Wilmot’s Zembal wins title at SLC meet

By Dan Truttschel~Sports Correspondent

Wilmot’s Kody Zembal entered Saturday’s Southern Lakes Conference Meet at Burlington with just one blemish on his season record.

And he was plenty determined to keep it that way by the time the meet came to an end.

Zembal made quick work of his two opponents at 132 pounds to bring home the title and lead the Panthers to a fifth-place finish in the team standings.

After a first-round bye, Zembal pinned Badger’s Bryan Nugent in 1:57 to advance to the finals against Elkhorn’s Bobby Dall.

In the finals, Zembal rolled to a 15-3 major decision win to close out his SLC record at 9-1. Zembal’s only loss this season came to Waterford’s Kody Azarian.

Azarian moved down to 126 pounds for the tournament and claimed that title Saturday.

Wilmot also had one second-place finish and three fourths at the tournament.

Matthew Wagemann finished second at 113 pounds, while Tim O’Dowd (126), Jordan Cates (145) and Aaron Bonogfsky (195) each were fourth.

Wagemann won his first two matches with a pin in 2:19 over Central’s Rue Swift and an 11-1 major decision over Elkhorn’s Bryce Fitzgerald to move into the finals.

In the title matchup, Wagemann battled Burlington’s Ben Hornickle right to the end before he fell 3-0.

O’Dowd, Cates and Bonogfsky each were 2-2 on the day en route to their fourth-place finishes.

Other Wilmot wrestlers who placed were Andre Cuevas (138), 2-2, fifth; Melvin Merkel (152), 2-2, fifth; and Chris Krause (170), 1-3, sixth. Lucas Phillips (106) and Doug Edmonds (220) both were 0-2 and didn’t place.

 

Carlson leads Falcons

Central’s Hunter Carlson finished third at 106 pounds to lead the Falcons.

Carlson, who was 3-1 for the day, defeated Delavan-Darien’s Carter Schwarz by major decision 10-1, but fell 5-0 to Waterford’s Justin Ratkovec in the semifinals.

In the consolation semifinal, Carlson bounced back for a 7-2 win over Burlington’s Robert Elsbury, followed by his second victory over Schwarz in the tournament, this time by a 6-0 decision.

Central also had one fourth-place finish, one fifth and five sixths.

Finishing fourth was Zach Biehn (182), as he was 2-2 for the day. Randy Hogan (220) also was 2-2 to finish fifth.

Placing sixth were Lucas Leydens (120), 1-3; Sean Cavil (132), 1-3; Ben Aker (152), 1-3; Tim Edquist (160), 1-3; and Ted Slater (195), 1-3.

Rue Swift (113), Jeremy Cavil (126), Austin Hedrick (138) and Cory Hauser (145) each were 0-2 and didn’t place.

Badger won the team title with 235.5 points, followed by Elkhorn with 222 and Burlington with 209. All three teams have been ranked in and around the top 10 in the state all season.

Waterford was fourth with 141.5 points, followed by Wilmot with 106.5, Union Grove with 106, Delavan-Darien with 100 and Central with 62.

Both teams will now turn their focus to the postseason and this Saturday’s Division 1 Elkhorn Regional. Action begins at 10 a.m.

Joining Central and Wilmot are Badger, Beloit Memorial, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Elkhorn and Milton.

 


Posted

in

by

Tags: