Racine Park/Horlick Wrestling
Nov. 29 at Franklin (Box Score)
The Panther wrestling team started off the season in a way they haven't done in years-with a win. Behind 5 pins on the night, the Park wrestling team powered their way to a 36-30 road win at Franklin. The meet started at 160 lbs, where Ladanian Johnson was tied 4-4 in the 3rd period before scoring a pin to go up 6-0. After Franklin tied up the score at 6-6 with a pin at 170 lbs, Anthony Nielsen took to the mat and made quick work of his opponent with 1st period pin in just over a minute. A double forfeit at 195 moved the match to 220 lbs with Park leading 12-6. Park junior Jarrel Campbell was taken to 3 overtimes, before escaping with a 7 seconds left to earn a thrilling 5-4 victory and a 15-6 Park lead. After a Franklin pin at 285 lbs. to make the score 15-12, the 106 lbs wrestlers stepped on the mat in what would be a pivotal point in the dual meet. Junior Angel Rodriguez scored a quick takedown in the 1st period and an escape in the 2nd period to build a 3-0 lead. In the 3rd period Franklin's Sabri Sino got a reversal, but it wasn't enough as Angel held on for a tight 3-2 win. At 113 lbs, Aderion Adkisson wrestled Franklin's Kaden Rosas tough, but was turned away by a 10-6 decision. After a Park forfeit at 120 lbs, Franklin was in the lead 21-18. At 126 lbs, returning State Qualifier Jojo Mendoza quickly took down his opponent and got the fall to give Park the lead again at 24-21. At 132 lbs, Justin Bailey-Prescott fought hard and had his opponent on his back but couldn't keep him there and eventually fell 13-7, tying the team score at 24-24. At 138, Dashawn Bolten came out and mauled his opponent. After 3 quick takedowns, Bolten got the pin to make it 30-24 in favor of Park. At 145 lbs, Dartrell Joshua came to the mat with a chance to lock up the victory for Park and he didn't disappoint. Using a lighting quick attack, he quickly stacked up 3 takedowns before pinning his opponent giving Park a 36-24 lead, clinching the dual. Park forfeited the 152 lbs weight class to make the final score 36-30.
Dec. 1 at Nicolet Knight Scramble
Despite only having 8 wrestlers, the Park wrestling team finished in 6th place at the Nicolet Knight Scramble. Led by champions Jojo Mendoza at 126 lbs and Jarrel Campbell at 220 lbs, all Panther wrestlers placed at or above their seed for the tournament. Mendoza, who won the tournament at 113 lbs last year, recieved a bye in the first round and cruised through his next 3 matches with a tech fall and 2 pins before facing off against highly touted freshman Braeden Ott of Nicolet in the finals. Mendoza was up to the challenge and walked away with a hard fought 8-5 victory as the junior improved to 6-0 on the season. At 220 lbs, Jarrel Campbell won his first ever tournament title. Starting off the day with a 29 second pin, he continued to dominate his way into the finals in his next 3 matches. In his finals match, Campbell faced off against a bigger opponent, but would not be denied the title. The match was close through the first 2 periods, but Campbell wore his opponent out and piled on points late to win 14-7 for the championship. Jarrel improved to 6-0 on the season. At 106 lbs, Angel Rodriguez went 4-1 on the day, rolling to the finals with a major decison, a tech fall, and a pin. In the finals, Angel came up short losing to Hartford's Tyler Krein 9-5. Rodriguez improved to 5-1 on the year. Also finishing in 2nd place for Park was Dashawn Bolten, who is now 5-1. Bolten had 2 pins and tech fall on the day. Dartrell Joshua at 145 lbs and Anthony Nielsen at 182 lbs, both went 3-2 on day and each had 2 for the day. They both improved to 4-2 for the season. At 113 lbs. Aderion Adkisson finished 4th and at 160 lbs. Ladanian Johnson finished 5th. On the day, the Panther wrestlers finished with the most individual match points among all the teams despite fielding just over half of the lineup.
Dec. 6 vs Indian Trails(Box Score)
The Panther wrestling team turned a close dual into a route with the strength of their light weights as they beat Indian Trail Academy 49-24. Down 24-19, Park closed out the meet with 5 straight pins. The meet started at 132 lbs, with freshman Ryan Smithkey making his first varsity start and losing a close battle 8-7 to put Park down 3-0 to start the night. At 138 lbs, junior Dashawn Bolton improved his record to 6-1 on the year with a first period pin. With Park up 6-3, Park moved its lineup around and forfeited 145 lbs to give ITA a 9-6 lead. At 152 lbs, Marcellus Stills saw his first action of the year. After starting slowly, Marcellus turned a match that was 8-8 at the end of the 2nd period into a 18-12 victory. Stills picked up 4 takedowns in the 3rd period to win 18-12 and tie the match at 9-9. At 160 lbs, Ladanian Johnson lost in overtime 6-4 moving ITA ahead 12-9. At 170 lbs Dominic Ford was outmatched by Leonard Kiser giving ITA a 18-9 lead. At 182 lbs, Anthony Nielsen continued his successful run notching his 4th pin of the year while improving his record to 5-2. After a Park forfeit at 195 lbs. to give ITA a 24-15 lead, Park wouldn't lose another match on the night. Jarrel Campbell mauled his opponent picking up a 18-6 major decision behind the strength of 8 takedowns making it 24-19. Campbell has not lost yet this year and is 7-0. At 285 lbs, Connor Harris came up with a huge pin to give Park a lead they wouldn't give up. At 106 lbs, Angel Rodriguez moved his record to 6-1 with a quick pin to make the score 31-24. At 113 lbs, lightning quick Aderion Adkisson took his opponent down 10 times on his way to a 2nd period pin clinching the victory. At 120 lbs, junior Jojo Mendoza staying undefeated on the year with a first period pin. Mendoza is 7-0. At 126 lbs, Justin Bailey Prescott earned his first varsity win as he put an exclamation point on the victory with a first period pin to end the dual.
