will Grosspeitch, Middleton, 2:02. 195: Marcus Hankins (13-2) placed third and scored 26 team points. Championship round -- received a bye; pinned Thomas Obremski, Mosinee, 1:49; lost by dec. to Zach Wallace, Burlington, 3-2; Third-place match – pinned Ben Raczek, Stevens Point, 1:45. 220: Simon Patterson (8-2) placed third and scored 26 team points. Championship round – pinned Jordan Mixon, Kewaskum, 1:19; pinned Jaylen Wright, Menomonie, 1:04; lost by dec. to Gabe Wertel, Denmark, 8-2; Third-place match – won by forfeit over Jaren Rohde, Stevens Point. 285: Austin Rider (14-1) placed third and scored 26 team points. Championship round – pinned Ever Armendariz, Port Washington, 1:55; pinned Joe Schmitz, Fond du Lac, 4:24; Semifinals – lost by dec. to Andrew Fenton, Menomonie, 2-0; Third-place Match – pinned Hayden VanCamp, Freedom, 2:17.         HOCKEY Sauk Prairie’s co-op boys hockey team extended its season-opening winning streak to six games before the Eagles were dealt their first loss of the season last week. Sauk Prairie opened the week with a 3-2 victory over visiting Baraboo/Portage in overtime on Dec. 17 before Beaver Dam dealt the Eagles a 4-2 loss last Friday night. Following is a look at last week’s action. • Sauk Prairie co-op 3, Baraboo/Portage 2 (OT) — Camden Desroches scored in overtime as the host Eagles rallied from a two-goal deficit to edge the Thunderbirds in a Badger North Conference game. Following two Baraboo/Portage (5-3-0, 1-1-0 Badger North) goals in the second period, senior defenseman Willy Hanson pulled Sauk Prairie (6-0-0, 2-0-0) within 2-1 at the 13 minute, 7 second mark of the period. Senior wing Riley Jelinek tied the score at the 14:02 mark of the third period to force overtime. Baraboo goalkeeper Dane Hinz had 57 saves, while Jordan O’Connor stopped 10 shots for Sauk Prairie. • Beaver Dam co-op 4, Sauk Prairie co-op 2 — Camden Desroches scored two goals, but Riley VanderHoeven scored four goals to help the host Golden Beavers snap the Eagles six-game winning streak. VanderHoeven scored back-to-back goals to stake Beaver Dam (6-1-0, 2-1-0) to a 2-0 lead before Desroches scored off assists from Nick Mast and Riley Jelinek at the 14:12 mark of the second period to pull Sauk Prairie (6-1-0, 2-1-0)within  a goal. But VanderHoeven scored 98 seconds later to give the Beavers a 3-2 lead entering the third period. He added an empty-net goal with 1:02 to play to help Beaver Dam secure the victory. Kirk Davis finished with 31 saves for the Golden Beavers, while Jordan O’Connor stopped 17 shots for Sauk Prairie. • On deck: The Sauk Prairie co-op is off until Jan. 3 when the Eagles host McFarland in a non-conference game at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center Ice Arena at 7 p.m.   Dec. 17 Sauk Prairie co-op 3,  Baraboo/Portage 2 Baraboo/Portage …...... 0 2 0 0 — 2 Sauk Prairie …....……. 0 1 1 1 — 3 Second period: B/P — Campbell Koseor (George Fitzwilliams), :23; Luna Larson, 8:29; SP — Willy Hanson (Jay Liedtke, Nick Mast), 13:07; Third period: SP — Riley Jelinek, 14:02. Overtime: SP — Camden Desroches (Jelinek), 7:15. Saves: B/P 57 (Dane Hinz); SP 10 (Jordan O’Connor). Penalties-minutes: BP 5-10; 1-2.   Dec. 19 Beaver Dam co-op 4,  Sauk Prairie co-op 2 Sauk Prairie.....................0 1 1 — 2 Beaver Dam......................0 3 1 — 4 Second period: BD — Riley VanderHoeven (Dalton Jones), 2:32; VanderHoeven (Ben Cremers, Ian Conlin), 12:52; SP — Camden Desroches (Nick Mast, Riley Jelinek), 14:12; BD — VanderHoeven (Cremers, Conlin), 15:50. Third period: SP — Desroches (Jelinek), :38 (sh); BD — VanderHoeven (Jones), 16:58 (empty net). Saves: SP 17 (Jordan O’Connor); BD 31 (Kirk Davis). Penalties-minutes: SP 6-12; BD 2-4.   GYMNASTICS Sauk Prairie was swept by River Valley/Barneveld and Dodgeville/Mineral Point in a triangular meet hosted by Dodgeville last Friday night. River Valley/Barneveld went 2-0, finishing with a team score of 128.25 points. Dodgeville/Mineral Point was 1-1 with a total score of 124.925. Sauk Prairie went 0-2 with a score of 116.70. No individual results for Sauk Prairie were available at press time. • On deck: Sauk Prairie will concentrate on training until it returns to action with a Badger North Conference dual against visiting Baraboo on Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m.   Dec. 29 Dodgeville Triangular Team scores: River Valley/Barneveld 128.250; Dodgeville/Mineral Point 124.925; Sauk Prairie 116.700. Balance beam: Shatrawka, RV/B, 9.325. Floor exercise: Shatrawka, RV/B, 9.050. Uneven bars: Bockhop, D/MP, 8.550. Vault: Bockhop, D/MP, 8.800. All-around: Bockhop, D, 34.700.