'Canes flip things around on Spartans

A flip of the coin cost the Superior High School wrestling team a tie with the Hayward Hurricanes Thursday night in the SHS gym.

Instead of what could have been a 42-42 tie, the Spartans ended up on the losing end of a 60-24 final score.

“The flip determines who gets the final say in the even matches and the odd matches,” SHS coach Bill Gedde said. “Each coaching staff does its homework and makes adjustments to their lineups according to their personnel. So while the score looks lopsided, three matches could have turned in our favor, and in all reality it could have been a 42-42 tie.”

So while the Spartans won four of the 14 matches, they could have also gotten six points apiece from three other matches that went to Hayward.

Superior’s wins were pins from Tyler Lehikoinen (120), Nick Kirchoff (152) and Ben Regner (220), and a forfeit win by Jake Jaques at 132.

“We made some basic mistakes, but we’re a young squad and we’re still learning,” Gedde said. “There wasn’t anything out here that upset me. It’s early yet in the season and their careers, so we’ll get things fixed as we go on.”

Superior is back in action at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Eau Claire North Invitational.

Hayward 60, Superior 24

106—Aaron Hanson, H, won by forfeit

113—Dylan Adair, H pinned Nate VanErt

120—Tyler Lehikoinen, S pinned Nick Blank

126—Frank Leuschen, H pinned Levi Day

132—Jake Jaques, S won by forfeit

138—Billy Mathison, H won by forfeit

145—Cody Carley, H pinned Anthony Ells

152—Nick Kirchoff, S pinned McGail Rogstad

160—Derek Kelsey, H pinned Tony Mohr

170—Jesse Barthel, H pinned Jaylon Brown

182—Wyat Butkiewicz, H pinned Sam Freeman

195—Eddie DiSera, H pinned Dylan Javenkoski

220—Ben Regner, S pinned Austin Egge

285—Roy Quagon, H won by forfeit

Season Preview

The 2011-2012 Spartan wrestling team is led by seniors Nick Kirchoff and Ben Regner.

Kirchoff, who had 24 wins last season, will be starting the season at 152 pounds and will move down to 145 after the holidays, while Regner, the defending Heart O’ North Conference champion, will be at 220 pounds again this season.

Regner was also a sectional qualifier last season with 31 varsity wins.

The Spartans only have two other wrestlers with varsity experience in the lineup, including sophomore Jake Jaques, who start the season at 132 pounds with plans to move down to 126. Jaques posted 12 varsity wins last season and earned Rookie of the Year honors.

Sam Freeman gained a lot of experience last year and will anchor the 182-pound class; Billy Regner is currently rehabbing an injury with the hopes of being in the lineup soon at 152 or 160; and Nathan VanErt will wrestle at 106.

“Nathan is one of our biggest surprises this year,” Gedde said. “We have been trying to fill the 106-pound class for several years and Nathan’s our man. He’s very athletic, very quick to learn wrestling and very aggressive.

“We also have two very good young prospects from our middle school program — freshmen Tyler Lehikoin will be our 120-pounder and Tyler Stone will be at 138.”

Junior Levi Day and freshman Chandler Oja will be battling it out for the 120-pound spot; freshmen Tony Mohr and Anthony Ells will be splitting duties between 145 and 152 pounds; and transfer student junior Jaylon Brown brings solid wrestling experience from North Carolina.”

“Levi and Chandler are both very athletic and fierce competitors, and Jaylon will pick up a lot of wins at 170 pounds,” Gedde said.

Gedde also noted freshman Dylan Javenkoski is gaining experience in the practice room and will nicely fill the 195-pound weight class, and sophomore Joey McDonald will be platooning between the 220 and heavyweight classes.

“We have a team a little smaller than usual, so we will probably not be able to fill all 14 weight classes,” Gedde said. “Forfeiting weight classes makes it a little tough to be competitive as a team, but this group will put it all out there every night. That’s what we see in the practice room every day. They are great to work with and should be fun to watch.”

SPARTAN SPIN: Chris Brochu is the team’s assistant coach and Forest Dalbec is the manager.

Superior Spartan Wrestling

Head Coach: Bill Gedde

Weight—Name Grade

106—Nathan VanErt 10

120—Tyler Lehikoinen 9

120—Levi Day 11

126—Jake Jaques 10

126—Chandler Oja 10

138—Tyler Stone 9

145—Nick Kirchoff 12

152—Tony Mohr 9

152—Anthony Ells 9

160—Billy Regner 10

160—Forrest Dalbec 12

170—Jaylon Brown 11

170—Dylan Javenkoski 9

182—Sam Freeman 10

220—Ben Regner 12

220—Joey McDonald 10

Superior High School Wrestling

Thur., Dec. 1 at Chetek (lost)

Thur., Dec. 8 vs. Hayward, 7 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 10 at ECN Inv, 10:30 a.m.

Thur., Dec. 15 Spooner, 7 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 17 at Mackey Invite, 9 a.m.

Thur., Dec. 22 at Bloomer, 7 p.m.

Thur., Dec. 29 at ECM Invite, 10 a.m.

Thur., Jan. 5 vs. Cumberland, 7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 7 SHS Classic, 10:30 a.m.

Thur., Jan. 19 vs. Ladysmith, 7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 21 at Ashland Inv, 10 a.m.

Thur., Jan. 26 at Barron, 7 p.m.

Tue., Jan. 31 at Ashland, 7 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 04 HON at Hayward

Sat., Feb. 11 Regionals Chip Falls

Tue., Feb. 14 Sectionals at Merrill

Sat., Feb. 18 Sectionals ECN

Feb. 23-25 State at Madison

March 2-3 Team State at Madison

Tags: sports, superior, spartans, wrestling, updates