It’s a match that could pay long-term dividends for the Oconto Falls High School wrestling program.
The Panthers had the daunting task of traveling to rival Luxemburg-Casco on Thursday night and were handed an overwhelming 43-15 defeat.
However, facing some of the best wrestlers in the state should make the young Oconto Falls grapplers get better, especially with regionals right around the corner.
“It’s really good to have this competition,” Oconto Falls tri-head coach Dave Brasier said. “I told Bob (Berceau, Luxemburg-Casco head coach) at the end, ‘You bring out the best in us.’ Luxemburg is who you shoot for all year, and this is at the end of our schedule. I think some of our kids wrestled their best here tonight.”
Oconto Falls and Luxemburg-Casco have had epic matches against one another in the past. But this year, both teams are a little down, relatively speaking. The Spartans are still ranked No. 3 in Division 2 by wiwrestling.com, while the Panthers are honorable mention, receiving votes for the top 10.
“There’s a definite difference between us – we’re younger,” Brasier said. “It doesn’t help that we’re forfeiting one weight class. Realistically, we’re young and we’re wrestling up a lot of weights.”
Oconto Falls stayed with Luxemburg-Casco through the first four matches, all squared at 6, before the home Spartans erupted for seven straight wins for a commanding 40-6 lead.
Luxemburg-Casco (8-0 in Bay Conference) dominated the heavier weights, scoring three pins – Landon Tillman (182) over Mac Winkler in 2:47, Dan Dorner (195) over Kyle Wolf in 1:37, and Luke Destiche (285) over Kaleb Westcott in :42 – and a forfeit at 220.
“We’ve got some senior-loaded kids up there,” Berceau said. “It was just nice that we were able to put our heavyweight at 220 and bump Luke (Destiche) up to their big guy and take the forfeit at 220, so that worked out well.”
The Panthers won the opening match of the night as Bret Ash beat Spencer Collin 8-3 at 132. The Spartans tied the score at 3, leading into the match of the night.
Oconto Falls’ Dewey Krueger, the top-rated wrestler at 145, tangled with Austin Worachek, who is ranked No. 5. The highly anticipated showdown didn’t disappoint. Like a chess match, the two battled move for move. Tied at 2-2, it went into overtime. In the second extra session, Krueger picked up a near fall to tack on three points. Krueger held off Worachek in the third overtime to score a 5-2 victory.
“It’s a match that we know can go either way sometimes,” Berceau said. “It was a great match. People come to see those types of matches head-to-head.”
It was a huge win for Krueger, the defending state champion at 132.
“That was a lot of fun to watch. Both kids are really good wrestlers,” Brasier said. “A lot of action, a lot of strategy, a lot of counters. There was a lot going on even though there wasn’t a big score.”
Down 40-6, the Panthers’ Bryce Ash (113) earned a 9-2 decision over Chris Demlow. Nate Trepanier got a forfeit victory for Oconto Falls at 126 to end the match.
Oconto Falls won just four matches on the night, but Brasier saw a lot of progress from his wrestlers.
“There were quite a few matches that we maybe didn’t win, but we certainly closed gaps from in the past,” Brasier said, “from even this past weekend or a couple of weeks earlier at the Battle of the Bay.”
Oconto Falls now turns its attention to the WIAA regionals. The Panthers will host Clintonville, Freedom, Marinette, Peshtigo and Seymour at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Brasier knows it’s a tough regional, but with the way his wrestlers are peaking, he’s confident they will do well.
“It would be great to move on as a team, and I think that’s got to be our goal,” Brasier said. “We will take our best shot.”
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