Hoffman is a perfect 10-0 in first week of wrestling action

The Laona-Wabeno-Three Lakes varsity wrestling season started last week, and several members of the team began the new year hot, including Laona High School junior Brody Hoffman, who ended his week with 10 victories in 10 matches. Other team leaders included Reegan Roy, Ryker Schingeck, and Max Clark, who each went 9-1 in match competition. Overall, the Rebel Jays finished in second place last Friday in a dual competition in Oconto with six other teams, and then placed seventh in a large invitational field of 18 teams on Saturday at Antigo High School.

“We had a nice week on the mat for sure,” Head Coach Seth Senter said after the John Roberts Invitational on Saturday. “It was a busy week for our kids competing on back-to-back days, but the results clearly indicate what happens when experienced wrestlers show up to start the season. Brody, Reegan, Ryker and Max all had busy off-seasons getting in shape for the sport and their hard work showed up on the stat sheets.”

Senter went on to talk about some of the top finishing wrestlers on the weekend.

“Brody is super focused this season,” he added, “and is relentless in being the best wrestler he can be. Max is also focused, and he seems to just be feeling it when on the mat. As a senior, he looks relaxed and ready to enjoy his last year on the varsity team. As for Reegan and Ryker, they are already 18-2 and ready to make another run as qualifiers for the state tournament in Madison. All four of these kids are gamers and just know how to win.”

In terms of bracket positioning, Schingeck (132 lbs.) and Clark (113 lbs.) continue to wrestle in the same weight classes as last season. Roy has jumped from 106 pounds, where he won the state championship title last year, to 126 pounds this season. While his weight has changed, the wrestling results are in line with last season as Roy ended his first week with a 9-1 record, including four pins. According to coach Senter, “We are a scary team downstairs,” referring to the talent in the lower weight ranges.

The coach was also impressed with the early start of team newcomers Ryan DeMars at 120 pounds and Cashton Frisch at 132 pounds, who showed promising moments in the first week of the season. They each picked up a couple of match wins and earned their first pins of the year. Senter expects them to be key contributors in the weeks ahead.

Jayse Demerath, Michael Yaeger, and Cameron Tilton lead the mid-weight ranges at 132, 140 and 150 pounds, respectively. Demerath went 6-3 in match action last week, and Tilton was 8-2. They were both impressive last Friday when they combined for a 9-0 performance in Ocanto, while Yaeger was 5-4 on the week with two pins.

“These three have endless potential,” Senter said of their place on the team. “Coach Schubert (Colin) and I spend a lot of time working with these guys and they each have the ability to surprise a lot of people.”

Hoffman is joined in the heavier weight classes by Sawyer Christianson (285 lbs.), who won two matches last week, each by pin. Sawyer Jameson, Worawat Thawonwan, and Yukon Volk rounded out the boys team with each having some successes on the mat last week, especially Jameson, who won four matches, three by pin, and Volk, who tasted victory with a pin in an exhibition match in Oconto.

In a separate Red Robins Girls Invitational in Antigo on Saturday, Kyra Beaber, Allison Hansen, and Idalynn Vladik finished in fifth, sixth, and seventh places with eight collective match wins, and Three Lakes freshman Somerr Ridgeway earned her first varsity match victory by pinning her Elcho opponent in the first period of the second consolation round.

The Rebel Jays will hit the mats twice again this week with a quad competition at Bonduel High School at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 11, followed by the 9:30 a.m. Rebel Invitational this Saturday, December 13, at the Forest County Potawatomi Community Center in Crandon.