By Scott Williams
Feb. 27, 2020
MADISON – The opening day of the WIAA Division 1 Individual State Tournament turned out to be a mixed bag for the contingent of five wrestlers D.C. Everest sent to Madison.
On the bright side, Gabe Carter and Freddy Lehrke picked up wins in their first round matches at 170 and 152 pounds, respectively, to assure themselves spots in the consolation bracket.
On a sour note, none of the five Evergreens managed to reach the state semifinals scheduled. Orion Boe (220), Blake Heal (126) and Demetrio Covarrubias (138) all lost their opening matches.
There was a silver lining for all five Evergreens, however.
Boe, Carter, Heal, Lehrke and Covarrubias still remain alive to wrestle their way back to possible third-place state finishes.
Lehrke (23-8) secured a 12-3 major decision over Damian Zapata of West Bend East in the premliminary round.
He then was pinned by Madison Memorial’s unbeaten Kaden Reetz in 2:50 of the quarterfinals. Lehrke will meet Zachary Gunderson of Monona Grove/McFarland on Friday morning.
The state tournament also got off to a great start for Carter, who edged Adam Polczynski of Arrowhead, 5-4.
Carter (41-3) then came out on the short end of an 8-3 verdict to Da`jun Johnson of Whitefish Bay/Dominican/University School of Milwaukee.
Next up for Carter on Friday is a matchup with Elkhorn Area/Faith Christian’s Aaron Taylor.
Boe suffered a heartbreaking 3-1 setback to Nathan Moynihan of Ashwaubenon in his first match. He earned a spot in the consolation bracket when Moynihan won his next match to assure the DCE senior a shot at wrestling back to third place.
Sauk Prairie’s Simon Patterson awaits Boe (43-3) in the opening round of the consolation bracket.
Heal (24-14) dropped a tough 3-0 decision to Menomonee Falls’ Ethan Pogorzelski in this first match, but got new life in the consolation bracket when Pogorzelski won his next match.
Racine Park’s Joseph Mendoza will be the first obstacle for Heal in his bid to wrestle back to third place.
Covarrubias (34-12) suffered a 6-2 loss to Jacob Ward of Bay Port in his first round match. Another victory by Ward in the quarterfinals sent Covarrubias to the consolation bracket where he will face Cole Nelson of Kenosha Indian Trail.
Wausau West’s Gabriel Ramos (32-12) dropped a 10-4 decision to Joshua Cherba of Waterford in his opening match and missed out on the consolation bracket.