Dec. 8 at Whitewater Invite
Behind the dominating performance of 3 champions, Park placed 4th at the 11 team Whitewater Invite despite only having 9 participants. Leading the way were 4 finalists, 3 of which took first place. At 106 lbs junior Angel Rodriguez had a dominating day without being threatened as he rolled to a 5-0 record with 2 technical fall victories and 2 pins to improve to 11-1 on the year. It was Angel's first varsity tournament title. At 120 lbs, junior Jojo Mendoza remained perfect on the year by also plowing through his competition. Mendoza had 4 pins on the day and a tech fall. In the finals he pinned Devon Harbison of Beloit Turner who is Honorable Mention in state polls. This is Jojo's second tournament title this year. At 220 lbs, Jarrel Campbell scored at will on his opponents in the first 4 rounds with a major decision, a tech fall, and 2 pins. In the finals, Campbell won by medical default and staying unbeaten on the year at 12-0 and won his second tournament of the year. AT 138 lbs, Dashawn Bolten finished 2nd for the Panthers going 3-2 on the day, with both losses coming to Cole Ramos of Bradford. In his other 3 matches Dashawn picked up another tech fall and 2 pins to improve to 9-3 on the year. At 145 lbs, Marcellus Stills had a tech fall on the day and finished in 4th place. Anthony Nielsen also finished 4th on the day picking up to pins while moving his record to 7-5.
Dec. 13 at Horlick(Box Score)
Going against crosstown rival Horlick, Park was looking to put an exclamation point on last season's 67-9 victory. Although the final outcome didn't match last seasons margin, Park still put the hammer down on the Rebels and came away with a 66-18 victory. Only 7 matches were wrestled in the dual as Horlick forfeited 7 weight classes. Of the remaining 7 matches, Park won 4 of them. Starting the night at 170 lbs, Horlick forfeited the first 3 weights as Dominic Ford(170 lbs), Anthony Nielsen(182 lbs), and Jaydon Jaramillo(195 lbs) all received victories. The first actual match of the night came at 220 lbs, where undefeated junior Jarrel Campbell came in looking to go to 13-0. Jarrel struggled early and often against the Horlick wrestler and was down most of the match until the end of the 2nd period when he turned his opponent and was able to register a pin with 3 seconds to go in the 2nd period to give Park a 24-0 lead. After 2 more forfeit victories at 285 lbs and 106 lbs, Aderion Adkisson was up at 113 lbs. Ahead 6-3 at the time, Aderion was caught and pinned to give the Rebels their first win of the night making the team score 36-6. After a forfeit win for Jojo Mendoza at 120 lbs, Justin Bailey-Prescott was up at 126 lbs. After being taken down twice early in the match, Justin got a reversal and back points to go into the 2nd period up 6-4. After Justin escaped at the beginning of the 2nd period, he was taken down again, but was able to get another reversal and put his opponent on his back. He was able to get a pin to make the team score 48-6. After a Horlick pin at 132 lbs, Dashawn Bolten imposed his will and registered a pin to move to 10-3 on the year. Dartrell Joshua then got a forfeit win at 145 lbs, making the team score 60-12. After Marcellus Stills lost to Horlick's Nick Cihler, LaDainian Johnson picked up his 4th victory of the year with a pin 19 seconds into the second period off of a reversal to make the final team score 66-18.
Dec. 14-15 at E.H. Stech Invite
Park had 3 place winners lead the way as they placed in the Top 10 at the E.H. Stech Invite. Placing 9th in the tournament, Park also had 2 wrestlers make it to the finals for the first time since 2008. It was the first time Park placed in the Top 10 since 2011. At 106 lbs, Angel Rodriguez went 4-2 in the tournament and took 4th place. After a 1st round bye, Angel dominated his 2nd round match with a pin in the 2nd period after amassing a lead that would have been a tech fall had he not gotten the fall. In his quarterfinal match Angel used a takedown in the finals seconds to beat Sabrino Sino of Franklin for the second time this year 4-3. After suffering a tough 7-1 loss in the semi's, Angel bounced back in the consolation semi's and beat Coleman's Chance Gruber 7-4 to make it to the 3rd place match. In a match that went back and forth, Angel had the lead late but was unable to hold it and lost 14-10. Angel improved to 16-3 on the year. At 120 lbs, Jojo Mendoza was a man on a mission as he had his eye on a tournament championship. After pins in the first 2 rounds, Mendoza went up against former Stech champion Kasey Casper of Coleman. Dominating from the start, the score was 7-1 when Jojo lifted Casper off the mat and brought him down on his shoulder. Casper was injured and had to default, sending Jojo into the finals. In the finals, defending 106 lb State Champion Hayden Halter of Waterford awaited. In the highly anticipated match, Halter quickly took Mendoza down and he escaped giving Halter a 2-1 lead. Picking down in the 2nd period, Jojo escaped making the score 2-2. In the 3rd period, Halter scored another takedown taking a 4-2 lead and then scored another point on a penalty by Medoza from grabbing his fingers making the score 5-2. After Mendoza escaped to make it 5-3, he tried finding an opening to get a takedown but was unable to. At the whistle Mendoza got another point for Halter stalling to make the final tally 5-4 in favor of Halter. Mendoza improved to 16-1 on the year. At 138 lbs, Dashawn Bolton was seeded sixth, but made his presence known as he worked his way through the bracket to make the finals. After a 1st round bye, Dashawn scored early and often earning a tech fall win in his 2nd round match. In the quarterfinals, Dashawn found himself down early 5-0 to Zac Hamel of Wisconsin Rapids but battled back. Down 9-8 with seconds left, he got a escape with 1 second left to send the match to overtime. In overtime, Bolton secured a takedown to secure the dramatic 11-9 victory to move on to the semi's. In the semi's, Bolton wore his opponent from Milwaukee Lutheran down and won 7-4 in a match that wasn't as close as the score indicated. In the finals, Bolton met his match in #3 state ranked Lucas Benn of Mukwonago and was pinned at the end of the 3rd period. Bolton upped his record to 14-4 on the year.
