By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
The Waterford High School wrestling squad won three out of seven duals at the 24-team Northern Exposure Invitational held at Merrill High School Friday and Saturday.
The Wolverines defeated a Bluejays team, plus Appleton East and Brookfield East, while losing to Menomonee Falls, Pittsville, Edgar and Oconto Falls.
In every dual, the Wolverines forfeited matches at 182 and 195, giving up 12 points to each team.
In the initial bracket competition, Waterford fell 42-33 to Edgar in its opening dual. The boys followed that up with a 46-36 defeat of Bluejays, and a 67-6 win over Appleton East (both teams forfeited at 220).
In the fourth dual, Oconto Falls bested the Wolverines 58-17, but Waterford came back with a 39-27 win over Brookfield East.
The 3-2 record in that bracket, put Waterford into what was called the Third Bracket.
In that bracket, Waterford dropped a 51-26 dual to Menomonee Falls and a 49-30 dual to Pittsville.
Justin Ratkovec, at 106 pounds, and Cody Nannemann, at 160, both went 7-0 over the two-day event. Kody Azarian, at 126, was 6-1, while Dan Mcgilvary (113) and Max Fisher (145) were 5-2 overall.
Ratkovec benefited from three forfeits, but in the four matches he wrestled he had three pins and a major decision.
Nannemann benefited from two forfeits. In his five matches, he had two pins and two major decisions.
His toughest match came against Edgar’s Anthony Lemanski. Lemanski is ranked No. 2 in Division 3 at 152 pounds, while Nannemann is ranked No. 10 in Division 1 at 152. Nannemann bested Lemanski 7-5 in this match.
Azarian’s sole loss came at the hands of Edgar’s Devin Lemanski.
Devin Lemanski is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 3, while Azarian is No. 2 in Division 1. Lemanski scored a 4-2 win over Azarian.
In his four match wins (he also had two wins by forfeit), Azarian scored three pins and a 7-1 decision.
Fisher’s only losses came to ranked opponents.
The Wolverine grapplers hosted Union Grove in a Southern Lakes Conference dual on Thursday.
Next week, they will travel to Delavan-Darien for an SLC dual on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m.
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