Prairie Wrestling sweeps Sparta, Onalaska co-op at Onalaska Triangular meet
Prairie’s Jeremiah Avery puts the squeeze on Sparta’s Logan Engel (175 pounds) as he waits for the referee to call the pin in their match. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Mason Baumgartner (144 pounds) works on Onalaska/Luther’s Carter Beeler. Prairie du Chien swept their two dual meets to improve their dual record to 15-1 so far this season. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Jackson Perkins gets Sparta's Christian Whitton to look like a crab as he goes for the pin. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Blake Thiry fights off Onalaska/Luther's Jack Stoen's attempts at control his hands early in their match at 215 pounds. Thiry would win by pin in 1:09. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Brylee Brewer battles Sparta's Landon Connelly during their match at 113 pounds. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Prairie du Chien's Jack Simmons puts the squeeze on Onalaska/Luther's Grady Dummum in their match at 285 pounds before getting the pinfall victory in 0:41. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Junior Jack MacEachern gets Sparta's Austin Walters into position for the pin at 190 pounds. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Freshman Brady Baumgartner focuses on moving Onalaska/Luther's Charles Burrows into position during their match at 126 pounds. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Senior Drew Hird has his opponent at 157 pounds, Onalaska/Luther's Elijah Le Febre, feeling the pain of being locked into his half nelson hold. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Prairie du Chien's Bryce Lenzendorf and Onalaska/Luther's Jackson Hughes face off at the start of overtime of their match at 165 pounds. Hughes would collect a takedown in the extra period for the victory. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
The Prairie du Chien wrestling team finished off their pre-Christmas schedule with a triangular meet at Onalaska High School on Thursday, Dec. 21.
First up for the Hawks was Sparta with Prairie Wrestling coming away with a 56-20 victory. Bryce Lenzendorf started the match off by picking up a forfeit win at 165 pounds before Jeremiah Avery, Jack MacEachern, Blake Thiry all each picked up wins via pinfall to push the Hawks lead to 24-0.
Sparta would not go away quietly however as they would pick up victories in four of the next six matches, with Prairie’s two victories coming for Hunter Reid (106 pounds) and Porter Kossman (120 pounds) via forfeit.
Holding on to a 36-20 lead with four matches to go, Prairie got key wins from Drake Ingham at 138 pounds (17-2 technical fall), Mason Baumgartner at 144 pounds (pinfall in 3:08), Jackson Perkins at 150 pounds (pinfall in 1:57), and Drew Hird at 157 pounds (6-5 decision) to clinch the dual victory for Prairie by a score of 56-20.
Next up for Prairie Wrestling was the Onalaska/Onalaska Luther co-op. Avery kicked it off with a with 12-2 major decision over Brady Kuhn at 175 pounds, before Aiden Sytsma picked up a victory via pin for Onalaska/Luther in the 190 pound match to take a 6-4 lead in the dual, the one and only time the Hawks trailed in either dual meet.
The Hawks came back with a vengeance with wins in each of the next eleven matches to turn a 6-4 deficit into a 69-6 lead. Earning victories for the Hawks during that stretch were Thiry, Jack Simmons, Reid, Brylee Brewer, Porter Kossman, Brady Baumgartner, Mason Hird, M. Baumgartner, Perkins, and D. Hird.
Onalaska’s Jackson Hughes earned a 3-1 overtime win over Lenzendorf at 165 pounds to make the dual’s final score 69-6 in favor of Prairie Wrestling.
With the two wins, the Hawks improved to 15-1 on the season so far. Prairie will next head to the La Crosse Center each of the next two weekends for the annual Bi-State Classic on Dec. 29 and 30, and The Clash National Duals on Jan. 5 and 6.