Dec. 19 at St. Cats(Box Score)
Park traveled a few blocks east and battled with the start-up St. Cats wrestling program and came away with another victory 48-28. The win put the Panthers with a 4-0 overall dual record for the season. Wrestling without 2 key starters, Park started the evening off with 2 forfeit victories at 138 and 145 to make the team score 12-0 right way. At 152 lbs, Marcellus Stills started slow but poured it on and eventually got the pin for Park to make it 18-0. Stills is now 4-6 on the year. At 160 lbs, St. Cats got a pin to make the score 18-6. At 170 lbs, LaDainian Johnson had few problems dispatching his opponent with a 1st period pin moving him to 7-10 on the year. Likewise at 182, Anthony Nielsen had his way and also came up with 6 team points recording a fall in the 1st period making the team score 30-6 in favor of Park. Park lost 195, 220, and 285 lbs making the team score 30-24 before sending out a hammer in Angel Rodriguez at 106 lbs. Making quick work of Serenity Ford, Angel put Park up 36-24 with a 1st period pin and giving Park momentum again. Aderion Adkisson won by FF at 113 lbs to make the score 42-24 Park and clinching the dual victory. After a double FF at 120 lbs., Justin Bailey-Prescott scored early and often before recording a fall to make the score 48-24. At major decision win at 132 lbs for St. Cats made the final team score 48-28.
Dec. 28 at Oshkosh On The Water-Day 1
It was a very successful day for the Panther wrestling team on Day 1 of the 67 team Oshkosh On The Water Tournament. In what is one of the toughest tournaments of the season in Wisconsin, Park had 5 of their 10 wrestlers advance to Day 2 which is the most for the program since Park started going to the tournament 7 years ago. Park has already guaranteed itself of 4 placewinners-already the most it has ever had, and still may get a 5th placewinner. At 106 lbs, Angel Rodriguez who was seeded 5th, lived up to his seed so far in the tournament. After a first round bye, Angel recorded a major decision in the second round, using a balanced attack of tilts throughout the match to easily win 15-1. In Round 3, Rodriguez faced Chance Gruber of Coleman, who he beat 7-4 a few weeks ago. This time Gruber wrestled a tougher match, but Angel rose to the occasion and scored a reverse in the ultimate tie breaker and won the match 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarters he would have a rematch with Tyler Klein of Hartford, whom Angel lost to 9-5 earlier in the year. In a match that featured lots of scrambles and "on edge" moments, Angel prevailed in overtime to win 3-1 and move into the semi's. At 120 lbs, Jojo Mendoza was seeded #7 in what is perhaps the deepest, toughest weight in the tournament. By count at the start of the tournament there were 15 ranked wrestlers in the bracket. Jojo received a bye in the first round before easily dispatching his 2nd and 3rd round opponents with pins. In the quarterfinals, Jojo faced Bryce Jankowski of Cedarburg, a very good wrestler that was ranked #7 at 126 lbs and is the No. 2 seed in the bracket. Jojo was unable to get any offense going and was pinned in the 2nd period. Guaranteed 12th place, Jojo will try to fight his way back to the 3rd place match. At 138 lbs, Dashawn Bolton entered as the #12 seed. After 15-2 and 11-3 major decisions in the first 2 rounds, he met Cole Nelson of Indian Trail Academy. Bolton came up short moving him into the consolation side of the bracket and leaving him to try and claw his way back into placement contention. Dashawn had no problem with this, pinning his next opponent in the 1st period. Dashawn moves into Day 2 needing to win his first match to guarantee a placement. At 182 lbs, in what might be the Cinderella story of the tournament, Dominic Ford stunned bracket watchers as he moved into the quarterfinals despite not being seeded. Starting the day with a forfeit victory, Ford stunned the #8 seed with a pin in the 3rd period in a match that Ford was winning at the time. In the 3rd round, Ford was even more dominating, and left nothing to doubt taking down the #9 seed by a 20-10 score, moving into the quarterfinals in an inspiring performance. After finally being beaten by the #1 seed, Dominic will come back on Day 2 guaranteed of placing. At 195 lbs, Jarrel Campbell was finally able to wrestle a more natural weight for him and it showed as he guaranteed himself a place among the Top 12. After receiving a first round bye, Jarrel scored an 11-3 major decision in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round, Jarrel faced the #8 seed and won a hard fought 2-1 decison to move himself into the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Jarrel faced #1 seed and 2x State Place winner from Arizona. Wrestling tough, Jarrel wasn't able to beat the #1 seed and lost despite his effort. Also having successful days for the Panthers were Ladainian Johnson at 160 lbs, and Anthony Nielsen at 170 lbs. Johnson went 3-2 on the day but was eliminated. Nielsen won 2 matches on the day but was also eliminated.
