LA CROSSE — The Aquinas High School boys wrestling team had three big performances on a big Friday night at the Reinhart Athletic Complex.
The Blugolds, ranked first in Division 3 by Wisconsin Grappler, hosted a quadrangular of nothing but ranked teams and came away with victories in all three dual meets.
Aquinas beat West Salem/Bangor, which is fourth in Division 2, by a 43-35 score and followed it up with a 56-24 win over Marathon — ranked fifth in Division 3 — and 45-30 victory over Weyauwega-Fremont, which is ranked second in Division 3.
The Catbirds finished third after beating Marathon 40-35 and losing to Weyauwega-Fremont 40-38.
The local matchup took place in the first round and wasn’t decided until the final match.
The Blugolds held a 37-35 lead going to 285 pounds, and Aquinas senior Tyson Martin pinned West Salem/Bangor senior Kaiden Stello in 1 minute, 3 seconds for the team victory. Aquinas freshman Jacob Penzkover also handed Jarett Plomedahl by technical fall at 150.
Aquinas senior Roger Flege highlighted the Blugolds’ win over Marathon by pinning Cale Quaintance in 5:34 at 144. Flege is ranked fourth and Quaintance third in Division 3.
Aquinas second-ranked sophomore Tyler Paulson highlighted the win over Weyauwega-Fremont with a 6-2 victory over fourth-ranked Jake Buss at 138, and sophomore Ayden Lorenz pinned ninth-ranked Zander Baehmann in 1:17 at 113.
The Catbirds finished off their 40-35 victory over Marathon with consecutive pins from sophomore Kaden Langrehr at 190, Caden Anderson at 215, Stello at 285 and sophomore Hunter Burns at 106. West Salem/Bangor trailed 30-16 when Langrehr stepped on the mat to start his match.
The Catbirds won the final five matches against Weyauwega-Fremont, but W-F had built a 40-12 lead after winning by injury default at 165.
G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro Quadrangular
MELROSE — The Titans, who are ranked sixth in Division 2, beat Wisconsin Rapids 48-18, Prairie du Chien 51-16 and Menomonie 50-17 to score the sweep and team victory.
Junior Brody Banse (144) and senior Jayce Stetzer (157) both won all three wrestled matches, while junior Aaron Dunigan was 3-0 with a forfeit. Koda Purney (120), Colton Koss (132)and Braden Peterson (175) all won twice and lost once for G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro.
