By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
ELKHORN – The odds were stacked Thursday night.
Wrestling on the road without star Josh Bird, the Burlington Demons needed a near-perfect match to knock off Elkhorn, their main rival in the Southern Lakes Conference.
Both teams entered undefeated in the league, but after an early Elkhorn lead was erased by a furious Burlington comeback, the Elks won on a technicality.
Elkhorn stormed out to 15-0 and 30-9 leads, but the Demons rallied with three straight pins from Greg Miller (220), Tyler Kirkeeng (285) and Luke Iverson (106) to end the match in a 30-30 draw.
While the first tiebreaker didn’t apply, the second tiebreaker, matches won, determined the winner. The Elks, thanks to a couple of matches that were decided in the final seconds, won eight matches compared to Burlington’s six.
Elkhorn improved to 6-0 in the SLC, and Burlington dropped to 5-1. The Elks now have the inside track on the conference title, something the Demons have owned the past four years. It was Burlington’s first conference dual loss in five calendar years (2009).
“It’s the one you circle at the beginning of the year,” said Elkhorn coach Ken Reynolds. “It was a big dual. Burlington has a class program. We feel privileged to be the team that beat them. We have a great group of kids. They all work hard. We have a great chemistry going right now.”
Bird, who is the defending 120-pound state champion, is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 1 at 138. Because he shoved an opponent out of bounds from a face lock, Bird was disqualified at last Friday’s Highlander Invite and forced to forfeit his final two matches. A WIAA rule tacked on a one-match suspension, so the Demons came to Elkhorn short-handed.
Two matches that could have gone either way played a big role in the outcome. At 160, Burlington’s Isaiah Brenner seemed poised to pull out a hard-fought decision. His spear-like takedown with less than 30 seconds to go in the third period gave him a 4-3 advantage over Elkhorn’s Walker Damask. However, only seconds later, Damask was awarded one point based on a Brenner violation, although it looked like standard grappling.
On the ensuing break, tied 3-3 with four seconds left, Brenner was the top man. Damask fought his way to his feet and pushed off Brenner for the point with 1 second on the clock.
“I was saying earlier today it’s going to be a tie,” Burlington coach Jade Gribble said. “I knew bonus points would win it. We had some opportunities for bonus points, and we didn’t get them when we had to have them. That’s the difference. I think the world of this referee, but I think he decided the match at 160.”
The Elks kept dominating, and Brett Phillips’ decision at 170 was the fourth straight win.
With only five matches left and down 30-9, the Demons needed major decisions or pins, not just wins, or they would lose.
At 182, Tiedt contributed with an 8-2 victory, cutting the lead to 30-12. Then, a pivotal match at 195 turned out to be a difference maker.
Burlington’s Chris Marks battled Dylan Linhart to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. The heavier Linhart stubbornly thwarted most Marks advances, and each grappler did a good job of staying off their backs.
The marathon went four extra periods, with Marks gaining the first point. After a Linhart point made it 2-2, the grapplers went to the ultimate tiebreaker. Since Marks scored the first point of overtime, he had the choice of riding out his opponent or starting down. Marks started down but wasn’t able to get away. The crucial decision gave the Elks their eighth match victory and assured Burlington couldn’t win that tiebreaker.
“Dylan just had to ride him out and control him, and he did,” Reynolds said. “We knew we had eight wins at that point. We knew if we lost there, we weren’t going to win anyway. We had to have it. I have a lot of confidence in Dylan in those situations. He’s been there a lot.”
Burlington mirrored Elkhorn’s early-match dominance with three pins in less than two minutes. Miller started at 220 in 14 seconds, Kirkeeng followed with a pin in 1:10 and Iverson (106) ended the dual with a 21-second pin.
“I thought we battled every match,” Miller said. “I can walk away with my head held high. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way but we will be gunning for them at the conference tournament. We just have to use this loss as motivation and give it all we got for this upcoming week.”
Gribble said the only chance Burlington has of defending its conference crown is to win the conference tournament. The SLC champion will be decided Saturday, Feb. 8, at Union Grove High School.
“I’m proud of my guys,” Gribble said. “We wrestled well today. We battled. Even matches we were supposed to lose, we battled. We have to come back and win conference. It was there for the taking, so we can’t make any excuses.”
Ben Hornickle, who has been battling a nagging injury, returned to the mat after missing a few weeks. He picked up a pin at 132. Also, Lucas Shenkenberg notched a decision victory at 138.
Back-to-back pin falls from Bryce Fitzgerald (120) and Ryan Nelson (126) helped the Elks take an early lead. Also, Connor Leahy (113), Konnor Mohr (145) and John Olsen (152) earned victories. Olsen’s reversal with 3 seconds remaining in the third period gave him a 9-7 win over Wes Gavin.
Reynolds, now in his 16th season, said his squad is a “coach’s dream.” After the team graduated four wrestlers who went a combined 171-10 in their high school careers, everyone expected the Elks to struggle this season, he said. But at 17-4, Elkhorn has proved through team chemistry and hard work, anything is possible.
“We started with good matchups, and Bryce and Ryan are our leaders,” Reynolds said. “The most important guy on our team is the second guy in the lineup. We wrestled Riley Remington against a kid that placed at state, and he fought and fought. We had five guys who wrestled at heavier weights.”
“Everyone thought we would be an average team,” Reynolds added. “Every guy in that room respects one another. They all work as hard as the next guy. It’s the best chemistry I’ve ever been around. Last year, the gap was so big. Our top four guys were so good. This group is all at the same level. That’s why I call them my blue-collar guys.”
Burlington finishes its conference dual season with a home match against Westosha Central Monday.
With three wins in their five duals Saturday at Grafton, the Elks would break the school’s all-time dual win record with 20. Elkhorn’s next conference match is Tuesday against Wilmot.
“This thing isn’t sewn up,” Reynolds said. “Wilmot is a good program. We will work to get better every day. We always try to wrestle better than we did the last time.”
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