Dec 29 at Oshkosh On The Water-Day 2
In what was the best performance Park has ever had at the Oshkosh On The Water Tournament, the Panthers had 5 wrestlers place in the Top 12 of the 67-team tournament. Park also tied for 20th, scoring 123 points-also both highs for the Park program. Leading the way was junior 120 lb Jojo Mendoza, who after losing a quarterfinal match to eventual champion Bryce Jankowski on Day 1 stormed back all the way to take 3rd place. Winning 4 straight matches, Jojo was dominant all day long against some of the best wrestlers in the state. Mendoza had 2 major decisions and pin on the day, including a 12-1 drubbing of #10 ranked Jordan Craft of Manitowoc Lincoln in the 3rd place match. Mendoza is now 23-2 on the season. At 106 lbs, Angel Rodriguez took 6th place, going 4-3 in the tournament and improving his record to 21-6. After losing to the #1 ranked wrestler Justin Groshek of Stevens Point, Angel faced another ranked wrestler in Brent Miller of Germantown and came up short 6-2. In the 5th place match, Rodriguez was unable to keep pace with Waupaca's Kaleb Mannel and lost the match. At 138 lbs, Dashawn Bolton started the day with a hard fought 6-2 decision over Logan Bishop of Tomahawk. Moving on vs Francisco Coranado of Ashwaubenon, Dashawn was in the match but was outlasted 10-7. Bolton almost won the match on a blood time default, as Coronado fell only :08 short of running out of blood time. After losing his next match 12-5, Dashawn won the 11th place match by a medical default. Dashawn went 5-3 in the tournament and the junior upped his record to 20-7 on the year. At 182 lbs, Dominic Ford, originally seeding in the 40th position, surprised everyone making it to the quarterfinals on Day 1. Coming into the day, Ford looked to keep momentum going. Ford lost a close 3-2 decision to start the day and then lost a 9-5 decison in his next match to make it to the 11th place match. In that match he was facing Larz Gough, who Dominic pinned in the 2nd round. After Ford took a 2-0 lead in the 1st period, Gough was pulled out of the match for an injury and Dominic had his hand raised. Going 4-3 for the tournament, the junior is now 5-6 on the year. Day 2 of the tournament started off on a sour note as junior 195 lb wrestler Jarrel Campbell was unable to wrestle due to an injury he suffered in his quarter final match. He medically defaulted out of the tournament at finished in 12th place. Jarrel was 3-1 in the tournament up till that point and is now 19-3 on the season.
Jan. 3 vs Tremper(Box Score)
In what has been a long, long wait the Panther wrestlers finally did what so many Park wrestling teams over the past 13 seasons haven't been able to do: finally beat Tremper. In their first win against the Trojans since the 2005-06 season, the Panthers erased bad memories and pounded Tremper winning 10 of the 14 matches and coming up with a 54-22 victory. It was the longest drought Park has had against an SEC team. Starting the match at 220, Tremper jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a pin of Sam Sexton, who was leading early before getting pinned in the 2nd period. At 285, Marcos Valdez in his first year of wrestling pulled a major upset in beating Connor Rosko. Rosko was 21-9 coming into the match. Valdez kept the match close and started the 3rd period in the down position with a 0-0 tie. He reversed Rosko and hammered him over with a half nelson to get the fall tying the score at 6-6. At 106, Angel Rodriguez received a forfeit victory as Tremper started shuffling their line up in an effort to keep the score close and have a chance of winning the dual. It didn't work. Now leading 12-6 going into 113 lbs, Aderion Adkisson worked Tremper's Logan Davidson for 4 takedowns and a 9-6 lead going into the 3rd period. Starting on bottom, Aderion escaped, and after being taken down to his back, reversed Davidson and got the late 3rd period pin to give the momentum to Park, which now lead 18-6. Jojo Mendoza received a forfeit 120 lbs making the score 24-6. At 126, Park forfeited and at 132, Tremper's Riley Dutton moved up a weight class and got a pin to make the team score 24-18. That was as close as Tremper would get. At 138, Dashawn Bolton made quick work of Avry Nichols with a :33 pin and Dartrell Joshua followed that up with an 18-2 tech fall to make the team score 35-18. At 152 lbs, Marcellus Stills wore his opponent down with his relentless attacks and notched 7 takedowns on his way to a 21-9 major decision to make the score 39-18. At 160, Ladainian Johnson wrestled state ranked Reese Dutton tough, but was on the wrong end of an 11-2 victory for Dutton. That would be the final match Tremper would win. With the score 39-22, Dominic Ford came up at 170 lbs, and hit a monster toss and put his opponent on his back for the pin to clinch the team victory. Anthony Nielsen grinded out an 8-2 victory and Jarrel Campbell capped of the meet with an pin the first period to make the final score 54-22.
