By Rich Palzewic
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SUAMICO – For the first time since the 2018 season, it appears the Bay Port wrestling team will win the Fox River Classic Conference championship.
In front of a large crowd at Bay Port High School, the Pirates posted a 39-22 victory over Pulaski on Thursday night.
If Bay Port can beat De Pere on Feb. 2, at home, it will win the title outright.
“It’s been a little while since we’ve won one,” Bay Port coach Brad Shefchik said. “De Pere and Pulaski made it tough for us in the last few years. When you wrestle Pulaski, I don’t look at the score too much — it’s always going to be a battle. I don’t think there were too many surprises on our part — everything seemed to play out like we were hoping.”
The match began at 132 with Bay Port’s Owen Noel recording a 10-3 decision over Colin Pratt.
After the Pirates won at 138 and the Red Raiders at 145, the match of the night occurred at 152.
With Bay Port’s Colton Zipp up 6-4 in the third and final period, Pulaski’s Griffin Vanlaanen scored two points on a reversal with 13 seconds remaining to tie things up.
To secure the win, Zipp executed a two-point takedown 19 seconds into overtime.
“I fought through to pull that one out,” Zipp said. “The crowd was great, so it was nice to win an exciting match. When (Vanlaanen) tied the match late, I kept my focus. Overtime is a reset and a clean slate. I was looking for his legs and being aggressive, and I got it.”
Bay Port’s Jacob Ward, the defending WIAA Division 1 state champ at 145, won via forfeit at 160 to make it 16-3 after five matches.
The teams traded victories in the next four matches.
At 195, Pulaski’s Trenton Gibbons pinned Jacques Knight in 21 seconds, but Bay Port’s Alex Warden returned the favor at 220 — pinning Lukas Ruechel at the 1:01 mark of the first period.
To end the match, the Pirates got victories at 106 and 113 before the Red Raiders ended with consecutive victories at 120 and 126.
“In most duals, the lineups are pretty straightforward,” Shefchik said. “When you’re in a competitive match like we were tonight, there are some lineup changes based on what the
opposing team does.”
Pulaski coach Nathan Preslaski gave all the credit to Bay Port, the No. 2-ranked Division 1 team in the state.
“Bay Port is a great team,” he said. “For us, it’s still a learning experience — we’re trying to get better. We want to peak in a few weeks at regionals, sectionals and state. We’re not quite there yet. We have a few things to clean up.”
Bay Port 39, Pulaski 22
132: Owen Noel (BP) def. Colin Pratt (PUL) (10-3, decision).
138: Nicolas Schomaker (BP) def. Cole Gorecki (PUL) (13-3, major decision).
145: Mason Taylor (PUL) def. Trevor Finger (BP) (3-1, decision).
152: Colton Zipp (BP) def. Griffin Vanlannen (PUL) (8-6, overtime)
160: Jacob Ward (BP) won via forfeit.
170: Tristan Taylor (PUL) def. Carter Kallies (BP) (18-9, major decision).
182: Ayden Bruckner (BP) def. Chase Woosencraft (PUL) (5-1, decision).
195: Trenton Gibbons (PUL) def. Jacques Knight (BP) (fall, 0:21).
220: Alex Warden (BP) def. Lukas Ruechel (PUL) (fall, 1:01).
285: Vaughn Campbell (BP) def. Eric Sperduto (PUL) (fall, 3:13).
106: Landen Heim (BP) def. Jake Fredrickson (PUL) (12-3, major decision).
113: Owen Wathke (BP) def. Broc Ambrosius (PUL) (11-0, major decision).
120: Ethan Eggert (PUL) def. Alois Schlumpf (BP) (fall, 3:41).
126: Conner Nooyen (PUL) def. Peyton Garcia (BP) (7-0, decision).