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Luxemburg-Casco 65	Sevastopol 4			

Five pins and four forfeits sent the Spartans to an easy Packerland
Conference victory over Sevastopol. 				

Eric Zehren (103)	Adam Dorner (140)	Jay Shefchik (160)	Kyle
Veeser (171) and Jacob Schoenebeck (275) recorded the pins for
Luxemburg-Casco	which claimed its 14th straight league title and
finished with a 6-0 record in Packerland duals. 

135 - Nick Pell LC won by forfeit			


PULASKI INVITATIONAL

Pulaski senior Glen Berna was getting "a little
worried" as his 189-pound championship match against Port
Washington's Andy Verley neared. Verley, a state qualifier a year ago,
entered the match with a 21-2 record and figured to be as tough a
wrestler as Berna had faced in more than a month. But that was the
least of his worries. The defending WIAA Divsion 1 champ was more
concerned by the string of Pulaski wrestlers losing in the finals and
how that might affect the Red Raiders' chances of beating Coleman for
the prestigious Pulaski Invitational championship. Four consecutive
Raiders lost finals before James Fish reversed Pulaski's fortunes at
171 pounds and eased Berna's mind somewhat. Berna then went out and
made sure the Raiders had some breathing room in the standings, pinning
Verley in the second period to cap a day that earned him the tourney's
most valuable wrestler award. 

Pulaski won the team title with 215 points, while Coleman was second at
202 1/2, and Luxemburg-Casco, Division 2's top-ranked team, finished a
distant third with 169 points. "We had a few losses (in the finals)
that would've helped us, so I was getting a little worried that Coleman
might catch us," said Berna, who pinned all three of his opponents and
improved his season record to 27-1. "I wanted to get a pin in my final
to get us as many points as possible." Berna thought his performance
might earn him the Larry Baranczyk pin award, but that went to
Luxemburg-Casco's Nick Pell, a
returning Division 2 state champ who defended his Pulaski title at 135
pounds with three pins in a combined 3 minutes, 51 seconds. 

The most valuable wrestler award came as a pleasant surprise to Berna.
"I'd been looking forward to maybe getting the pin award," he said. "I
was excited for this. I wasn't expecting this."  Berna was one of three
individual champions for the Raiders, who had seven finalists compared
to four for Freedom, which had the second most vying for championships. 
Senior John Stender was the first from Pulaski to wrestle for a title,
and he won a battle of unbeatens by injury default over Freedom's Brad
Baker. Both wrestlers were state place-winners a year ago. "It was
really exciting to win the hometown tournament," said Stender, who had
been sent home from practice the night before because of an illness.
"I've been coming here since I was a little kid, watching this
tournament. That was one of my goals, to win  this."  Stender broke
open a 4-4 match with an escape and takedown in the final 53 seconds of
the second period. He took Baker down to his back with 44 seconds left
in the match for a 9-4 lead, and that's where the match ended. Baker
suffered a shoulder injury when he hit the mat and was unable to
continue. 

Pulaski's next four finalists - Justin Kunesh (130), Sam Sparish
(135), Dan Adamski (140) and Brian Corrigan (145) - lost in the finals.
Kunesh, Adamski and Corrigan lost to undefeated wrestlers, and
Adamski's loss was his first of the season.  Fish won his title by
putting the first blemish on Denmark senior Tony Larsen's record.
Larsen closed within 4-3 when Fish gave him an escape to open the third
period, and Fish closed out the match with a stalling point and a
takedown for a 7-3 win.  "It was big," Fish said of his win. "The guy
was undefeated, and it was a real close match; it could've gone either
way."  The team championship looked like it could go any of several
ways  as the field boasted five teams ranked in the top five of
Wisconsin's three divisions. After the quarterfinals, though, it became
clear Pulaski, ranked fifth in Division 1, and Coleman, No. 2 in
Division 3, would be the two fighting for the title.  The Raiders
picked up several big wins in the semifinals to assume control of the
tournament. Sparish and Corrigan were surprise finalists, while Adamski
knocked off Coleman's Lenny Schaut.  "I don't think people would've
given us a shot to be in the finals at 135 or 145, not based on our
records there," Pulaski coach Joe Kind said. "I felt we were capable of
winning (the tournament), but we needed to pull off some upsets and win
some tough matches, and we did that."  While the finalists put up the
bulk of the points, Kind said it took all 13 of his wrestlers to
prevail over Coleman.  "My 103-pounder (Chad Ambrosius) comes in seeded
eighth and finishes fifth," Kind said. "That's outstanding. That's what
wins tournaments."  

31st Annual Pulaski Invitational
Team scores
Pulaski 215, Coleman 202 1/2, Luxemburg-Casco 169, Freedom 151,
Kaukauna 144, Seymour 123, Denmark 107 1/2, Oconto Falls 66, Port
Washington 54, New London 39, Peshtigo 32 1/2. 

Championship matches
103 - Dave Vanevenhoven KAU beat Kyle Krueger FRE 10-1 
112 - John Stender PUL beat Brad Baker FRE by injury default
119 - Joe Vanevenhoven KAU beat Chad Van Camp FRE 5-0
125 - Victor Herandez SEY beat Jeff Baker FRE 7-1
130 - Mark Lee SEY beat Justin Kunesh PUL 3-2
135 - Nick Pell LC pinned Sam Sparish PUL 1:27
140 - Klay Konrad NL beat Dan Adamski 4-2
145 - James Nowak COL pinned Brian Corrigan PUL 3:40
152 - Matt Markiewicz COL beat Ryan Johanek 4-3
160 - Mike Kratz OF beat Jay Shefchik LC 6-5
171 - James Fish PUL beat Tony Larsen 7-3
189 - Glen Berna PUL pinned Andy Verley PW 3:02
275 - Josh Nowak COL beat Steve Heindl KAU 6-2. 
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