By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Waterford Union High School wrestling team finished third in a competitive field Jan. 16 in the Badger Invitational at Badger High School in Lake Geneva.
Waterford wrestled Thursday at Burlington in a Southern Lakes Conference dual meet and competes Saturday in an invitational at Fort Atkinson High School.
The Wolverines finished with two individual champions at Badger. Austin Thomas (28-2) finished first at 145 pounds and Jared Krattiger (30-0) finished first at 170 pounds.
Krattiger beat Milton’s Billy Pitzner 10-6 in the title match. He beat Sun Prairie’s Will Van Pietersom by major decision (13-4) in the semifinals.
Krattiger pinned Badger’s George Somerville in 3:30 in the quarterfinals and beat Racine Park’s Isaiah Dobbs by technical fall (16-1) in his opening match.
Krattiger is ranked No. 1 in the state at 170 in the latest WI Wrestling Division 1 poll.
“Jared continues to dominate his weight class, and showed why he is currently ranked No. 1,” Waterford coach Tom Fitzpatrick said.
Thomas (28-2) beat Milton’s Vince Digennaro 6-5 in the title match at 145. Thomas pinned Badger’s Brett Adams in 1:22 in the semifinals and won by major decision (21-7) over Union Grove’s Alex Rewolinski in the quarterfinals.
Thomas pinned Sun Prairie’s David Prell in 3:36 in his opening match, and followed that with a 17-2 technical fall against Badger’s Douglas Reuss (17-2).
“Austin has the heart of a champion and refuses to be out-willed, as he displayed again this tournament,” Fitzpatrick said.
Waterford’s Sam Winski (27-8) beat Milton’s Dalton Shea by major decision (9-1) and finished third at 113.
Jack Trautman (26-7) lost 5-0 to Badger’s Reggie Kelly in the title match and finished second at 195. Trautman finished the day at 4-1.
EJ Mastrocola (20-8) got pinned in 56 seconds by Badger’s Cole Mikrut in the title match at 285 and finished second. Mikrut is the state’s No. 1-ranked wrestler in Division1 at 285.
AJ Guardiola (17-8) finished third at 138. Tanner Cadman (23-9) finished fourth at 160. Boyd Biggs (7-7) finished fifth at 220 and Jordan Danowski (4-1) finished sixth at 152.
Anthony Christenson (7-10) finished seventh at 152 and Ashton Cadman (2-13) finished seventh at 132. Anthony Miller (8-9) finished eighth at 182.
Tony Mastrocola (1-4) finished ninth at 195 and Keegan Northrop (5-10) finished ninth at 106.
In team standings at Badger the Wolverines scored 285 points. Milton won the invitational (361) and Badger finished second (339).
The Wolverines beat Wilmot 64-17 Jan. 14 in a SLC dual meet at Wilmot. Fitzpatrick said only six of 14 weight classes were contested.
Several Waterford wrestlers competed at a varsity reserve state qualifying tournament Jan. 9 at Park High School and advanced to state. Jordan Danowski won the weight bracket at 152 pounds and Dalton Danowski finished second at 160. Anthony Christiansen finished third at 145 pounds.
Ashton Cadman (132) in the girls’ division also qualified for the Varsity Reserve State Tournament, which is Jan. 23 at Wausau.
-
-
-
-
-