Dewey Krueger earned a championship, and the Oconto Falls High School wrestling team finished 10th Saturday at the Pulaski Invitational.
Oconto Falls scored 81 points. Kaukauna (244) won the invite, followed by Bay Port (193) and Merrill (173).
Krueger, a 145-pound junior who earned a 132-pound Division 2 state title a year ago, earned a championship at the Pulaski Invitational for the first time, beating Luxemburg-Casco’s Austin Worachek in overtime by pin at 6 minutes, 42 seconds.
“A lot of kids place better at state than they will at that tournament, depending on weight class,” Oconto Falls tri-head coach Marc Kinziger said. “Last year, Dewey ended up second there and ended up first at state.”
The 132 championship match was delayed by a clock issue, so the finals on the other mats were completed by the time Krueger and Worchek got to overtime, turning all eyes on them.
“It was an exciting match,” Kinziger said. “Everyone was tuned into this match.”
Brett Ash (132) lost a quarterfinal match to Wausau West’s Hunter Kuehl by a 3-1 decision in overtime, but wrestled back into the third-place match, which happened to be a rematch with Kuehl. Ash was ready the second time, getting a 6-0 decision.
“To come back and beat, not only beat but dominate the kid, you could see the learning,” Kinziger said. “I think Brett was kind of looking ahead (in the first match) and this guy kind of got by him. He’s a good, quality wrestler.”
Nathaniel Trepanier (126) earned a fifth-place finish.
“He was in arguably the toughest weight class,” Kinziger said. “They were stacked 10 deep, where if you wrestle that 10 times you’d have 10 different winners. It was that close, that good. For a freshman, it’s always a good thing.”
Krueger and Worachek will get a chance for a rematch when Oconto Falls travels to Luxemburg-Casco for a Bay Conference meet Thursday.
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