SVE pins loss on Boyceville wrestlers
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SIX POINTS — The Bulldogs’ Tyler Dormanen is shown pinning Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Cross Hurlburt during the match at 152 pounds. This was the final match in the January 16 dual between the two rivals which gave the Bulldogs six team points. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Cardinals stunned the Bulldogs 45-30 on Boyceville’s home mat to gain control of this year’s conference race. —photo by Rochelle Olson
BOYCEVILLE — Fans of the Bulldogs’ wrestling squad that had packed into the Boyceville Gymatorium last Thursday evening for the annual showdown with foe Spring Valley/Elmwood were not expecting the end result.
And neither were the Boyceville wrestlers.
With illness affecting some of its competitors, Boyceville surrendered seven pins and the January 16 Dunn-St. Croix dual to visiting Spring Valley/Elmwood.
The Cardinals, who built an early 33-12 lead, went on to claim a 45-30 victory in the key conference battle to take the advantage in the 2019-20 title chase.
Boyceville, who has won the past two conference championships and had four pins in the dual, is now 1-1 in the D-SC while Spring Valley/Elmwood opened its conference slate with the win.
The Bulldogs looked to shake off the defeat quickly as they hosted Bloomer/Colfax last evening (January 21) and will partake in a tournament at St. Croix Falls this Saturday, January 25.
In last Thursday’s dual, the Cardinals opened with a 9-0 lead following wins at 160 and 170 pounds.
Bulldogs’ freshman Bash Nielson lost a 9-2 decision at 160 to the Cardinals’ Brayden Wolf.
In the following match at 170, it looked as though Nick Hillman might deliver a win for the Bulldogs. Twice the sophomore looked to be turning his SV/E opponent Paul Schwebach onto his back. Unfortunately, the latter resulted in Hillman ending up being pinned at the 3:30 mark for a 9-0 Cardinals’ lead.
Defending state champ and top-ranked, 182-pound Division 3 grappler Trett Joles upped the Bulldogs on the board with a quick 1:15 pin of Doug Robertson at that weight class to cut the home team’s deficit to three.
Boyceville’s lone senior, Josh Marzofka, gave his team its only lead of the contest with a first-period (1:26) pin of Spring Valley’s Trenton Marsen in the 195-pound bout.
The Bulldogs’ 12-9 advantage, however, was short lived as the Cardinals reeled off four straight wins, all by pin falls, to take a commanding 33-12 lead.
Boyceville’s Keegan Plemon (220), Greg Moore (285), Dante Butler (106) and Emma Gruenhagen (113) all surrendered 6-point falls to their Spring Valley/Elmwood counterparts.
State-ranked sophomore Josiah Berg was finally able to snap the Cards’ win streak with a well-earn 8-3 decision over Tristan Neisinger at 120 pounds. That win gave the Bulldogs three more team points but they still trailed by a wide margin – 33-15.
At this point, Boyceville still had a chance to win but would need to win the final five matches to make it a reality.
Unfortunately, Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Cole Steinmeyer scored a pin over Brice Evenson in the very next match at 126 pounds.
Peyton Ponath pinned Cardinal Skyler Beesley just 1:33 into the 132-pound match to keep the Bulldogs’ hopes of victory alive.
Nate Stuart followed with a thrilling 7-6 win over Max Schmitt at 138 to make the score 39-24.
Unfortunately, Boyceville’s hopes were extinguished when an ailing Ira Bialzik was pinned by Riley Merth at 145 pounds to secure the Cardinals their victory.
Tyler Dormanen did close out the dual on a high note for the Bulldogs as he pinned Cross Hurlburt just 2:17 into the match at 152 pounds. Dormanen’s win made the final 45-30.
Spring Valley/Elm. 45, Boyceville 30
160-Brayden Wolf (SVE) dec. Bash Nielson (BV), 9-2; 170-Paul Scwebach (SVE) pinned Nick Hillman (BV), 3:30; 182-Trett Joles (BV) pinned Doug Robertson (SVE), 1:15; 195-Josh Marzofka (BV) pinned Trenton Marsen (SVE), 1:26; 220-Clayton Neisinger (SVE) pinned Keegan Plemon (BV), 2:19; 285-Travis Marty (SVE) pinned Greg Moore (BV), 1:32; 106-Haeli Casey (SVE) pinned Dante Butler (BV), 5:12; 113-Kaleb Casey (SVE) pinned Emma Gruenhagen (BV), 0:53; 120-Josiah Berg (BV) dec. Tristan Neisinger (SVE), 8-3; 126-Cole Steinmeyer (SVE) pinned Brice Evenson (BV), 5:15; 132-Peyton Ponath (BV) pinned Skyler Beesley (SVE), 1:33; 138-Nate Stuart (BV) dec. Max Schmitt (SVE), 7-6; 145-Riely Merth (SVE) pinned Ira Bialzik (BV), 3:49; 152-Tyler Dormanen (BV) pinned Cross Hurlburt (SVE), 2:17.