By Scott Williams
Jan. 30, 2020
STEVENS POINT – Kaden Body got Wausau West off to a promising start Thursday night.
There was one problem for the Warriors.
No one else seemed willing to follow his lead until it was too late in their Wisconsin Valley Conference dual meet with Stervens Point Area Senior High.
SPASH recorded falls in four of the next five matches, and finished the night with seven falls overall in an eye-opening 53-15 dismantling of the Warriors.
West had a chance to lock up sole possession of second place in the conference dual meet season.
Instead, the Warriors received a rude wake-up call.
“They were ready to go and our guys weren’t. If you have attitude, heart and desire, those things carry over. We lacked in that department tonight,” West coach Troy Fabry said.
“That’s wrestling, man. That was their night, they were hot. We were flat. That was rough.”
Body came out and handled his business in the opening match at 152 pounds.
Showing off some great counters on his feet, the senior secured a 5-1 decision over Cooper Behnke to put West on top 3-0.
Then the ceiling at the SPASH Fieldhouse caved in on the Warriors, who had a tough time staying off their backs and had a birds’ eye view of the disaster.
SPASH’s Conner Seavers (160), Sam Molsi (170), Ben Raczek (192) and Jaren Rohde (220) stole the momentum right away from the Warriors with falls.
Justin Groshek (113), Kale Roth (126) and Joe Pecore (145)would also stick their West opponents.
Even SPASH coach Rob King was caught off guard by the lopsided nature of the outcome.
“I didn’t expect this. If you look on paper, I don’t think we’re 40 points better than Wausau West,” King said. “I think when people see that in the paper, they’re going to maybe open their eyes a little bit.
“West is solid top to bottom, but we brought it tonight. My guys beat really good wrestlers tonight. To limit them to 15 points, and a bunch of our guys picked up bonus (team) points, that’s huge.”
There were a few bright spots for the Warriors in addition to the strong match wrestled by Body.
Gabe Galang accounted for the lone pin for West, needing just 1:04 to flatten Zach Kolodziej at 106.
Gabe Ramos used his superior skills on his feet to come away with a 9-6 decision over TJ Schierl at 132. Athan Somers picked up a 6-5 win at 182 with a takedown at the buzzer.
Hope Trevino even made the Panthers’ top-ranked Groshek work before he eventually ended the 113-pound match in 4:59.
But the highlights were few and far between for West.
“The two guys that came to battle were (Gabriel) Ramos and Body. It’s as simple as that,” Fabry said. “You have to have 14 guys wrestle like that. If you get 14 guys to wrestle like that, you can be a good wrestling team.”
152: Kaden Body (WW) def. Cooper Behnke, 5-1; 160: Conner Seavers (SPASH) p. Reed Napiwocki, 3:52; 170: Sam Molski (SPASH) p. Noah Baumann, 1:54; 182: Athan Somers (WW) def. Josh Kolodziej, 6-5; 195: Ben Raczek (SPASH) p. Nathan LaRue, 3:11; 220: Jaren Rhode (SPASH) p. Joe Nienow, 1:29; 285: Ray Wilson (SPASH) def. Logan Burish, 3-1; 106: Gabe Galang (WW) p. Zach Kolodziej, 1:04; 113: Justin Groshek (SPASH) p. Hope Trevino, 4:59; 120: Warren Soik (SPASH) def. Jake Pease, 9-1; 126: Kale Roth (SPASH) p. Derek Danielson, 2:32; 132: Gabfiel Ramos (WW) def. TJ Schierl, 9-6; 138: Max Schierl (SPASH) def. Carter Napiwocki, 11-3; 145: Joe Pecore (SPASH) p. Kayden Heisler, 4:47.
