By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
BURLINGTON – Maybe Elkhorn wrestling coach Ken Reynolds was onto something.
Before the season, the veteran head man said his Elks squad has more talent this year than any he has ever coached.
Reynolds’ teams have always been ranked in the top 15 in the state and have included individual state champions.
The Elks’ talent was on full display Thursday night in a Southern Lakes Conference showdown at defending conference champion Burlington.
Elkhorn overcame a 20-13 deficit and won three of the final four matches en route to an impressive 34-23 victory in a hostile environment over host Burlington, a team many pundits believe will win the conference title.
The SLC opener for both teams, it was free T-shirt night, and a packed house witnessed the Elks flex their muscles with a deep mix of established wrestlers and young talent.
Down 20-13 with four weight classes to go, the tides turned for the Elks at 195. Burlington was without regular starter Chris Marks, and Austin Jagielski tried his best to avoid a pin fall at the hands of Elkhorn’s Jordan Barr. But Barr pinned Jagielski’s shoulder to the mat in 1:48, and it sparked a 21-3 Elkhorn run to end the match.
Dylan Linhart followed with a hard-fought 3-2 decision over Hegeman Tiedt at 220, but Burlington’s Nick Otter won a 2-1 decision at heavyweight to put the Demons back on top, 23-22.
Jayce Coffey (106), who was moved up to varsity for an injured starter, and Benji Peak (113), both freshmen, iced the win with pins in the final two matches against two Burlington freshmen, Jacob Whited and Eric Fettig.
It was a mild upset, as Burlington is ranked No. 8 in the state in Division 1 according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online. Elkhorn is honorable mention in the same rankings. It’s the second straight year the Elks beat Burlington in dual meet action.
“We are strong in our heavy weights,” said Reynolds. “It was a very big moment when Jayce got the pin. That locked up the match for us. It was a great dual. They’re a very, very good team. Burlington will be back.”
Josh Bird earned five points with a big win at 132, Ben Hornickle followed with a pin, and Luke Iverson (120), Nathan Crayton (170) and Tristan Lind (182) added decisions early in the match.
But the Elks fought back with a vengeance. They were the aggressors all night, and Burlington never seemed to find a groove.
“They totally out-wrestled us tonight,” Burlington coach Jade Gribble said of Elkhorn. “Even in our wins, I wouldn’t say we wrestled well. I wasn’t disappointed with our effort, but what we showed tonight wasn’t aggressive. We go after people, but tonight they went after us. I just don’t think we were on.”
Gribble said Jagielski, who weighed in at 177 and gave up about 20 pounds, was moved up from junior varsity to fill in for Marks. Also, it was the first high-stakes conference dual for Whited and Fettig, who were given the daunting task of closing things out with the match on the line.
“We have to get a lot better,” Gribble said. “We need to work harder in practice. We need to prepare more. Everybody. From the JV to the varsity to the coaches. It’s an all-in attitude, and we have to fix it. I can’t handle going through a season where we have talent like we do and we don’t wrestle like we need to.”
Elkhorn, which lost to fourth-ranked Stoughton earlier in the season, may now be the team to beat in the Southern Lakes.
“Winning a big match is significant because nobody is where they want to be,” Reynolds said. “I love this group. They are hard-working, and they go to war. We’re family. They wrestled for Elkhorn tonight.”
“Our freshmen are veteran guys, and that’s how we treat them.”
Nothing gets easier for either squad. Burlington has a week off before traveling to SLC foe Delavan-Darien next Thursday, while Elkhorn will face state-ranked powers Stoughton and Whitnall, among others, Saturday at an invite in the Wisconsin Dells.
Elkhorn 34, Burlington 23
120: Luke Iverson (BURL) over Connor Leahy (ELAR) (Dec 2-1) 126: Bryce Fitzgerald (ELAR) over Robert Elsbury (BURL) (MD 9-1) 132: Josh Bird (BURL) over Alex Brahm (ELAR) (TF 21-5 4:00) 138: Ben Hornickle (BURL) over Riley Remington (ELAR) (Fall 3:15) 145: John Olsen (ELAR) over Lucas Shenkenberg (BURL) (Dec 10-4) 152: Konnor Mohr (ELAR) over Wes Gavin (BURL) (Dec 5-2) 160: Bryce Jacobson (ELAR) over Isaiah Brenner (BURL) (Dec 5-2) 170: Nathan Crayton (BURL) over Walker Damask (ELAR) (SV-1 6-4) 182: Tristan Lind (BURL) over Keaton Verhoeven (ELAR) (Dec 5-3) 195: Jordan Barr (ELAR) over Austin Jagielski (BURL) (Fall 1:48) 220: Dylan Linhart (ELAR) over Hegeman Tiedt (BURL) (Dec 3-2) 285: Nick Otter (BURL) over Richard Heidemann (ELAR) (Dec 2-1) 106: Jayce Coffey (ELAR) over Jacob Whited (BURL) (Fall 1:06) 113: Benji Peak (ELAR) over Eric Fettig (BURL) (Fall 4:58)
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