Demons ranked second in area, eighth in state in D1
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
The Burlington wrestling squad is in some kind of zone.
The Demons picked up their second straight tournament victory Saturday with an impressive showing at the Freedom Irish Invite.
Burlington nabbed first place with 220 points, a full 30 ahead of second-place Freedom, the top-ranked team in Wisconsin in Division 2.
Bay Port and Two Rivers, two more state-ranked opponents, rounded out the top four.
Burlington, ranked No. 8 in Division 1 in the most recent Wisconsin Wrestling Online poll, got first-place finishes at 132 and 138 from Josh Bird and Ben Hornicke, respectively.
The top two wrestlers on Burlington, Bird (25-1) and Hornickle (30-1) are ranked in the state individually for their weight classes.
Bird won all three of his matches by major decision. Hornickle similarly cruised in his first two matches before a showdown in the championship.
Freedom’s Cody Walrath gave Hornickle all he could handle, but Hornickle gritted out the 6-5 decision.
Burlington also notched five second-place finishes.
Freshman Jared Bird, Josh’s brother, improved to 4-1 by going 3-1 for the day. In the championship match, Jared Bird fell to Marshfield’s Anthony Kanable in a major decision.
The upper weights were on point for the Demons. At 170, Nathan Crayton went 2-1 for second place.
Then, Chris Marks (195), Hegeman Tiedt (220) and Nick Otter (285) all followed with second-place finishes.
Marks, Tiedt and Otter each notched pin falls before falling in their respective title matches.
Luke Iverson rounded out the top-three finishes for the Demons at 120.
Iverson won with a pin before getting pinned, which set up a third-place match against DePere’s Max Bruss.
Iverson edged Bruss for a 2-1 decision.
Burlington has been white hot since a Dec. 11 loss to seventh-ranked Elkhorn.
After solid showings at the Bi-State and Marty Loy Classics, two of the most competitive tournaments of the season, Burlington has dominated its opponents.
Derek Koenen, Wes Gavin, Crayton, Marks, Bird and Hornickle all registered pin falls in a 59-6 drubbing of Southern Lakes foe Union Grove Jan. 15 in Burlington.
Burlington improved to 3-1 in conference.
The Demons will try to make it 4-1 Thursday against Lake Geneva Badger at BHS.
The Badgers have recently earned an honorable mention ranking in the latest Division 1 WWO poll.
Freedom Irish Invite
113 – Derek Koenen (15-8), fifth place. 120 – Luke Iverson (20-11), third. 126 – Jared Bird (4-1), second. 132 – Josh Bird (25-1), first. 138 – Ben Hornickle (30-1), first. 145 – Lucas Shenkenberg (21-6), fifth. 152 – Wes Gavin (21-7), fourth. 160 – Isaiah Brenner (12-12), place unknown. 170 – Nathan Crayton (19-9), second. 182 – Tristan Lind (17-7), sixth. 195 – Chris Marks (20-5), second. 220 – Hegeman Tiedt (26-5), second. 285 – Nick Otter (22-6), second.
Burlington 59, Union Grove 6
145: Lucas Shenkenberg (BUR) over Josh Graf (UG) (MD 10-2) 152: Wes Gavin (BUR) over Zachary Ziegler (UG) (Fall 1:18) 160: Isaiah Brenner (BUR) over Clayton Maurer (UG) (MD 9-0) 170: Nathan Crayton (BUR) over Aidan Gutierrez (UG) (Fall 5:37) 182: Tristan Lind (BUR) over Evan Storm-Voltz (UG) (Dec 7-2) 195: Chris Marks (BUR) over Jordan McBride (UG) (Fall 2:50) 220: Hegeman Tiedt (BUR) over Cole Ryan (UG) (Dec 2-0) 285: Nick Otter (BUR) over Ryan White (UG) (Dec 5-3) 106: Jacob Whited (BUR) over (UG) (For.) 113: Derek Koenen (BUR) over Shane Kieslich (UG) (Fall 2:45) 120: Brett Kieslich (UG) over Luke Iverson (BUR) (Dec 9-4) 126: Jared Bird (BUR) over Kyle Kastenson (UG) (Fall 1:59) 132: Blake Hansen (UG) over Ben Travis (BUR) (Dec 6-4) 138: Ben Hornickle (BUR) over Alex Rewolinski (UG)
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