Jan. 10 at Bradford(Box Score)
In a battle of 2 of the Southeast Conference's top 3 teams, Bradford came out on top with a hard fought 43-28 victory over Park. In a dual that was tight throughout, Bradford had too much for the Panthers to handle as they gave Park their first conference loss of the year. With the dual starting out a 145 lbs, Bradford took a quick 6-0 lead when State Qualifier Marco Infusino pinned Victor Cano in the first period. At 152 lbs, Bradford's Alex Castillo, returning from injury was able to outlast Marcellus Stills 15-5 to give Bradford an early 10-0. Park would not go quietly however. At 160 lbs, Ladainian Johnson exacted some revenge and beat Carson Widmar 2-1 to make the team score 10-3. Widmar beat Johnson last seaon in OT and beat him early this season 7-5. Thwarting Widmar's head throw attempts, Johnson gave Park a badly needed victory. At 170 lbs, Dominic Ford started slowly but poured it on as the match went along and pounded Dylan Garofalo 19-7 to give Park momentum and make the score 10-7. After a forfeit win at 182, one of the marquee match-ups of the night was up. State Qualifier Nate Bowens against Jarrel Campbell. Bowens controlled most of the match and Campbell came up short losing 11-4, tying the score at 13-13. After a Park forfeit at 220 and and Bradford pin at 285, the score was 25-13 in favor of Bradford heading into 106 lbs. Angel Rodriguez made quick work of Karina Torres to make the score 25-19. Withe the meet still in doubt, Collin Wallace was moved into the line up at 113 to receive a forfeit win and Aderion Adkisson was moved up to 120 lbs. in hopes of stealing a key victory. It did not work out as Adkisson was overmatched by Nick Mendoza and was pinned to make the score 31-25 Bradford. So now, with Jojo Mendoza moved up to 126 lbs, the biggest match-up of the night was about to happen as #8 ranked Jojo Mendoza now wrestled 126 lb state ranked Collin Widmar. In a match that Jojo controlled throughout, Mendoza picked up a 6-4 win with a key 2 pt takedown and 3 pt nearfall in the 2nd period. It would be the final match Park would win on the night. At 132 and 138, Bradford tacked on a pair of pins to make the final score 43-28.
Jan. 12 at Badger Scramble
Park only sent 7 wrestlers to the Badger Scramble, finishing 9th out of 12 teams. Leading the way was junior Jojo Mendoza who took 2nd at 120 lbs. Improving to 29-3 on the year, Jojo went 4-1 on the day dominating his competition on the way to the finals where he met up with #3 ranked Bryce Jankowski of Cedarburg who beat Jojo at On The Water. Medoza wrestled him better this time around, but the end result was the same. Jankowski locked up a cradle in the 1st period to go out in front 5-0 and it was an uphill battle from there to try and mount a comeback that would not come to fruition. The final result was a 7-0 win for Jankowski. At 145 lbs, Dashawn Bolton took 3rd for the Panthers. Going 3-2 on the day, the junior won his first 3 matches before going up against Mike Grudzinski of Cedarburg who was a State Qualifier last season. Despite getting out to a early 2-0 lead, Dashawn was unable to sustain his attack and was eventually pinned in the 3rd period. In his last match of the day, Dashawn lost 8-1 to Joe Hoffman of Middleton. Dashawn is now 24-9 on the season. At 160 lbs, LaDainian Johnson also took 3rd for Park. After winning his first match of the day, LaDainian had a bye before being defeated by State Champion Kevin Meicher of Middleton. After a close loss to Dalton Danowski of Waterford 4-2, Johnson then faced Dylan Connell of Indian Trails. Connell beat LaDainian in overtime in the SEC dual earlier this year. After a scoreless 1st period, Johnson got some revenge as he took Connell to his back on a takedown and pinned him immediatly when he went to his back. The sophomore improved to 14-15 on the season. Dominic Ford at 170 lbs and Anthony Nielsen at 182 lbs also both finished 3-2 on the day. Ford improved to 10-8 on the season and Nielsen improved to 16-10.
Jan. 17 at Case(Box Score)
It wasn't pretty, but the Panther wrestling team improved to 5-1 in the SEC against a feisty Case team. Behind 5 pins and tech fall, Park won 8 of the 14 weight classes to eek out a 44-36 victory. Starting the night at 126 lbs, Park quickly found itself down 18-0 after Case opened with 3 straight pins. Dashawn Bolton wrestling at 145 lbs stopped the bleeding and scored a dominant tech fall for 5 team points that were badly needed. With under :10 remaining, Bolton was able to force a 2nd stalling call to make the score 20-7 and then on a restart at :05, he got a takedown as time expired to secure the 5 team points. After a Case pin at 152 lbs, Park would win 7 of the next 9 matches. At 160 lbs, LaDainian Johnson improved to 15-15 on the season with a pin in the 2nd period of Cristian Servantez after dominating the match until that point. At 170 lbs, Dominic Ford entered the 3rd period down 2-0 to Case wrestler Kyle Gullien. Guillen locked his hands to give Ford a penalty point and Ford then reversed him to go up 3-2 and rode him out the rest of the way for a crucial victory and make the team score 24-14 in favor of Case. At 182 lbs, Anthony Nielsen scored a quick pin to improve to 17-10 on the year. At 195 lbs, Jarrel Campbell put the Panthers ahead 26-24 with a 2nd period pin to move his record to 21-4 on the season. At 220 lbs, Park forfeited and lost by pin at 285 lbs. At this point the score was 36-26 in favor of Case. However, Park had a hammer coming up in Angel Rodriguez to right the ship. Making quick work of Ben Whalen, Angel got a fall in :14 to make the score 36-32. Aderion Adkisson erased any doubt of who would win the dual when he went out and quickly took down his opponent as well and pinned him in under a minute to make the score 38-36. With Park receiving a forfeit win at 120 lbs, the final score was 44-36.
