The Stevens Point Area Senior High School wrestling team finished third at the Wisconsin Valley Conference tournament in Rhinelander with 137.5 points on Saturday, Feb. 2. Wisconsin Rapids won the conference championship, finishing with 206 points, while Marshfield finished second with 175.5.
"We had a great first round, winning 11 of 13 matches. It looked like we were really rolling. Then in the next two rounds we just could not put anything together," said SPASH coach Gee Pope. "We lost so many close matches. At times we just seemed to give away points and you can't do this in a tournament of this quality."
SPASH had two wrestlers finish second in their weight class: Grey Pope at 171 pounds and Steve Bachinski at 125. "I thought Steve really came to wrestle today. Grey pope lost a double overtime match in the final but wrestled well all day," said Gee Pope.
The Panthers had three third-place finishers, Jake Calhoun (119), Adam Kurzynski (130) and Dan Pawelski (152).
"The good thing is that we finished third in a very tough conference. The bad thing is that we could have finished higher with a little tighter wrestling and better concentration," Gee Pope said.
Finishing fourth in their weight class for the team were Brandon Raikowski (112), Jon Slezak (135), Nate Kurszewski (140), Kevin Duda (145), Josh Przekurat (160) and Adam Sandstrom (189). "It hurts not to have a conference champion, but we did have 11 guys finish fourth or better," Gee Pope said.
Aaron Nelson finished sixth at 103.
"We'll get a chance to work out the things that didn't work this week and then we will see a big improvement at the regional in Waupaca next Saturday (Feb. 9)," Gee Pope said.
On Thursday, Jan. 31, the Panthers crushed Wausau West, 73-0. Seven Panthers pinned their opponents: Nelson (103 pounds), Calhoun (119), Tim Peterson (125), Slezak (135), Kurszewski (140), Pawelski (152) and Bob Pliska (heavyweight).
Kurzynski (130) and Przekurat (160) won by decision while Raikowski (112), Duda (145), Sandstrom (171) and Grey Pope (189) picked up wins by forfeit.