By Andrew Horschak
Sports Correspondent
One day after being battered by state-ranked Elkhorn in a Southern Lakes Conference match, the Burlington wrestling team bounced back with a solid showing in the Highlander Invitational on Friday, Jan. 20 at Homestead High School in Mequon.
The Demons had nine wrestlers place fifth or better in their respective weight classes as they wound up fourth in the 20-team tourney with 334 points. Oak Creek (488.5), Menomonee Falls (390.5) and Kimberly (337) finished in the top three.
“I thought we wrestled pretty well,” Burlington coach Jade Gribble said. “We were missing some weights (106, 152, 160 and 195) as we try to get kids the right kind of matches to set up their long-term success, but as a team we were very competitive. Several of our wrestlers had good days and I could find positives throughout the lineup.”
Nate Crayton continued his standout season with a first-place finish at 182 pounds. After pinning his first four opponents in less than three minutes, the eighth-ranked junior won by a 6-4 decision over seventh-ranked and undefeated Jake Belongia of New Berlin West/Eisenhower in the championship match.
“Nate looked very aggressive and relentless in scoring,” Gribble said.
Freshman Qwade Gehring also recorded four pins at 145 pounds – two in less than one minute – before losing in the final to Mike Baumann of New Berlin West/Eisenhower by an 11-6 decision. Gehring advanced to the final by coming from behind to pin Racine Horlick senior Subhan Umar in 5:04.
Zach Weiler (120) and Max Travis (285) both went 4-1 and placed third. In their third-place matches, Weiler pinned Oliver Rosado of Port Washington in 3:06, while Travis pinned Tevin Smith of Waukesha Catholic Memorial in 1:29. Travis had four pins on the day and Weiler had three.
Weiler’s only defeat came on a 3-1 overtime decision to sixth-ranked Mitch Landgraf of Oak Creek.
“Zach had continued to close the gap against a very good wrestler,” Gribble said.
Ben Kumprey (126), Lance Otter (170) and Juanye Thornton (220) all finished fourth. Kumprey and Otter both went 3-0 in their pool matches, before losing their next two against tough competition. Kumprey fell short against eighth-ranked Matt Berlin of Oak Creek in the semifinals, while Otter was pinned by fourth-ranked Nolan Paar of Oak Creek and eighth-ranked Joey Scaffidi of New Berlin West/Eisenhower.
Jake Skrundz (132) and Max Ehlen (138) both went 4-1 and placed fifth.
The Demons finished with 22 pins – second only to Kimberly’s 23.
On Thursday, Jan. 19, Burlington suffered a 47-21 SLC loss at Elkhorn. The Elks, who moved up eight spots to No. 4 in Division 1 in the latest WiWrestling.com state poll, won four matches by pin and two more by forfeit.
In perhaps the top match, Crayton won by a 5-2 decision against ninth-ranked Riley Remington at 182. Other victorious Demons were Weiler (120) and Gehring (145) by pin and Kumprey (126) and Eli Kiesler (152) by decision.
Burlington next hosts Union Grove in its final SLC match 7 p.m. Thursday.
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