Jan 24. vs Oak Creek(Box Score)
The Park wrestling team was looking for it's first SEC dual championship since 2001. They'll have to wait at least 1 more year. In and intense dual that was wrestled in front of the largest and loudest crowd in years in The Pit, Park fell to Oak Creek 37-30. In the end, Oak Creek won more close matches and that doomed the Panthers. Oak Creek wins the conference with a 7-0 record. Park finishes in 3rd place with a 5-2 record. The dual started at 126 where junior Jojo Mendoza bumped up to 126 lbs to take on Brady Schmidt. After 2 failed attempts at throwing Schmidt, Mendoza settled in. Building his lead to 5-0 after the 1st, the lead grew to 10-2 before Mendoza pinned Schmidt as time expired in the 2nd period to give Park an early 6-0 lead. At 132, Tyler Holz of Oak Creek scored a pin evening the score at 6-6. At 138 lbs, junior Dartell Joshua jumped ahead 5-0 in the first period. In the 2nd, Dartell escaped and took the OC wrestler down for the fall giving Park a 12-6 lead. At 145 lbs, Marcellus Stills drew state ranked Brandon Lenczner. Stills fought hard the whole match and stayed off his back. In the end Stills lost 14-2, but saved team points by not getting pinned. At 152, Dashawn Bolton wrestled a brilliant match. Staying in good position throughout, it was 3-3 at the end of the 1st period. At the end of the 2nd period, Bolton was up 6-4. In the 3rd period, the junior scored an early takedown and as the period wound down, scored another takedown and got 3 nearfall points to blow it open and win 13-6. At this point Park was up 15-10. At 160 lbs, LaDainian Johnson lost a tight 8-4 decision and at 170 lbs Anthony Nielsen lost a close 5-2 decision. At 182 lbs, Dominic Ford was pinned by state ranked Nolan Paar. The score was now 22-15 in favor of Oak Creek. At 195, one of the marquee match ups of the night was about to happen. Jarrel Campbell and Ben Kawszynski are both ranked and it figured to be a good match. In the end, Campbell didn't have an answer for Kawszynski's arm drags and failed to mount enough offense and lost 7-2. At 220 lbs, OC received a forfeit win. At this point the score was now 31-15. Park faced long odds to win at this point, but there was still a chance. At 285 lbs, Marcos Valdez scored a 10-4 victory to get Park to 31-18. At 106 lbs, Angel Rodriguez continued to give the Panthers hope with a quick pin to make the score 31-24. At 113 lbs, Aderion Adkisson would need a win to give Park a chance at winning the dual. Unfortunately, Adkisson wasn't able to come out on top and was pinned. This made the score 37-24 and clinched the dual for Oak Creek. At 120 lbs, Justin Bailey-Prescott was down 6-5 heading into the 3rd period and was was down 9-8 when he took Dominic Rauch down and pinned him making the final score 37-30.
Feb. 2 at SEC Tournament
Jojo Mendoza led the Panthers to a 4th place finish as he won the 120 lb weight class at the SEC tournament. In the finals, Jojo pinned Bradford's Nick Mendoza in the first period to move his record on the season to 33-3. Also making it to the finals for the Panthers was Dominic Ford at 170 lbs. In the finals, Ford was beaten by Nolan Paar of Oak Creek. Ford, making his first conference finals appearance, improved his record on the year to 13-10. On his way to the finals, Ford pinned Christian Servantez of Case and Jake Erwin in Tremper. 3 wrestlers also finished in 3rd place on the day for Park. At 106 lbs, Angel Rodriguez opened the day with a bye, and was the upset in the semi's. Up 13-2 on Tremper's Logan Davidson, Angel was caught and pinned. In his next match, Angel came back strong and won by tech fall and dominated the 3rd place match with a 12-0 win over Luca Paladino of Oak Creek and improved his record to 27-7 on the year. Dartrell Joshua also finished 3rd. After opening the day with a disappointing loss in the first round to Moises Guerrero of Tremper, he then received a bye and then beat Latrell Campbell of Case. In the 3rd place match, Joshua would get a rematch with Guerrero. The outcome was much different this time as Dartell dominated and tech falled Guerrero 18-3. Dartrell improved to 14-8 on the year. At 195 lbs, Jarrel Campbell won his first match by fall before squaring up with Bradford's Nate Bowens. Bowens, who beat Campbell in the dual meet this season, looked like he was going to dominate the match at the start, tossing Campbell for a 5 point throw right away. Finding himself down 5-0, Jarrel battled back and eventually tying the score 7-7 as the match came to the end of regulation. In overtime, Jarrel was in on the legs for a takedown against Bowens but was not able to finish and Bowens got the takedown ending the match. In his next match Campbell was able to pin James Townsend of ITA before beating Mahakpreet Singh of Franklin 3-2 for 3rd place. Campbell moves to 24-6 on the year. Finishing in 4th for Park were Aderion Adkisson(113 lb), Marcellus Stills(145 lb), Dashawn Bolton(152 lb), LaDainian Johnson(160 lb), Anthony Nielsen(182 lb), and Marcos Valdez(285 lb).
