By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent

ASHWAUBENON – The Bay Port wrestling team built a 30-point lead and held off Ashwaubenon 48-33 in a Fox River Classic Conference matchup Jan. 27 at Ashwaubenon High School.

Peyton Garcia (120 pounds), Owen Noel (126), and Trevor Finger (132) all recorded pins for the Pirates in the first period to kickstart the night.

“As with any dual, you want to get off to a great start,” Bay Port Head Coach Brad Shefchik said. “Our lightweights came to wrestle. You hope the momentum continues, but in today’s case, things got a little dicey. Fortunately, we finished strong and got the win.”

With the Pirates up 36-6, the Jaguars won five consecutive matches from 170 to the 285-pound classification to make things interesting down the stretch.

Bay Port’s Owen Wathke squashed Ashwaubenon’s hopes by pinning his opponent at 106 about a minute into the contest.

“Giving up six points is something we have to work on,” Shefchik said. “Our guys have to fight for six minutes. We need to stay healthy and have our minds right.”

The highlight match of the evening was the only one that didn’t end with a forfeit or pin.

At 170 pounds, Bay Port’s Chris Vannieuwenhoven took leads of 2-0 and 4-1 before Jacob McVane stormed back.

McVane received two escape points to pull within 4-3 before a takedown with 1:01 remaining in the match lifted him to the 5-4 decision.

“The kids fought hard,” Ashwaubenon Head Coach Chase DeCleene said. “It took a while for us to get our intensity going. We preached that all week in practice. We have a young team, but in wrestling, it doesn’t matter. You have to be gritty. I work these guys extremely hard. If they have pride in their work, the results will come.”

Bay Port 48, Ashwaubenon 33

120: Peyton Garcia (BP) def. Landon Matuszak (ASH) (fall, 1:36).

126: Owen Noel (BP) def. Eric Bishop (ASH) (fall, 1:27).

132: Trevor Finger (BP) def. Owen Bowers (ASH) (fall, 1:39).

138: Jonah Leisgang (ASH) def. Ethan Farley (BP) (fall, 3:53).

145: Will Nast (BP) def. Carter Bona (ASH) (fall, 3:32).

152: Carter Kallies (BP) def. Jerrell Piotrowski (ASH) (fall, 1:31).

160: Ayden Bruckner (BP) def. Jackson Schuyler (ASH) (fall, 2:43).

170: Jacob Mc Vane (ASH) def. Chris Vannieuwenhoven (BP) (decision, 5-4).

182: Easton Hockers (ASH) def. Colton Zipp (BP) (fall, 4:32).

195: Miles Lasee (ASH) def. Tucker Zenk (BP) (fall, 1:00).

220: Jack Nielsen (ASH) def. Austin Holton (BP) (fall, 3:31).

285: Troy Dietzler (ASH) def. Vaughn Campbell (BP) (fall, 0:49).

106: Owen Wathke (BP) def. Noah Egan-Drury (ASH) (fall, 1:15).

113: Landen Heim (BP) (forfeit).