A-C wrestling splits duals in Antigo
The Abbotsford-Colby wrestling team traveled to Antigo last Tuesday to take on the Red Robins and the Stratford Tigers in a multi-dual. The event was set up as a makeup for a quad that had been canceled the Thursday prior due to weather. The co-op team came out second of the three teams, taking a 72-12 loss to Stratford before bouncing back to defeat Antigo 51-24.
The Abby-Colby team was paired against Stratford in the first matchup of the evening, a series of matches that largely went in the Tigers’ favor. Stratford took the first five bouts and added two more events via forfeit to jump out to a 42-0 lead before the co-op finally notched their first victory. Luis Nava Rojas delivered in his match against Matt Kolb in the 285-pound class. After Kolb took two points in the first period, Nava Rojas came back with three in the second to take the lead before ultimately pinning his opponent at the 4:41 mark.
The victory was the co-op’s only in played out matches, with their only other win against the Tigers coming via forfeit.
The Abby-Colby squad fared better against Antigo, though they had to weather some early issues. They went down 18-3 after a loss and two forfeits put the team in a hole. Erik Martinez came out with a 15-13 decision victory over Alexandra Hofrichter in the 170-pound weight-class, surviving a final period comeback to take the win.
Levi Dommer followed Martinez with a win over Wyatt Beaber. He took down his opponent in the 220-pound class in short order, winning by fall in 1:38. Nava Rojas notched his second victory of the day by taking down Caleb Vandenlangenberg in his match. Much like his first match of the day, the bout went deep, though Nava Rojas had built a large point lead before ultimately pinning his opponent. A forfeit in the 113-pound weight class by the Red Robins gave Abby-Colby the team points lead, one that they would not relinquish.
Tristen Smazal took on Aiden Kielcheski in the 120-pound class and found a quick win over his counterpart from Antigo, pinning his opponent at the 0:24 mark and giving his team their final match victory. Antigo failed to fill five of the weight-classes that the co-op had available athletes for, allowing the co-op to take a large team lead.
They will have a two-day tournament hosted by River Falls this Thursday, Dec. 29 and Friday, Dec. 30. One of the largest events on the team’s schedule, they will face off against athletes from 46 other schools.