Feb. 8 at Regionals
Dashawn Bolton wrestled in 6 tournaments leading up to the Regional held at Burlington so far this season. 3 times, he finished in 2nd place. Today, Dashawn finally was able to seal the deal in the most important tournament up till this point of the season. Bolton won the Regional Championship for Park at 152 lbs, leading Park to a 4th place team finish. Showing toughness throughout his finals match, the junior held off Burlington's Max Ehlen in the final for a 9-7 victory. Ehlen was 40-7 last season and a State Qualifier. Dashawn found himself down 4-2 near the end of the 1st period when he scored a takedown in the final seconds to tie the match at 4-4. The second period would end in a tie as well at 6-6. Both wrestlers had 2 takedowns and 2 escapes to this point. With Dashawn starting down to start the 3rd period, he earned an escape to make the score 7-6. He was able to secure another crucial takedown in the final :30 to secure a 3 point lead at the time. Ehlen was given an escape to make the score 9-7. Ehlen was in on the legs of Bolton with 15 seconds left, but was unable to get a takedown giving Dashawn the title. Bolton is now 31-11 on the season. Also making it to the finals were Angel Rodriguez at 106 lbs, and Dominic Ford at 170 lbs. Rodriguez received a bye in the first round and made quick work of Serenity Ford of St. Cat's in the semi's. In the finals, Rodriguez was downed by a very talented wrestler in Cooper Willis of Union Grove. Angel would have to wrestleback to finish in 2nd. Rodriguez left no doubt who the better wrestler was in that match. Dominating the match, Angel got the fall against Ty Keisler of Burlington in the 2nd period. Angel is now 30-8 on the year. Dominic Ford started the day by dominating his opponents and won his first 2 matches by fall to make it to the finals, pinning Case's Christian Servantez and Tremper's Jake Erwin. In the finals, Ford met up with a buzz saw in Burlington's Qwade Gehring. Ford did not need to wrestleback and improved to 15-11 on the year. Park had a slew of wrestlers place 3rd to also advance to the Sectional next Saturday. At 113 lbs, Aderion Adkisson won his first match of the day by fall, but lost in the semi's. In his 3rd place match, the junior made quick work of Tremper's Carlos McLean with a :13 fall to secure his bid. At 120 lbs, Jojo Mendoza was upset in the semi's and lost to Burlington's Grant Koenen. In his 3rd place match, Mendoza got back on track and pinned ITA's Nichlas Schutz in the 1st period. Jojo is now 34-4 on the year. LaDainian Johnson also finished in 3rd place for the Panthers. Winning by fall in his quarterfinal match, LaDainian would fall in the semi's to Burlington's Jake Skrundz. In the 3rd place match, LaDainian was down 1-0 late in the 3rd period, but secured a takedown with :11 left to win the match 2-1. In his wrestleback for 2nd place, he was beaten by Tremper's Reese Dutton, but maintained his 3rd place finish. At 182 lbs, Anthony Nielsen finished 3rd. Winning his first match by a 20-3 tech fall, Nielsen was beaten by Burlington's Zach Wallace in the semi's. Nielsen pinned Tremper's Matt Hansen in the 3rd place match to secure his ticket to next weekend. At 195 lbs, Jarrel Campbell made quick work of Tremper's Austin Lange and scored a pin in the first period to move on to the semi's vs Union Grove's Keith Storm-Voltz. Jarrel came up short and was beaten 7-2 in a match that was closer than the final outcome. To secure his 3rd place finish, Jarrel beat Burlington's Brian Konz 7-2. Jarrel is now 26-7 on the year. Other Panther wrestlers that placed were Justin Bailey-Prescott(5th) and Marcellus Stills(5th), but do not move on to next week as only the top 4 finishers in each weight move on.
Feb. 16 at Sectionals
Park is sending 4 wrestlers to the State Tournament in Madison! Led by Sectional Champion Dashawn Bolton at 152 lbs, 3 other Panther wrestlers took 2nd place to punch their ticket to continue their season. Angel Rodriguez at 106 lbs, Jojo Mendoza at 120 lbs, and Jarrel Campbell at 195 lbs will also be making the trip with Dashawn. Medoza was a State Qualifier last season as well. Rodriguez, Bolton, and Campbell will all be making their first trip to Madison. Angel started off the day firing on all cylinders, winning his first match by fall. In the semi's he faced Luca Paladino of Oak Creek, who he beat 12-0 at the SEC Tournament. Paladino would not go as quietly this time. The score was 0-0 going into the 2nd period at Paladino chose down. Rodriguez rode him out the whole period to go into the 3rd period still 0-0. The wrestlers exchanged reversals to make it 2-2. Angel was able to secure an escape to make the score 3-2 and held on for the victory to send him into the finals. In the finals Angel faced Cooper Willis of Union Grove. Angel lost to Willis in last weeks Regional Final. It was a different week and although Angel wrestled better, it was the same result with Willis coming out on top. Angel would now have a wrestleback for 2nd place for a trip to Madison. At 120 lbs, Mendoza started slowly in his first round match vs Fahid Aziz of Franklin, but wore him down and scored a 13-4 win to move into the semi's vs Cade Willis of Union Grove. In a match that was tight throughout, Willis was able to prevail 3-1 with a late takedown putting Jojo into the 3rd place match vs Grant Koenen of Burlington. Koenen upset Jojo last week at Regionals. Jojo came out strong and took a 5-0 lead in the 1st period. It would remain that way until the 3rd period when Koenen scored an escape, but that's all he would be able to muster. A 5-1 victory for Mendoza meant he needed Willis to beat Gabe Ramirez in the finals to get a wrestleback, which he did. At 152 lbs Dashawn Bolton came out on fire and scored a quick pin in the 1st round. In the semi's Bolton would be facing Miguel Gonzales of Bradley Tech. On the strength of 3 takedowns, Dashawn took an 8-5 lead into the 3rd period where he was then able to get a turn and another takedown to widen the gap and secure a 13-6 win to reach the finals. In the finals, Dashawn faced Max Ehlen of Burlington who