On Saturday, February 15, the Boys’ Wrestling Team traveled to Delavan to participate in the Regional Wrestling Tournament. This tournament consisted of 14 teams with wrestlers competing to put themselves in the top four with the opportunity to compete in the Boys’ Sectional next Saturday at Waupun.
When the dust settled after lots of great wrestling throughout the day, the Whippets found themselves with 5 in the top four to advance to sectionals.
Leading the way were three champions; Jarvis Porcaro, Connor Friend, and Traysen Thomason. All three of these young men wrestled outstanding through the day. Jarvis started his day off with a first period pin and in the process earned his 100th career win, which is quite an accomplishment. Jarvis also pinned his semi-final opponent in the first period and wrestled an outstanding championship match securing a technical fall and winning his first regional title.
Connor Friend was our second champion. Connor wrestled with a purpose all day as he came out strong in his first two matches getting pins to work his way into the championship match. We knew that he had a tough competitor from St. Johns Military Academy and would need to weather the storm as the young man comes out showing his strength. Connor found himself in a hole after a big time throw from his opponent, but he kept his composure and just kept plugging away. As a coach I am not sure I have been in the corner of such an intense match. The crowd was really getting into the match which was exciting, as it was so cool to see Rock Valley Teams getting involved in the cheering. By the 3rd period it showed why we stay after practice and do the extra things. Connor continued to plug away and was able to secure takedowns and back points to overcome his deficit, finally securing a pin. This match is what wrestling is about, a great battle between outstanding competitors and the crowd getting into it no matter what school they are from!
Traysen Thomason had the opportunity to be the next match on the mat and he fed off of the crowd energy. The coaches had never seen him wrestle with the intensity and drive that he did. He had a game plan for his opponent and followed it to a T. He secured 3 takedowns and then the pin to win his 2nd regional title. Traysen was extremely excited after the match as he had never shown the emotion he did with his excitement. It was a very exciting two matches in a row for the team.
Coming in runner up was Jasen Porras. Jasen started the day off with a nice pin and then had a very tough competitor in the semifinals from Shoreland. Jasen has become very good at watching his opponents and is good at analyzing what his opponents will do. He followed his plan and weathered an early storm but chipped away and ended up getting a technical fall 22-7 victory. This match also showed what the extra things outside of normal practice will do for a competitor. Jasen faced a tough foe in the finals as his opponent is ranked number 1, but Jasen did not back down and worked his tail off, but came up short on the title.
Closing out the qualifiers was Richi Kalra who had a very exciting quarterfinal match that was exciting to the very end. It might be the best overall match Richi has wrestled all year as he kept himself in good position to secure the victory. He then ended up dropping his next two, but did secure his ticket to sectionals with his 4th place finish.
Coming in 5th was Adalynn Frye who stepped in and competed at 106 for the boys’ team. She had a couple tough opponents on the day but by being willing to step in, scored some points and is an alternate for sectionals if one of the top four are unable to go.
In the coaches’ opinion on the day we had everyone wrestle well as we had many nice wins along the way but then also some tough losses. Ruben Puc Chi stepped in and had a tough first round draw against a top 3 ranked student. He followed up with a very nicely wrestled match but ended up losing. The lack of varsity experience proved to be the difference in that last match. Keenan Sheffield started his day off with a nice first round win but then was unable to advance further and lost in the consolation bracket. Max Babcock started the day off with a very nice win against an extremely strong opponent, but in this case, Max used his technique against a guy who was strong but not technical. He then dropped his quarterfinal match and came back with another nice win for himself before dropping the consolation semi-final match ending his day.
Avi Kalra had a good day for himself as well. Like Max, he started his day with a nice win and then lost to the number 1 seed but came back with another win on the backside. In the consolation semifinal he wrestled a familiar foe from Lake Mills but dropped the match. He was very disappointed after, but he wrestled his heart out in that match.
Trevor Piper has continued to show progress although sometimes he may not see it. All year he has given up 10 pounds at the 190-pound weight class which can often be a difference in muscle mass. Trevor again wrestled his heart out, showing he is picking up the technique but at times just isn’t quite able to finish. As a sophomore he is showing progress technically and will get stronger, so the coaches are happy with his performance not only on Saturday but all season.
Making their way into the 5th place match but coming up short were Austin Retzlaff and Junior Soto. Austin started the day off with a nice win, then dropped his quarterfinal match, but came back with a couple of wins on the backside before falling in the placement match to a physical student from Martin Luther. Junior Soto lost a tough match in the quarter finals as he just got out of position. He came back through the backside with a couple of wins to put himself in the 5th place match. He was right in the match securing an early takedown, but in the end, he was overcome and finished in 6th place.
The 5 qualifiers will next be in action on Saturday, February 22, when they travel to Waupun High School. Wrestling starts at 10:00. The top three wrestlers from each weight will advance to the state tournament at the Kohl Center.