Raptor wrestlers making strides as regular season winds down

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By Amber Hayden

It was a busy week for the Bloomer/Colfax wrestlers as they were on the road against Boyceville, at home against Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm, and on the road once more in Shell Lake.

The first dual of the week took place against the Boyceville Bulldogs in which the Raptors suffered a loss of 27-41. Sawyer Best recorded his 100th career victory with a 12-10 decision over Boyceville’s Nate Stuart in last Tuesday’s, Janaury 21, dual.

The Colfax wrestlers were able to wrestle their one home match of the season on Thursday, January 23, and took the HON win over Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm, 62-18. This dual also marked the return of senior Mitch Harmon who has been absent from the mat much of the season due to a back injury suffered several months ago. Harmon returned in a big way with a win in the 170-pound weight class. The win left the Raptors with a final 3-2 mark, good for third place, in the South Division of the Heart O’ North Conference.

The Raptors made their way to Shell Lake on Saturday, January 25, and finished in seventh place with 235 points. Mitch Harmon and Sawyer Best finished in first place for the Raptors adding 117 points to the team’s overall points.

Bloomer/Colfax will compete in their last dual of the regular season on Friday, January 31, at the Heart O’ North Super Duals in Ladysmith where it will take on Superior in the third-place match. The conference tournament is slated for Saturday, February 8 in Cameron with regionals on February 15.

Boyceville

The Bloomer/Colfax wrestlers were on the road on Tuesday, January 21, and were handed another loss this season thanks to the state-ranked Boyceville Bulldogs, 27-41.

“I was impressed with a lot of their kids,” said assistant coach Adam Davison. “Even guys who I knew were quality wrestlers looked better than expected. It was a good dual for both teams as we got good match-ups at multiple weight classes.”

The highlight for the Raptors was the match between Sawyer Best and Nate Stuart in the 138-pound weight class. Best took the decision over Stuart 12-10 to win the 100th match of his high school career.

“We wanted to get Sawyer a better quality match so we moved him up to 138 even though he didn’t wrestle his best match of the year, he did enough to hit that milestone,” Davison stated.

Brison Tuschl took a win in the 106-pound weight class over Bulldogs freshman Dante Butler. Tuschl pinned his opponent at the 1:46 mark to score six points for Bloomer/Colfax.

Colfax’s Luke Blanchard also gained a pin fall over Emma Gruenhagen in the 113-pound weight class, just 1 minute and 30 seconds into the match.

Ethan Rubenzer snagged six points for the Raptors after having to fight from his back in the first period but was able to catch Ira Bialzik and pin him at 2:50 in the 145-pound weight class.

Bloomer/Colfax 27, Boyceville 41

195-Trett Joles (B) pinned Sebastiano Brunetti (B/C), 1:49; 220-Josh Marzofka (B) pinned Parker Readinger (B/C), 1:32; 285-Keegan Plemon (B) received forfeit; 106-Brison Tuschl (B/C) pinned Dante Butler (B), 1:46; 113-Luke Blanchard (B/C) pinned Emma Gruenhagen (B), 1:30; 120-Josiah Berg (B) tech. fall Alex Poirier (B/C), 16-0; 126-Isaac Lagesse (B/C) dec. Brice Evenson (B), 2-1; 132-Peyton Ponath (B) received forfeit; 138-Sawyer Best (B/C) dec. Nate Stuart (B), 12-10; 145-Ethan Rubenzer (B/C) pinned Ira Bialzik (B), 2:50; 152- Bowen Rothbauer (B/C) dec. Tyler Dormanen (B), 2-0; 160-Bash Nielson (B) pinned Cal Lueck (B/C), 2:49; 170-Taylor Schmid (B) pinned Kolbyn Yohnk (B/C), :33.

Colfax

With a great crowd in attendance, the Bloomer/Colfax Raptors put on a winning display, 62-18, over Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm.

“Obviously it wasn’t a close dual, and we knew going in that this was one that we should win and do so pretty easily,” said assistant coach Davison. “It was made worse by the fact they were missing three guys.”

