By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
Twenty-seven teams.
Some of the best talent in the state.
No problem.
Not for these guys.
The Burlington wrestling squad continued its season dominance with its third tournament victory of the season Saturday, this time a convincing beat-down at the Highlander Invite.
Though there weren’t any state-ranked teams, it was still an impressive showing from Burlington, which welcomed the return of Jaden Bird, who won his weight class at 113 pounds.
“We won the 27-team tournament by over 100 points so I felt we dominated the tournament for the most part,” said Burlington head coach Jade Gribble. “I knew going in we’d have a good chance to win. So far this year we’ve won three tournaments (Slinger, Fond du Lac, & Highlander). I feel like our team is wrestling very well and hopefully we can keep it going heading into conference and postseason tournaments.”
The Demons won the event with 431.5 points, more than 100 points ahead of second-place Germantown, which scored 325.5.
Neenah was third with 308.5.
Individually, Burlington boasted four champions, Bird, Max Ehlen (145), Jake Skrundz (170) and Qwade Gehring (182).
Bird earned two tech falls and two majors, including a 17-7 victory in the championship.
Gribble said Bird dominated a good wrestler from Kettle Moraine in the finals.
Ehlen (25-6), won a hard-fought 5-1 decision in the finals.
“Max looked great this tournament as he has really been working on getting better from the top position,” Gribble said.
Skrundz and Gehring, meanwhile, also saw similar results and the Demons’ four champions made an emphatic statement on the mat.
“Jake Skrundz and Qwade Gehring both dominated their brackets,” Gribble said. “Jake had four pins and one technical fall, and Qwade pinned all five of his opponents. Our four champions all had great days and for the most part controlled their opponents.”
At 195 pounds, Zach Wallace took second place. He won three matches before being pinned in the finals.
Cody Welker placed third at 152, where he beat Kimberly’s Tucker Smith, 15-7, in the third-place match.
Burlington had two fourth-place finishes, Austin Skrundz at 132 and Ben Kumprey at 160.
Austin Skrundz lost, 8-7, in a close battle for third place.
Kumprey lost his final two matches by medical forfeit.
At 220 pounds, Zeke Tiedt took fifth place.
Tiedt overcame being pinned to win his final two matches by pin fall, both in just less than 3 minutes.
Burlington travels to Wilmot Thursday night to close out the SLC regular season.
See the full story in the Jan. 30 edition of the Standard Press
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