Two wrestlers head to state tournament

Morgan suffers first loss

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

Two area wrestlers received their ticket to the WIAA Division 1 state wrestling following second-place finishes in Saturday’s Sectionals.

Wilmot Union High School’s Jake Morgan, who entered the Verona Sectional undefeated, lost the first match of his senior season on a narrow 3-2 decision against No. 1 ranked Collin Kraus.

Coach John Watson knew it would be a difficult match between the top two ranked wrestlers in the 145-pound division.

“Jake handled the loss and sectional final farewell,” Watson said. “Our job is to help him focus on on the important matches that are still ahead.”

Morgan cruised through the first two rounds, pinning Zach Perrich of Sun Prairie in 1 minute, 11 seconds, followed by a 17-3 major decision victory against Bryan Reynosa of Monona Grove.

Despite the loss, Watson believes Morgan can rebound in the WIAA State tournament in Madison.

“He is very well-balanced wrestler and I think he’ll do just fine,” Watson said.

The senior, who qualified for state for his fourth straight year, needed to put in extra time in a second-place wrestle back, where he faced Milton’s Nick Richards, pinning him in 56 seconds to finish with a 37-1 record.

The Panthers other sectional finalists lost in the opening round – Joey Graham (113), Jeremy Toro (138), Jacob Walker (145) and Seth Willis (220).

For Westosha Central, 120-pound sophomore Ryan Cavil took second at the Racine Case Sectional, where he produced two consecutive pin victories before dropping the first-place match.

Cavil, now 30-14, sent Milwaukee Bradley Tech’s Kaidden Greer to mat 2:52 followed by victory against Isaiah Malone.

After losing the first-place match on a 16-0 technical fall in the second round against Bradford’s Tyler Hansen, he moved on to face Tremper’s Avry Nichols, who he pinned in 38 seconds in the second-place wrestle back.

The Falcons, who had five other qualifiers, had three lose in their opening round, but brought back two fourth-place finishes from Andrew Koroly at 106 and Austin Kukla at 138.

Koroly (24-14) won his opening round match after Milwaukee Hamilton’s Gee Nou Vang suffered an injury, but fell to Racine Park’s Eric Rodriguez by a narrow 8-7 decision.

Entering the third-place match, he lost 8-7 to South Milwaukee’s Elijah Heller.

Kukla (22-9) pinned Bradley Tech’s Ty Wauqua in 56 seconds, but was sent to the mat the following round at 2:51 against Andrew McIntosh.

In the third-place match, Milwaukee Pulaski’s Jose Gonzalez pinned Kukla at 3:25.

The three qualifiers that did not advance to the next round were freshman Jefferson Kearby (132), sophomore Dennis Grubb (152) and junior Reid McNeill (195).