Mitch Harmon made his season debut for the Raptors and won by pin fall against Dakota Petersen at 170 pounds. Harmon had suffered a back injury during the football season and has been working hard to get back to the mat for Bloomer/Colfax.

“He’s (Harmon) going to be wrestling significantly heavier than in years past and he’s obviously rusty and out of shape, but anyone that sleeps on him will regret it,” said Davison.

Senior Sawyer Best continued his winning ways on the mat with a technical fall over Justin Fowler in the 132-pound weight class, Best had shown signs of feeling ill after Tuesday’s match but rebounded for a win, 17-2.

Colin Bohl and Brison Tuschl took wins in their respective weight classes over Joshua Konvicka and Dominic Garland, both were by pin fall in under one minute.

“Best match of the night was Bowen Rothbauer from Bloomer,” explained Davison. “He moved up to 160 yet again to wrestle someone ranked in the top five in the state and won 3-2.”

Davison added that the biggest difference was Rothbauer’s physical conditioning and how much better he has gotten this season.

Bloomer/Colfax 62, Chetek/Prairie Farm 18

138-Ethan Rubenzer (B/C) received forfeit; 145-Tim Bekzhanov (C-W/PF) pinned Tytain Clements (B/C), 3:09; 152- Cal Lueck (B/C) received forfeit; 160-Bowen Rothbauer (B/C) dec. William Peters (C-W/PF); 170-Mitch Harmon (B/C) pinned Dakota Petersen (C-W/PF), 2:23; 182-Colin Bohl (B/C) pinned Joshua Konvicka (C-W/PF), :44; 195-Anthony Voldberg (C-W/PF) pinned Sebastiano Brunetti (B/C), 4:29; 220-Parker Readinger (B/C) received forfeit; 285-James Brady (C-W/PF) received forfeit; 106-Brison Tuschl (B/C) pinned Dominic Garland (C-W/PF), :50; 113-Luke Blanchard (B/C) received forfeit; 120- Alex Poirier (B/C) pinned Kyle Jarmusic (C-W/PF), 3:44; 126-Isaac Lagesse (B/C) pinned McKenzie Clemetson (C-W/PF), 2:46; 132-Sawyer Best (B/C) tech. fall Justin Fowler (C-W/PF), 17-2.

Shell Lake Challenge

After missing out on the January 18 meet in Ladysmith, the Bloomer/Colfax Raptors picked up a scramble in Shell Lake this past Saturday, January 25, and managed to finish in seventh place with 235 points.

Spring Valley/Elmwood finished in first place with 346 points and Chequamegon finished in second with 339 points.

Seniors Sawyer Best and Mitch Harmon finished in first place in their respective weight classes.

Best won by decision over Matt Anderson of Clear Lake in the championship bracket in the 132-pound weight class, he also had wins over Zach Roach of Hayward/Northwood, Jaden Schienebeck of Chequamegon, and Cooper Andrea of River Falls.

Since his return, Mitch Harmon has been on fire as he went 5-0 in Shell Lake and took first place over Michael Kirch of Chequamegon by decision, 8-2, in the 160-pound championship match. Harmon also had wins over Ray Schmock of Hayward/Northwood, Eli Zaloudek of Spooner/Webster, Isaah Holden of Unity, and Christian Moeller of New Richmond.

Luke Blanchard finished second for the Raptors in the 113- pound weight class after losing to Dominic Leintz of Clear Lake by major decision, 12-3. Blanchard had wins over Wyatt Graceffa of Chequamegon, Ethan Cernohous of River Falls, Connor Mattison of Regis/Altoona, and Kolton Fredrickson of Spooner/Webster.

Hope LaHaie, Bloomer/Colfax’s only female wrestler, finished in 15th place for the Raptors in the 132-lb weight class. LaHaie’s only win was by forfeit in the consolation brackets, and lost the next match to Roman Paffel of Spooner/Webster.