Wrestling: Bonduel edges Shiocton in dual

BONDUEL — The Bonduel High School wrestling team expected a battle with rival Shiocton in town for a Central Wisconsin Conference dual.

The Bears took Shiocton’s best shot, but still were able to come away with a 36-27 win on Thursday.

“One thing we can always count on when wrestling Shiocton is they always bring their best. This is a huge rival and we were anticipating a good battle tonight,” said Bonduel coach Chris Rank.

“We had some kids that didn’t perform to the best of their ability, I’d say. Being at home, we want to compete at a high level — we want to compete at a high level all the time. But we came through with a win — this is a big conference win for us so I’m happy about that.”

Bonduel hoped to put on a show for their families on parent’s night, but instead picked up just one win in the first four weight classes that hit the mat.

It was junior Isaac Banker that earned the win, a forfeit at 220 pounds.

Bonduel forfeited the 285 weight class. Neither team had a 106 wrestler, resulting in a double forfeit.

Bonduel freshmen Cooper Salerno and Tyson Bogacz battled in their matches at 113 and 120, respectively, but both came up short. Salerno lost by pin, while Bogacz dropped a tight decision.

Facing a 15-6 deficit, Bonduel was in need of a win at 126 pounds. Junior Luis Lagunes gave the Bears exactly what they needed, winning an 11-8 decision.

Lagunes led 7-4 after the first two-minute period before escaping late in the second period to take an 8-4 lead. Lagunes used a late takedown to seal up his win.

Junior Jayson Toellner kept the momentum going for the hosts, winning 15-0 at 132 pounds to earn his team five points by a technical fall.

Toellner dominated the match from start to finish. He led 8-0 after one period and 11-0 after two periods.

Junior Logan Majewski wrestled in one of the tightest matches of the night at 138 pounds, but eventually was pinned.

Majewski was up 2-0 after an early takedown, but entered the second period tied at two. The match was tied at four when Majewski was pinned.

Bonduel junior Max Sokolski flipped the momentum back to the hosts with a 9-1 major decision win at 145 pounds.

Sokolski used a late takedown to take a 6-1 lead into the second period, but was unable to score in the second period. Sokolski continued to battle until the final whistle to earn four big points for his team.

While Sokolski and the Bears were happy to come away with the win, the team weren’t satisfied.

“Coming into this, we thought we were going to have a dominant win and we clearly didn’t,” said Sokolski. “So tomorrow we’re going to have a good practice and put in the work so that we can dominate that team. Our goal is to win regionals, make it to sectionals and maybe even to state.”

Junior Jakob Froemming helped give the Bears the lead after pinning his opponent in 1:33.

Froemming was the aggressor from the start and was able to lock down the Bears only pin on the night.

“This (win) gives us confidence and boosts our morale so that when we get another hard match, that we can beat them too,” said Froemming.

Parker Perry, a Bonduel freshman, was a part of another exciting match at 160 pounds.

Despite trailing 4-1 after one period and 8-4 after four minutes, Perry nearly pinned his opponent in the third period. Instead, Perry was pinned, which gave Shiocton the lead again (27-24).

Junior Kaden Bergsbaken and senior Tristan Tomashek were able to seal up the Bonduel win with decision wins at 170 and 182 pounds, respectively.

Bergsbaken came out aggressive in the early going and led 7-1 after one period. Bergsbaken held on late for a 14-8 win.

Tomashek picked up an 8-5 decision win, but might have pinned his opponent multiple times if it weren’t for a bloody nose. Tomashek had a 5-1 lead after a takedown when the the first injury stoppage was called before another stoppage after a near fall that put him up 8-2.

Bonduel got its final six points from a forfeit at 195 pounds, where senior Alex Garside would have wrestled.

Bonduel will host Antigo in a dual on Monday.

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