By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
Jared Krattiger wrestled up a weight class to challenge a nationally-ranked wrestler and led the Waterford Union High School wrestling team to a third-place finish Jan. 21 in the Terry Kramer Open (TKO) at Fort Atkinson High School.
The Wolverines wrestled Thursday against Badger at Lake Geneva in a Southern Lakes Conference dual meet. Waterford wrestles Feb. 4 in the SLC Tournament at Westosha Central in Paddock Lake.
Waterford coach Tom Fitzpatrick said Krattiger was the talk of the tournament at the TKO. Krattiger normally wrestles at 182 pounds, and wrestled up to 195 for a shot at Pewaukee’s Jacob Raschka.
Raschka is nationally ranked 10th at 195 in the InterMat High School rankings. He is No. 1 in the state in Division 1 in the latest Wisconsin Wrestling Online rankings, and is the defending WIAA Division 1 state champion at 195.
Krattiger is ranked third in the state in Division 1 at 182. Krattiger (35-0) beat Raschka (33-2) 10-7 and won the 195-pound weight class.
“Jared was in complete control of the match from the beginning,” Fitzpatrick said. “Jared scored four takedowns to Raschka’s one. The rest of the points were escapes and one penalty point. An unbelievable performance by Jared.”
Jordan Danowski (30-7) at 160 and Tanner Cadman (28-6) at 170 each finished second. Danowski lost a 6-3 decision to Kenosha Tremper’s Frank Garcia (37-3) and Cadman lost 5-2 in double overtime to Lodi’s Jacob Heyroth (22-3) in their respective title matches.
Sam Winski (32-6) beat Lodi’s Garrett Moll (24-4) 11-2 in the championship match and won the title at 120 pounds.
AJ Guardiola (24-4) finished third at 145 pounds and EJ Mastrocola (30-7) finished third at 285 pounds. Boyd Biggs (24-11) finished fifth at 220.
“The team is coming into its own right now,” Fitzpatrick said. “The hard work they’ve put in throughout the year is starting to pay off.”
Waterford scored 397.5 points in the 16-team tournament, which featured a tight grouping at the top.
Sauk Prairie won the tournament (422.5) and Lodi finished second (412.5). Lomira finished fourth (393) and Sun Prairie fifth (367.5).
The Wolverines beat Delavan-Darien 60-6 Jan. 19 at home in a SLC dual meet. Fitzpatrick said Bailey Mingus (182) filled-in and earned his first varsity win.
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