he beat last weekend 9-7 for the Regional Championship. In another tight match, it was 4-3 going into the 3rd period. Bolton got was able to escape and tie the score at 4-4. It would remain that way till the end of regulation and it would go to overtime. With both wrestlers being cautious to not make a mistake, time was winding down in overtime when Dashawn was able to get in a front headlock position and reached around grabbed Ehlen's leg and locked up a cradle with :02 remaing to secure a takedown and the win! Dashawn was the first Park wrestler to qualify for the day. No wrestleback would we needed as he was the Sectional Champ and was moving on to Madison! Dashawn is now 34-11 on the year. At 195 lbs, Jarrel Campbell also came out strong scoring a pin in his first round match. In the semi's, he met up with Nate Bowens who had beaten Jarrel twice this season. Jarrel was confident and was able take a 2-0 lead in the 1st period and added an escape in the 2nd to take a 3-0 lead into the 3rd period. Jarrel poured it on in the 3rd and tallied a 9-2 in to make it to the finals. In the finals Jarrel face Ben Kawczyski of Oak Creek. The match was tied 1-1 late into the 3rd period when Kawczyski was able to secure a takedown for the 3-1 victory. However, because Nate Bowens was able to win in the 3rd place match, Campbell would not need to wrestle in a wrestleback and secured Park's 2nd State Qualifier birth of the day. Jarrel is now 28-8 on the year. At the 106 lb wrestleback, Angel Rodriguez would face Sabri Sino of Franklin, who Angel had beaten twice this year in close matches. This match was no different. Angel got a takedown in the first period and took a 2-1 lead into the 2nd period. In the 2nd period, he got an escape after starting down to start and went into the 3rd period up 3-1. Sino started down in the 3rd and got an escape to make the score 3-2. As time was winding down Sino was in on the legs of Angel, but he was able to fight it off as time expired giving him the 3-2 win and ticket to Madison! Park now had 3 qualifiers! Angel moves on with a 33-9 record. In the 120 lb wrestleback, Jojo Mendoza was looking to be Park's 4th qualifier. Facing Gabe Ramirez of Milwaukee Ronald Reagan, Jojo scored 2 takedowns in the 1st period to go into the 2nd period up 4-1. Getting another takedown and backpoints, Jojo went into the 3rd period up 8-4. It was more of the same in the 3rd as Jojo came out on top 12-5 and giving Park it's 4th State Qualifier! Jojo improved to 37-5 on the year. The 4 qualifiers are the most Park has had since they had 6 in the 2008-09 season. The other 4 entrants into the Sectional saw their season come to and end. At 113 lbs, Aderion Adkisson was defeated by South Milwaukee Anthony Adams in the first round and ends his junior season at 12-17. At 160 lbs, LaDainian Johnson was winning 7-3 late in the 3rd period and couldn't hold on and lost an 8-7 decision to Cudahy's Mason Heath. LaDainian ends his sophomore campaign with a 19-22 record. At 170 lbs, Dominic Ford won his first round bout by fall to get into the semi's. In the semi's he lost to 3x State Qualifier Nolan Paar sending him to the 3rd place match. In the 3rd place match he was beaten by Bradley Tech's Lennorise Echols so Dominic would not have a chance for a wrestleback. Ford ends the year 16-13. At 182 lbs Anthony Nielsen battled but was beaten by Aaron Wells of Milwaukee Ronald Reagan. Nielsen ends the year at 21-16. All the Sectional qualifiers will be back for the Panthers next year!!!
Feb. 21-23 at WIAA State Individual Tournament
The results weren't what they wanted, but the 4 Park wrestlers that made it to State gained valuable experience wrestling at the Kohl Center. In the first round Angel Rodriguez was first up for Park in the 106 lb bracket facing natinoally ranked Nicolar Rivera of Stoughton. Angel didn't back down, but ultimately was no match for the talented Rivera and lost the match. Angel would get a wrestleback however as Rivera won his next match. On Friday morning, Angel would face Cody Goebel of Mukwonago. Goebel beat Angel earlier in the year 14-10. The scoring wasn't as high this time around, but the end result was the same as Goebel came away with an 8-3 win ending Angel's season. The junior ends the year at 33-11. At 120 lbs, Jojo Mendoza -making his 2nd trip to State-was up against Cole Gille of Pulaski. Gille took 3rd at State last year. Jojo was in on several shots against Gille early but wasn't quite able to finish. Jojo was able to finally take him down, but it wouldn't be enough as he was downed 6-3. Gille would win his next match, giving Jojo at least one more match. Facing Sam Lorenz of Waunakee, Jojo dominated the match. From the start of the 2nd period, Jojo was able to put Lorenz on his back and kept him getting the fall to move on. In Jojo's next match, he would face Jake Stritesky of Badger. In what was a close match, the wrestlers went into the 3rd period with Jojo up 2-1. Jojo picked down to start the 3rd but was unable to get out right away giving Stritesky a chance to lock up a cradle. Jojo wouldn't be able to get out and was pinned. Jojo ends the season 38-7. At 152 lbs, Dashawn Bolton drew Keagan Lazar of Oconomowoc in the first round. The larger Lazar was able to wear down Dashawn and eventually was able to pin Dashawn. Dashawn would get a wrestleback as well as Lazar won his next match. In Dashawn's Friday morning wrestleback, again looking undersized, he was facing Adam Polczynski of Arrowhead. Dashawn was up 5-1 but was unable to hold the lead and eventually lost 10-5. Dashawn ends the season at 34-13. Jarrel Campbell opened his State Tournament vs Justin Eichler of Mukwonago. Jarrel was outmatched and Eichler pinned Jarrel. Jarrel would also get a wrestleback as well on Friday morning since Eichler won his next match. On Friday morning Jarrel squared off vs Jacob Mandella of Brookfield East. Jarrel was winning in the 3rd period, but couldn't hold on and lost 4-3 ending his season. Jarrel finishes the season 28-10. All 4 State Qualifiers are juniors and will be back again next looking to make some noise at the tournament!