By Dan Truttschel/Sports Correspondent
The Westosha Central wrestling team enjoyed a solid outing at Saturday’s Palmyra-Eagle Duals.
Central won its first four matches to advance to the finals, where it fell to Southern Lakes Conference rival Union Grove 46-31 to finish second overall.
Prior to the championship round, the Falcons posted wins over Waukesha North (51-21), Cudahy (48-18), Lake Mills (84-0) and Kenosha Tremper (56-18).
Three Central wrestlers recorded perfect efforts at the tournament. Griffen Bollendorf (120) was 5-0, as were Lucas Leydens (126) and Cory Hauser (145).
Jefferson was third in the final team standings, while Tremper was fourth. More results from the meet were unavailable this week.
Prior to Saturday, the Falcons traveled to Waterford Jan. 9 and dropped a hard-fought 36-31 SLC decision.
Winning matches for Central were John Culp (152), by pin in 4:29; Erick Nielsen (170), by pin in 3:07; Michael Mosbeck (106), 7-2; Noah Grimm (132), 6-1; Jon Groleau (138), 4-0; and Zach Biehn (195), by major decision 11-3.
Central now is idle until Thursday, Jan. 23, when it hosts Union Grove in a 7 p.m. rematch with the Broncos.
Panthers win SLC dual
The Wilmot wrestling squad overcame five forfeits to record a 42-33 SLC win Jan. 9 over visiting Delavan-Darien.
Winning matches for Wilmot were Anthony Klein (138), 9-5 over Gage Wuttke; Jacob Walker (145), 8-1 over Steve Schultz; Jason Richel (195), by pin in 3:50 over Eliah Nelson; and Dalton Heckel (220), by pin in 4:33 over Cristian Laureano.
Receiving forfeit victories for Wilmot were Brad Eidson (151), Austin Price (160) and Jordan Cates (182).
Wilmot is idle until Jan. 23, when it travels to Burlington to face the Demons in a 7 p.m. SLC matchup. Burlington currently is the seventh-ranked Division 1 team in the state, according to Wiwrestling.com.
Gymnasts sixth at Falcon Invite
In the 32nd and final Westosha Central Falcon Invitational Saturday, Central-Union Grove finished sixth overall in the 12-team meet with a team score of 134.375.
Arrowhead was first with a 147.425, followed by Burlington-Badger-Wilmot with a 141.200 and Franklin-Muskego-Oak Creek with a 138.800.
Top-15 individual efforts were turned in by Sydney Rau, 10th on the vault (9.075); Devan Green, 12th on the uneven bars (8.800), 13th on the vault (8.950) and 13th in the all-around (34.525); and Lexie Biggs, 12th on the floor exercise (9.000) and 14th on the balance beam (8.650).
The day signaled the end of the meet that began in 1983, as Central will combine with Kenosha next year, according to longtime coach Bill Price. Central won 12 team titles and finished in the top three 20 times.
“(It was an) emotional moment for sure when I had to inform the large crowd in attendance,” he said. “Every girl that competed today came and shook my hand and thanked me at the end. It was quite a sendoff for me. We sure did have some great meets in the history of this star-studded event.”