Sparta finishes 3rd, Marshfield takes team title

Sparta finished 1o points back of New Lisbon and 60 behind team champion Marshfield to capture third place today at the Spartan Invite.  Despite missing Toby Mosely and Morgan Leis to sickness, the Spartans were able to make a serious run at the runner-up spot, but Marshfield top to bottom was too solid for the Spartans.

Matt Tourdot led the way for Sparta going 4-0 with four pins and four minutes of mat time (it was 3:59 if you want to get technical) to improve to 35-0 on the year.  Brandon Rickert at 119 pounds and Brandon Brueggen at 171 pounds also advanced to the championship matches, but each lost very close matches.

Rickert had the more entertaining match of the two Brandons as he took this year’s Bi-State champion into overtime and nearly won it with a takedown that was just off the mat.  In the end he was bested by New Lisbon’s Zachary Oleson (31-4) by a score of 3-1.  At 171 pounds, Brandon Brueggen ran into a wall again against Reedsburg’s Shane Rockweiler losing 4-2 in the finals.  Brueggen lost to Rockweiler by a score of 3-2 during this year’s Reedsburg Dual Invite.

Other top finishers for Sparta included Bryce Nowaczyk (3rd) and Adam Wiedl (3rd).  For a summary of Sparta’s individuals check that out below…

For full match-by-match results of Sparta’s wrestlers from today’s invite, click here.

==========

103  —  Bryce Nowaczyk, 3rd Place, 3-1 with a pin
112  —  Adam Wiedl, 3rd Place, 3-1 with a pin and a tech fall
119  —  Brandon Rickert, 2nd Place, 3-1 with a pin
125  —  Nick Winchel, 5th Place, 4-1 with two pins and two major decisions
130  —  Derek VonRuden, 5th Place, 4-1 with a pin and a major decision
135  —  Jesse Amundson, 5th Place, 4-1 with a major decision
140  —  Logan Denasha, Did Not Place, 0-2
145  —  Nick Anderson, Did Not Place, 2-2 with a pin
152  —  Alex Hemmersbach, Did Not Place, 2-2 with a pin and a major decision
160  —  Tom Tourdot, 6th Place, 3-2 with a pin
171  —  Brandon Brueggen, 2nd Place, 3-1
189  —  Jordan Stanek, 5th Place, 3-1 with a major decision
215  —  Matt Tourdot, 1st Place, 4-0 with four pins
285  —  Steve Stevenson, 4th Place, 2-2 with a pin

TEAM SCORES:  Marshfield 235.5, New Lisbon 185.5, Sparta 175.5, Reedsburg 154, Neillsville 135, Holmen 131, Waukon 111.5, Weston/Ithaca 80, Blair-Taylor 78, Royall 66.5, Cedarburg 49.5, North Crawford/Seneca 35, Wautoma 30.5, Burlington Catholic Central 5, North Division 0

==========

Overall, Sparta went 39-18 on the day with 14 pins.  Tourdot’s four pins give him 28 on the season, which puts him one back of the team record of 29 pins set by Jarrod Ebert during the 1995-96 season.

Sparta will now prepare for La Crosse Central on Thursday and the Rochester Tournament on Saturday, which will feature wrestling by both the varsity and JV at the same tournament.  After that, it’s the showdown in Tomah.  Be sure to check back here during the next week for a few special features regarding the 10th anniversary of the Sparta-Tomah dual that ended in controversy, a breakdown of the likely showdowns and scenarios for the upcoming dual and more as we prepare for another high stakes match with Tomah.

And be sure to check back here for photos from today’s invite and the dual with Onalaska.  I should have those up here on Sunday or Monday.