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Sauk Prairie makes strides in dual with Baraboo

By Dennis Semrau, 01/13/20, 4:00AM CST

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All good things have to come to an end sometime. So goes the 11-year winning streak that Sauk Prairie held against Baraboo in dual-meet competition.

Sauk Prairie makes strides in dual with Baraboo

by DENNIS SEMRAU

All good things have to come to an end sometime.

So goes the 11-year winning streak that Sauk Prairie held against Baraboo in dual-meet competition.

The visiting Thunderbirds took advantage of four forfeits to squeeze out a 42-36 victory in a Badger North Conference prep wrestling dual on Jan. 10.

Sauk Prairie (0-3 Badger North) got pins from junior Luis Elizondo (132 pounds), seniors Simon Patterson (220) and Austin Rider (285), and sophomore Colton Uselman (106), but it wasn’t enough to secure the Eagles’ first conference dual victory of the season.

“We matched up well with them,” Sauk Prairie coach Matt Gaffney said. “I told the guys at the end of the night that Baraboo is first in the conference right now and this proves to us that we can wrestle with anybody if we bring it. That was a positive note.

“Even though we lost a close dual meet, it was against one of the better teams in the conference. It should give the guys some confidence for the rest of our dual meets.”

Thunderbirds sophomore Alexis Winecke defeated sophomore Riley Minette 10-3 at 113 pounds to clinch the dual victory, the first for Baraboo (4-0) over Sauk Prairie since the 2008-09 season.

Elizondo pinned Vincent Tikkanen in 1 minute, 30 seconds at 132 pounds, and junior Carson Saladis received a forfeit at 138 to stake Sauk Prairie to a early 12-3 lead.

But Baraboo received four forfeits wrapped around a pin at 160 to storm out to a 33-12 lead entering the 195 dual between Hankins and Baraboo’s John Gunderson, who moved up from 182 pounds, where he was ranked No. 5 in the latest WiWrestling.com Division 1 rankings.

Gunderson got a first-period takedown before Hankins escaped to pull within 2-1 in the opening period. Following a s scoreless second period, Hankins, who was ranked No. 8 at 195, was then caught in a cradle by Gunderson who worked his way to a pin at 5:14.

“He wrestled a strong and physical kid,” Gaffney said of Hankins. “It was a good challenge for Marcus. It hurt to give up a pin, but he’ll get another crack at him this year.”

That pushed Baraboo’s lead to 39-12 with five weights remaining.

But Sauk Prairie remained in the fight when Patterson pinned Ben Florencio in 4:22 at 220 pounds.

Rider made it two falls in a row when he pinned Tyson Fry in 3:05 at 285 to trim the Eagles’ deficit to 39-24.

“Both those pins helped keep us in the meet,” Gaffney said.

Rider, who was ranked No. 8 at 285, caught Fry, who was ranked fifth at 220, in a headlock midway through the second period and quickly earned the pin.

“That was cool, an exciting match. It was probably the highlight of the dual meet for us,” Gaffney said. “(Fry) was very physical and real rough-housing, and Rider stood up to him. Austin has been wrestling amazing all year. That was a huge pin to put us in reach of the dual win.”

Sophomore Colton Uselman made it 39-30 when he pinned Camdon Schultz in 62 seconds at 106. Following Winecke’s dual-clinching victory, senior Dawson Inge received a forfeit at 120 to close out the dual.

Gaffney was pleased with his team’s performance especially due to Sauk Prairie’s difficulty fielding a full lineup.

“We have the potential to win out in the rest of our conference matches,” he said. “Those are all winnable duals to end the season on a high note as far as the dual meet schedule. I’m hoping we keep coming together.”

Up next: Following a Badger North Conference dual at DeForest on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie will host Mount Horeb in a league dual on Thursday on Parents and Senior Night at 7 p.m.

Jan. 10

Baraboo 42, Sauk Prairie 36

126: Connor Goorsky, B, dec. Dylan Breunig, 3-2.

132: Luis Elizondo, SP, pinned Vincent Tikkanen, 1:30.

138: Carson Saladis, SP, won by forfeit.

145: Brandon Jesse, B, won by forfeit.

152: Eli Davidson, B, won by forfeit.

160: Frankie Van Houten, B, pinned Sam Vils, 1:06.

170: Noah Langeberg, B, won by forfeit.

182: Aiden Estes, B, won by forfeit.

195: John Gunderson, B, pinned Marcus Hankins, 5:14.

220: Simon Patterson, SP, pinned Ben Florencio, 5:22.

285: Austin Rider, SP, pinned Tyson Fry, 4:32.

106: Colton Uselman, SP, pinned Camdon Schultz, 1:02.

113: Alexis Winecke, B, dec. Riley Minette, 10-3.

120: Dawson Enge, SP, won by forfeit.

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