By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
With their fourth straight tournament win, the Burlington High School wrestling team continued its late-season roll Friday at the Highlander Invitational at Homestead High School in Mequon.
The Demon boys, who are now ranked No. 7 in the state in Division 1, won the invitational with 276.5 points which was 82 points ahead of second-place Port Washington, which is ranked No. 4 in Division 2.
“The kids wrestled well,” noted head coach Jade Gribble. “We had a lot of placewinners.”
Burlington had six wrestlers take first. In addition, the Demons had two second-place finishers and five third-place finishers.
In this tournament, a team is able to wrestle more than one athlete at each weight class. Burlington had 21 wrestlers competing, and all had at least one win.
“It was a nice team effort,” Gribble said.
The six winners for the Demon boys were Ben Hornickle (at 106 pounds), Derek Gill (126), Matt Ehlen (132), Brody Fitzpatrick (138), Willie Ehlen (145) and Ryan Jazdzewski (182). All went 5-0 on the day.
In the finals, Hornickle defeated Noah Rosado of Port Washington 10-4. In doing so, he avenged an earlier season loss to Rosado. Hornickle won his first four matches all by pin. Hornickle is now 31-5 overall.
Gill, who is 32-3 overall, cruised through his weight class, securing four pins, plus a technical fall.
“He dominated all the way through,” Gribble noted.
Matt Ehlen had three pins, a technical fall and a major decision in sailing through his five matches. The five wins improved his overall record this season to 31-5.
Fitzpatrick, who is 20-1 and ranked No. 11 in the state, faced the No. 4-ranked wrestler – Travis Smith of Milwaukee Bradley Tech – in the finals and defeated him 3-1. It was Smith’s first loss of the season.
“Brody’s wrestling well now,” Gribble said. “He’s exciting to watch.”
Willie Ehlen, who is 32-3 overall, had four pins, plus a 6-1 decision win over a solid freshman from Port Washington, Jordan Dieringer.
Jazdzewski won his first three matches by pin, won the semifinal by a technical fall, and then earned a 9-4 decision in the finals. He is now 29-7 overall.
Brandt Gavin (160) and Tyler Kirkeeng (220) placed second; while Lucas Shenkenberg (113), Max Shenkenberg (152), Jesse Busch (170), Greg Miller (195) and Neal Miller (285) all finished third.
“All in all, we had a really good day,” Gribble said.
Burlington concludes its dual season at Southern Lakes Conference foe Union Grove on Thursday. That match is at 7 p.m. The Demons are currently 6-0 in the SLC.
The SLC Meet will take place Saturday, Feb. 4, at Badger High School in Lake Geneva.
“Our conference is stacked,” Gribble noted. “That’s going to be a tough conference tournament.”
After the conference meet, postseason action begins. Gribble added that his boys are peaking at the right time.
“Hopefully, we can keep it going for the next month (through the postseason),” he said.
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