Boyceville wrestlers blank Durand to open D-SC duals, finish 10th in Bluejay Challenge
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THE BULLDOGS’ Landyn Leslie prepared to pin Durand-Arknasaw’s Mason O’Brien in the 138 pound match during a Dunn-St. Croix dual wrestled in Boyceville Janaury 4. The Bulldogs won 84-0. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
A new year offers a fresh start and the Boyceville wrestling team looks to take advantage of it.
After finishing 10-10 in duals in the first month of the season, the Bulldogs started 2024 off with a bang as they blanked Durand-Arkansaw 84-0 in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference wrestling opener at home Thursday, January 4. The dual lasted just 20 minutes with Boyceville winning all 14 weight classes.
Building on that effort, Boyceville trekked east to Merrill two days later to compete in the annual Bluejay Challenge. Zach Hellendrung claimed his second Bluejay crown in as many attempts to help the Bulldogs pull off a top ten finish in the 26-team Merrill tournament.
Boyceville will enjoy a nearly two-week break before taking the mat January 18 in Mondovi for a conference dual against the Buffaloes.
Durand-Arkansaw
Boyceville’s wrestlers achieved a rare feat when it hosted Durand-Arkansaw Thursday evening, January 4 in the first Dunn-St. Croix dual of the season for both squads.
The Bulldogs earned a perfect score as they whitewashed the Panthers 84-0 to kick off the conference slate in dominating fashion. Boyceville won seven matches via pins including six in the first period and seven by forfeit to claim all 14 matches against an undermanned team from Durand-Arkansaw.
ROLLING TO VICTORY — In a match at 150 pounds, Bulldog Alex Obermueller rolled to put Devin Wahlborg of Durand-Arkansaw to his back. Obermueller pinned Wahlberg in 53 to help Boyceville win the January 5th home conference dual 84-0. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
The Bulldogs’ Dallas Herdahl received a forfeit at 106 pounds to start the dual and capped it with forfeits to Isaiah Romero (190), Zach Hellendrung (215) and Parker Coombs (285). In between, Rony Ramos (113), Zane Pierce (126), Landyn Leslie (138), Alex Obermueller (150), Jack Gruenhagen (157), Zach Kersten (165) and Mark Knopps (175) all registered pin falls.
Ramos had the quickest fall of the dual, sticking the Panthers’ Lance Wallace to the mat just 15 seconds into the 113 pounds match. It took Jack Gruenhagen all of 19 seconds to pin Brady Mansmith at 157 pounds. Alex Obermueller and Mark Knopps also registered pins in under a minute at 150 and 175 pounds, respectively.
Jon Frett (120), Wyatt Sell (132) and Bryce Humpal (144) also received forfeits at their respective weights.
Bluejay Challenge
Boyceville sophomore Zach Hellendrung, having just returned to the lineup a few weeks ago following an injury suffered during the football season and with only a handful of matches under his belt, won his second straight individual wrestling championship at the annual Bluejay Challenge which was held this past Saturday, January 6 at Merrill High School.
After claiming the 220-pound crown a year ago, Hellendrung captured first place in the 215-pound weight class at the 2024 tournament.
Hellendrung’s gold-medal effort headlined Boyceville’s effort in Merrill.
Despite a couple of empty weight classes (150 and 165), the Bulldogs still managed to place tenth out of 26 schools with 226 points. Boyceville also finished tenth a year ago. Wittenberg-Birnamwood won the tournament for a second consecutive year with 365 points, St. Croix Central came in second with 337 points and Marathon was a close third with a 333. Rounding out the top five team scores were Wausau West with a 326.5 and host Merrill scored a 300.5.
Hellendrung, who improved to 10-2 on the season, finished 5-0 in Merrill en route to capturing the championship at 215 pounds. Currently ranked sixth in his Division 3 weight class, Hellendrung won four of his five matches in Merrill with pins. The only match that went the full six minutes was the championship match against Owen Schultz of Wittenberg-Birnamwood. In that first-place bout, Hellendrung claimed a 7-1 victory.
113-pound junior Rony Ramos finished 3-2 in the Bluejay Challenge to place fourth in his weight bracket. Ramos (18-7) won his first three matches of the tournament with a pin, a technical fall and a 9-5 decision. He then lost his final two matches falling via pin to Tomahawk’s Presley Gutbrod in the semifinal and 12-4 in the third-place match to Blake Mell of Wausau West.
Dallas Herdahl and Alex Obermueller both finished 2-3 on the day to placed eighth at their respective weights of 106 and 144 pounds, Jack Gruenhagen and Mark Knopps finished tenth at 157 and 175; Zane Pierce and Victor Pattermann both copped 11th place finishes at their respective weights of 120 and 126; Isaiah Romero placed 12th at 190; at 138 pounds, Jack Kurschner finished 14th while Landyn Leslie was 19th; Parker Coombs took home a 13th-place finish at 285 pounds; and Wyatt Sell finished 17th at 132 pounds.
In the junior varsity tournament, Bryce Humpal took second at 144 while Jon Frett and Tristan Larson placed third at 120 and 144, respectively.