Waterford 54, Wauwatosa 19
By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
Waterford won five of the first six matches by pin and routed Wauwatosa West/East 54-19 Tuesday at Mukwonago in a WIAA Division 1 Team Sectional dual meet.
Waterford advances to the WIAA Division 1 State Team Tournament March 3 & 4 in Madison at the University of Wisconsin Field House with the victory. Waterford last advanced to team state in wrestling in 1997, and finished second in Division 2.
Coach Tom Fitzpatrick said the Wolverines wanted to start fast against Wauwatosa.
“We were favored, and we felt we had to go out and get on top,” Fitzpatrick said. “These guys have had the eye of the tiger for last few weeks – they’ve just been on fire.
“That really set the tempo, and got the momentum going on our side. It was a great team effort.”
Waterford won 10 of 14 matches against Wauwatosa. At 145 pounds, the Wolverines Austin Thomas opened the dual against Wauwatosa by pinning Eduardo Pliego in 3:26.
For the Wolverines, Jordan Danowski (160) pinned Sam Barta in 1:29, Tanner Cadman (170) pinned Rhetley Jones in 1:06 and Jared Krattiger (182) pinned Van McNulty in 28 seconds.
Waterford’s Jack Trautman III pinned Jared Taylor in 1:27 at 195. At 152, AJ Guardiola defeated Wauwatosa’s Brian Mahan by technical fall (17-2).
Waterford’s Cody Welker (113) defeated Andrew Radtke by major decision (22-8), and Sam Winski (120) pinned Wauwatosa’s Adrian Coppage in 1:09. At 285, the Wolverines’ EJ Mastrocola pinned Austin Ertl in 1:05.
The final match of the night proved to be the Wolverines’ closest. At 138, the Wolverines’ Anthony Christenson beat Cole Acker 7-5.
“That was a huge way to finish the dual,” Fitzpatrick said. “He knocked off a ranked kid and won that match on heart.
“That’s what we pride ourselves on – having more heart that our opponents.”
Waiting for the Wolverines in their first match at team state is Stoughton, which is ranked No. 1 in Division 1 in the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online state poll.
Stoughton beat Elkhorn 36-25 Tuesday in a team sectional dual meet at Elkhorn. Elkhorn entered the dual ranked fourth in Division 1. Waterford is ranked 10th.
Wolverines dominate regional
Last Saturday, the Wolverines won six individual titles and earned their first berth to team sectionals in 20 years at a WIAA Division 1 regional tournament at Nathan Hale High School in West Allis.
At Hale, Waterford wrestled for nine regional titles. Cody Welker, Sam Winski, Austin Thomas, Jordan Danowski, Tanner Cadman and Jared Krattiger each won regional titles at their respective weights.
Krattiger remained undefeated (42-0) in winning the regional title at 182 pounds. Krattiger pinned Whitnall/Greendale’s Jon Poulakos (18-11) in 25 seconds in the semifinals before pinning Hale’s Dylan Allen (35-9) in 38 seconds for the title.
Winski (39-6) also pinned his way through the tournament and won the regional title at 120. He pinned Hale’s
Alex Sino (29-14) in 3:35 in the semifinals and pinned Mukwonago’s Jake Schulte (27-15) in 27 seconds in the final.
Danowski (37-3) beat Muskego’s Adam McNally 5-3 for the regional title at 160 and Cadman (34-7) defeated West Allis Central’s Dustin Diebitz (32-6) 3-2 for the regional title at 170.
Welker (38-7) earned an 8-3 decision over Hale’s Charlie Wagner for the regional title at 113 and Thomas (16-5) pinned Muskego’s Ben Terlion in 3:55 for the regional title at 145.
Anthony Christensen (24-12, 132 pounds), Jack Trautman (19-2, 195) and EJ Mastrocola (35-9, 285) finished second and Boyd Biggs (29-13, 220) finished third. Josh Deboth (7-8, 106) finished fourth.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance from the regional to the sectional tournament. The top two in each weight class advance from the sectional to the WIAA Division 1 State Individual Wrestling Tournament, which is Feb. 23-25 in Madison at the Kohl Center.
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