Burlington closes dual season tonight at Union Grove
By Troy Sparks
Sports Correspondent
Nate Crayton has some unfinished business to complete before he closes out his high school wrestling career. The Burlington 182-pound senior and two-time state qualifier recently became the latest to join the 100-career win club in BHS history.
“It felt really good,” Crayton said of his 100th win. “It’s not very common to do. It’s crazy how it feels. It was awesome. All the people surrounded me, including the wrestling family. It was just a great feeling.”
Crayton is a two-time team captain and four-year letter winner for the Demons and led by example the moment he entered the Burlington wrestling program.
“When Nate Crayton came in, he already had some (previous) experience,” Burlington coach Jade Gribble said. “He started as a freshman at 170. He really done some good things and became a leader to be honest. I think early on it was about trying to focus on his success.
“He’s done a very good job, but it’s also now kind of becoming a better leader in that sense. He has grown maturity-wise, and hopefully we can try to keep it going.”
Crayton is focusing on making his last go-round count and he hopes to make it back to state for the third year in a row.
“I’m satisfied where I’m at right now,” Crayton said. “I’m (hoping to be) going to state. I really don’t plan on going anywhere other than that.”
After losing in the second-place wrestle back match in the 2015 sectionals at BHS at 170 as a freshman and just missing a state tournament berth, Crayton worked harder to prevent that from happening again.
“My progress from freshman year was that I felt really fatigued,” he said. “My sophomore year was to be in shape and to be in condition all the time because if you do that, you’ll always be able to push yourself throughout the whole entire six minutes. If you do those six minutes, and you’re in good shape, it will give you the motivation to get that last shot when you need it.”
Max Travis is a former heavyweight wrestler. Last year he competed in the 285-pound division. Now Travis is a lean 220-pounder. He likes to keep the team loose and is fun to be around, according to his coach.
“He’s a bigger kid,” Gribble said. “He was actually a heavyweight last year, so he’s kind of been a bigger kid and kind of just moved down and lost some weight and got a little skinnier.
“He’s a goofy kid. He’s the kid that will always make you laugh and is kind of a clown. He’s really matured and done a lot of good things. To a guy who was like, ‘Yeah, maybe I’ll wrestle but I’ll have fun doing it.’ He’s kind of focused on it and really has done a nice job. Max is a goofball. He really brings that to the team and keeps it light. He’s a good kid and we’re glad to have him.”
Travis is a three-year varsity wrestler, first-year captain and three-year letter winner. After qualifying for state at 285 last year, he’s itching for a return trip to Madison.
“I went to state last year,” he said. “The first two matches were pretty tough, so I got (eliminated) right away. I’m looking to going back and place. I’m trying harder and harder every day to get better and better to make it (to state) and place actually.”
Demons stay undefeated
Crayton and Travis were honored on Senior Night in Burlington’s last home Southern Lakes Conference dual match against Delavan-Darien, Jan. 18. Becca Iverson and Raelee Koehnke also seniors, were mentioned for their contributions to the wrestling program. Crayton doesn’t plan to wrestle in college and Travis might think about it if the right opportunity comes his way.
“I think the success of our team is because we are solid throughout the line-up,” Gribble said. “We have been able to take advantage and get bonus points where other teams are weak and withstand giving too many. In tournaments we are getting similar results because everyone in the line-up scores points with many of those being bonus points.
“This team has been fun to coach and are hungry for the postseason. I like our chances at team and individual state if we wrestle well. It isn’t about doing anything more than they usually do.”
The Demons dominated in team scoring against Delavan-Darien, 78-6 to remain undefeated at 6-0 in dual matches. Ten of their 13 wins came by pins with the other three by forfeits. Delavan-Darien Senior Miguel Sanson’s pin of Burlington freshman Nathaniel Cortez at 126 gave the Comets their only points of the match. Junior Nate Bousman (195) had the fastest pin of the match at nine seconds over Sam Markling.
On Jan. 19, Burlington extended their tournament win streak to 11 matches by winning the 24-team Homestead Highlander Invitational. The Demons scored 497.5 points. First place winners were Hayden Halter (113), Zach Weiler (132), Jake Skrundz (145) and Crayton (182).
Burlington is currently the fourth-ranked team in Division 1 in the latest wiwrestling.com rankings. The Demons aren’t good by accident. They have six of their 14 wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their individual weight classes and four made the honorable mention list.
“Kids pay attention to all that stuff,” Gribble said. “I spend a lot of time talking about that rankings don’t mean anything to be honest. I don’t care where you’re ranked. You have to go out there and take care of business, and I think the kids are getting that.
“I think, to say that they don’t look at rankings . . . They’re kids. They pay attention to a lot of that stuff.”
The Demons are looking at the big picture and are taking it one step at a time, beginning with the Southern Lakes Conference meet, Feb. 3, then the regional individual meet (Feb. 10), the team sectionals (Feb. 13) and sectional individual meet (Feb. 17).
“I always tell the kids to stay grounded and stay humble and take care of business and let the wrestling do the talking,” Gribble said. “We have to wrestle well. I think we have the ability to wrestle real well. I feel like that at this point if we wrestle well, we’ll take our chances and see what happens.
“We got a young team. A lot of freshmen and sophomores. So, it’s about trying to keep them focused and keep them grounded. Sometimes they go overboard and you got to bring them back (to reality).”
Homestead Highlander Invitational Team Scores
Burlington 497.5 Kimberly 326 Oak Creek 324 Menomonee Falls 316 Hartford 292 Port Washington 258.5 Union Grove 237.5 Catholic Memorial 218.5 New Berlin/Eisenhower 215.5 Kettle Moraine 210.5 Grafton 201.5 Oconomowoc 200.5 Fond du Lac 183.5 Waukesha West 148.5 Homestead 148.5 Milwaukee Bradley Tech 144 Pius XI 143.5 Reedsville 142 Whitefish Bay 101 Racine Case 79 Racine Horlick 76 Cudahy/St. Francis 70 Milwaukee King 63.5 Milwaukee Bay View/Lifelong Learning/South 42.
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